Culture Bomb: The Howard Yezerski Gallery

Gallery owner Howard Yezerski has showcased contemporary art in several Boston neighborhoods through the years, but his current location, in the South End’s SoWa district is his favorite.

“There is no other place like this in Boston,” he said, looking out the large glass windows of the gallery’s office at the newly pink blossoms of Thayer Street’s tree-lined, brick adorned walkway. “There are a lot of businesses who’ve been down here forever. It’s an established area. It’s the best location I’ve seen.”

The gallery showcases a mix of new and established artists, and, according to Yezerski, the best way to describe the art on display would be contemporary.

“Most of our artists are still alive,” he points out.

The gallery will open a new exhibition on Friday, with artists Paul Shakespear and Karl Baden supplying the featured works.

Yezerski’s journey to SoWa began after graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in political science. Together with a good friend who also happened to be a painter, they opened the first gallery in Andover, which would serve as home for the next 20 years.

In 1988, Yezerski’s gallery relocated to Boston, settling on South Street, near South Station, but five years later, he was ready to move again.

He opened on Newbury Street in the Back Bay in 1993, and would remain there until 2008, when the opportunity to switch to the South End presented itself.

Now located along picturesque Thayer St., formerly a regular roadway, but now closed to all but pedestrian traffic as part of the overall rejuvenation of the SoWa district which followed the new millennium, Yezerski indicated he is pleased to be part of an up-and-coming area and dedicated to helping grow the neighborhood even further.

One of the best things about the , is that artists don’t have to be internationally acclaimed to place their work on the walls. As a longtime veteran of the art scene, Yezerski is confident enough in his eye and his vision for the gallery that he may be willing to take a flyer on unknown artists if he is impressed by the work and thinks it fits with the gallery’s program.

Here’s the rub regarding the comings and goings at the Howard Yezerski Gallery this week.

Outgoing Exhibition

• Artist: Laurel Sparks

New Exhibition

• Artists: Paul Shakespear, Karl Baden
• When: Opens Friday, April 20
• Where: Howard Yezerski Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave.