Think that the only worthwhile art openings this summer are going down in Chelsea? Not even close. Nestled in Williamsburg, the recently opened Capricious Space is a down-to-earth emerging artists' den created by an international fine art photography publication to act as a sanctuary from the city's clamor and a showcase for new creative work.

Their inaugural group show, "An Ode to the Animal," featured a curated series of 30 photographs taken from the pages of Capricious #8: The Animal Issue. (Capricious founder Sophie Morner originally launched the mag because she was fresh out of school with nowhere to show her work, go figure.) While I thought all of the pieces were intriguing, my personal favorite was a photograph by Scarlett Hooft Graafland, a 35-year-old artist splitting her time between Amsterdam and New York City, and represented by Vous Etes Ici Gallery; the stunning image depicts a woman who is gracefully perched on a wooden stool on a barren beach, her upper body wrapped completely in a skinned bear hide.

This summer the space will play host to a variety of events from film screenings to relaxed dinner parties, but the overriding idea is to allow artists to transform the venue according to their own visions and dreams. "I don't even want to call it a gallery, you know?," Morner has said. "I'd like it to be a place where lots of stuff can happen, like we can have a thrift shop for plants, for example.... I'll be happy if Capricious can be the place for those kinds of random things." See what she has in mind on July 11th at the opening night party for "And then, what then," a photography exhibit curated by New York City-based artist Andrea Longacre-White.

For more information please visit www.becapricious.com.

- Katie Willmann

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