Around the Globe, Close to Home

When a typical cycle in urban areas seems to be build, let decay, tear down and rebuild, it's challenging for a city like St. Louis to keep pace. Sure, a metropolis such as Manhattan can constantly reinvent itself — for better or for worse — but what is lost during the replacement efforts? And then in our old city, with still so many structures that could be preserved or redeveloped and not enough money (or willpower) to do so, the cycle never fully runs its course, and these brick and mortar elements in varying states of decay line the streets, shadowing the landscape and showing residents what is lost — or almost lost. In some cases, the almost-losts stand as proudly as possible and serve as testaments to when they were still meaningful, holding on tightly to the remnants of their former purpose. The Globe Drug warehouse falls into this group. Photographer Michael Eastman and archaeologist/painter Robert Mazrim captured this downtown building's sense of lingering intention in their collaborative exhibition Excavating the Emptied Globe: Images and Artifacts from a Lost St. Louis Environment. Opening with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, February 19, at the Duane Reed Gallery (4729 McPherson Avenue; 314-361-4100 or www.duanereedgallery.com), this exhibit offers a documentarian look at the spoiled food, dated office supplies, and dust-covered anything and everything left behind and provides a view from the inside of a fading edifice. Excavating the Emptied Globe runs through Saturday, March 27, and the gallery is open from Tuesday through Saturday — be sure to check out the show before it, too, is simply gone.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Feb. 19. Continues through March 27, 2010