ONCE upon a time – the 1990s, to be exact – there existed on Manhattan’s Lower East Side a storefront gallery populated by young street artists.
Or, as one of the artists says in “Beautiful Losers,” Aaron Rose’s documentary look back at the gallery he ran for 10 years, “It wasn’t really a gallery. It was more of a party space . . . for rich bored kids.”
Rose catches up with 11 of the gallery’s alumni and alumnae – punk rockers, hip-hoppers, graffiti artists, skateboarders – who have gone on to bigger and better things.
Best known to people outside this art-world subgenre is Harmony Korine, who achieved modest fame as a screenwriter (Larry Clark’s “Kids”), filmmaker (“Gummo,” “Mister Lonely”) and boyfriend (Chloe Sevigny’s).
Names of the other artists – such as Barry McGee, Ed Templeton, Margaret Kilgallen and Jo Jackson – won’t necessarily ring a bell, but they all have interesting stories to tell in this pleasant film, which sings the praises of nonconformity.
Running time: 90 minutes. Not rated (brief nudity). At the IFC Center, Sixth Avenue and Third Street.