Galleries gone wild

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There’s finally a spot for the hip art fan who can’t stomach another stuffy gallery opening with its tired white-wine-and-cheese spread. The art bar is a gallery-nightclub hybrid, showcasing cutting-edge works of art in a lounge setting with a real bar and, often, a club-caliber sound track. Patrons are free to kick up their heels, but dancing is not mandatory. Instead, the emphasis is on stoking the fires of downtown subculture while providing a place to mingle and throw back a drink or two.

Digital-art/design/party collective Blasthaus’s recently opened Bar of Contemporary Art is the latest and smartest addition to the growing art-bar scene. Housed in a ground-floor loft space behind the Old Mint and situated at the sketchy-cool intersection of SoMa and the Tenderloin, the industrial-style gallery, bar, and club has quickly become a favorite of creative types and forward-thinking San Franciscans looking to get their avant-party on.