The Rice Village boutique premiumgoods isnย’t just for sneaker heads. Artist and curator Melinda Mosheim is working closely with the urban-themed store to develop a kind of symbiotic relationship between art and commerce, centered around a raw street aesthetic ย— weย’ll call it ย“urban lowbrow chic.ย” ย“This whole experience is like the total package,ย” says Mosheim, ย“when you walk into the store youย’re getting urban from sneakers, from T-shirts, from whatย’s on the plasma-screen TV.ย” ย“More Ways Than Oneย” is the new group show at premiumgoods (coinciding with the third anniversary of the storeย’s opening), and artists have been encouraged to ย“representย” ย— certain works will actually name-drop the store, its products and staff members. With graffiti swiftly becoming the graphic artistย’s ubiquitous business card, this interesting partnership seems like the next logical step for the urban genre. While youย’re buying those sneakers, why not purchase a piece of original art by someone who may, one day, design sneaker graphics?

Mondays-Saturdays. Starts: Aug. 24. Continues through Nov. 9, 2007

This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2007.