Gallery openings

Tonight I'm accompanying a friend to another gallery opening.
I kind of made it a duty to attend those events after my first one a few months ago. Believe me, it's always slightly more decadent than expected!

For what I knew from chick-films, it was supposed to be packed with glamourous, dressed-up, posh-accented, arty people walking around gracefully holding a glass of champagne. And it was.

So, at my first, I played the part with a full-length back evening gown, and started discussions with random strangers about the deep meaning of the artist, (My high-school teachers always said I was very good at going on and on about subjects I was clue-less about, and still make it look like it was my speciality. Personally, I prefer the expression "talking bullshit with class"...) and it all went well.

But what chick-films never show, it's the scene when everyone is not so much walking around anymore, slightly less gracefully anyway, and holding for dear life on their fourth of fith glass of free Veuve-Cliquot.
After an hour and a half, you can be sure of it, there's a palpable change in the general atmosphere. Even the most dedicated of us don't give a shit anymore about the paintings/photographs/sculptures, and the artist is usually left alone in his corner, with his pile of books still to dedicate. Unless, of course, the old very wealthy spinster of the night decided to "sponsor" him.

Business cards and phone numbers are quickly exchanged, if there's a dark corner, you're most likely to stumble on a drunken couple not-so-discreetly making out, and the scene taking place in the ladies could as well come from the bathroom of a members-only West End club. There's always the group of women exchanging comments on that hot guy next to the bar while re-touching their make-up, the stick-thin girl violently shaking the doors because she knows her canapés are going to come up a bit too soon, and the two giggling friends emerging wide-pupiled from the same cubicle.

Take China White on a Wednesday night, replace the DJ by the artist du jour, add a free-drink policy, et voilà!

I can't wait to get to know the deep meaning behind the Christmas cards drawings tonight...