Beautiful Burnout / Photo by Lyndsey Matthews

As with all art openings, the crowds come to congratulate the artist (of course), to see the work (naturally), and also (duh!) for the open bar, boozy schmoozing, and those adorable little hors d'oeuvres. And the crowd that came out last night (Aug. 7) was no different, but rather than saluting the latest artist to hit the gallery scene, they were there to congratulate Underworld's Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, and their collaborators Simon Taylor and John Warwicker, who are collectively the artists behind Beautiful Burnout, a multimedia collection unveiled at the Jacobson Howard Gallery on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Named for a track on Underworld's 2007 album Oblivion With Bells, Beautiful Burnout is an ongoing project updated daily by the artists (see the live webcam here). The collection of works (video, music, photography, painting, and collages), put together by Underworld (Smith and Hyde) and Tomato (John Warwicker and Simon Taylor), is the result of an art-collaboration that's been going on for some 20 years.

Check out this video tour of the exhibit, and scroll down to read more of our review:

The works -- visually stunning and ever changing -- were packed tightly into the small space, made even tighter by the at-capacity crowd mingling their way around the show. On one wall, Tyondai Braxton of Battles admired a digital print by Rick Smith hanging amidst a sea of imagery, on another, old-school gallery folk talked art in front of a mirrored painting still wet from the day's work. On yet another, Brits sipped pints near a bright purple wall adorned with geometrically placed florescent strips of tape just recently plastered on. All were treated to an endless supply of Sauvignon Blanc, keg beer, and sausage mini sandwiches and salmon on crostini.

The works were much like Underworld's music itself -- in place of fuzzy background beats, distant monotone vocals and blasts of melody, there were bright spots of color and vivid imagery amidst a fuzzy background of cityscapes and black and white imagery.

Smith and Hyde made the rounds all night amongst friends -- most of whom seemed to know the duo personally (they even toted around kids at one point, and we must note, the kids were dressed just as well, if not better, than most of the adults). And at some point the party moved upstairs to the industrial-ish roof deck (sans art, yet also stocked with an open bar and keg).

By the end of the night, as the last of the crowd shuffled out into the warm air, the art collection had changed yet again. That mirrored wall splattered with wet paint? It's now smudged with the outlines of the crowd.

Guess it's a good thing they'll be back tomorrow.

Check out more photos from last night on page 2 >>