'Street Market' D.C. Graffiti Show Opening At Fridge Gallery (PHOTOS)

WASHINGTON -- From slavering money monsters to repurposed frisbees, an exhibition opening Friday night will celebrate unconventional and edgy creations from the streets of D.C.

Titled Street Market, the Fridge Gallery show highlights the work of 15 local graffiti artists.

In addition to exploring the 50 pieces on display, attendees of Friday night's opening reception will be able to watch several featured artists in action, as they transform part of the Barracks Row gallery into a new piece of art.

The exhibition offers "an inside look at the history of graffiti in D.C.," according to assistant gallery director Emma Fisher, from artists like Asad "ULTRA" Walker, who has been working in D.C. for decades, to newcomers like Astrotwitch, a recent transplant from the West Coast.

"Street Market" will also showcase the work of one of the few women artists in the local graffiti scene: Known as Decoy, she's celebrated for a unique and intimate portrait style that might not be normally associated with street art, according to Fisher.

Fisher said the graffiti offers "a very pure form of self-expression" that is rare in other genres, with the passion and tension of those who inhabit the ambiguous area between crime and art, simultaneously illicit and self-promotional. While some of the artists have been professionally trained, many are self-taught.

"These are artists coming up from underground," she said. "They provide a new way of looking at things."

The "Street Market" opening reception will take place on Aug. 10 from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. The show will be on display through Aug. 19. Admission is free. For full details, visit the Fridge Gallery's website.