Friday night Charleston’s favorite little contemporary art center celebrated six years of standing out and stickin’ it to the man. A small crowd gathered on the first floor of the Art Institute — surprisingly small for a Redux event, but possibly attributable to the $50 ticket prices, pretty steep for your average hipster. Guests sipped on champagne and vodka/Red Bulls and grazed from the table of veggie platters and dips — it was hard to tell if any of the advertised restaurants (like Fast & French, Chinar, and Muse) had contributed the food or if Redux had picked up platters at the Pig. But Sugar Bake Shop served up a fabulous cake fashioned after the Redux HQ on St. Philip’s Street. After milling around and checking out art from Jarod Charzewski, Seth Curcio, Nathan Durfee, Jonathan Brilliant, Tim Hussey, and many more talented artists, guests gathered in a semi-circle and got out their hand-made paddles to start bidding. And bid they did, but not too high, at least in my opinion — most pieces sold for less than $200, despite the high quality of the work. Here’s hoping Redux’s sixth year won’t be too spoiled by the economy.
