Methane Studios celebrates 10 years of gig postery at Alcove Gallery

When we swung by Alcove Contemporary Arts Gallery early last Saturday afternoon, a chocolate sheet cake from the previous evening's Methane exhibit opening party still lingered on a banquet table in the back room, giving the impression of some child's recently-abandoned birthday party. And the night before had been a birthday party, of sorts: For ten years now, Methane Studios has been gracing the telephone poles, record store windows, venue bulletin boards and-- more recently-- apartment walls of Atlanta and other lucky cities across the US with their vibrant, artful concert posters.

But far more than the cake-- which, given how much was left to grow stale in the breeze of the gallery's industrial fans, was either not very good or was the last in a very long series of cakes that had been properly devoured-- the Alcove exhibit itself is a fitting celebration of the studio's body of work.

Most posters on display are also available for perusal and purchase on their website, but almost all look better in person. Notably, this one for the New Pornographers' 2003 Echo Lounge show is pretty enough on a computer screen, but practically glows electric blue in real life. I had to resist not only buying it, but also immediately taking it to Home Depot, having paint made to match, and repainting my apartment. Also, my car. Also, my whole body. Or at least the inside of my eyelids, so I can see it when I'm asleep. Beautiful. (This Shins/Beachwood Sparks one was also a fast favorite of mine-- and, let's face it, would probably go better with the overall decor of my apartment, pre-ill-advised, Methane-fueled extreme home makeover.)

We're told the exhibit will be up at Alcove til September 7th, so make some time to swing by and take a look for yourself. That cake should be cleaned up by now, but there's plenty more to drool over.