Just what we all needed after the most brutal of winters: a “Morale Booster.” New Boon(e), an artist run studio/exhibition space on the fringes of Old City, is providing just that for their April First Friday show. Their pick-me-up is an exhibition curated by Zac Beaver and Lina Elisa Northrup Pearson that encompasses the media of painting, installation, costuming and others, providing a little closure to the season we’re all ready to put behind us.

Christina Lower, “Now we have it colorless and ready to receive a name.”

Greeting us by the door appears to be one of the barren holdovers from our recent cabin-feverish snow days. A piece by Christina Lower entitled “Now we have it colorless and ready to receive a name” depicts a couple of wooden panels painted with a brash coat of mismatched off-whites, tans and yellow-browns. Aside from the uncovered white area at the bottom, the only actual image here is a satellite dish and its attached wire high up in the top right corner. Calling to mind the obsolete and the abandoned, this painting provides not a boost so much as a silent means of reflection, or even an illustration of what self-esteem is not.

Zac Beaver, “Cheyney,” “Mirmont” and “Ridley.”

Zac Beaver’s window frames contain glassy panes with views of stylized wildlife: a vulture head, a fox and some creeping vines. They all look strangely self-conscious, and the cigarette butts and beer cans lying in their midst hint at the fact that they may be more party animal than nature documentary. The transparent surfaces remind us that inside and outside, captive or free, these interpretations are often more relative than we would like them to be.

Maggie Stewart, “Untitled 14.”

Maggie Stewart provides a series of pinkish, pastel stripes centered around a yellow bar and rippling sound wave-like structures of warping grid forms. It is both lively and light, as well as optically jarring – a strange combination of elements, but a welcome bit of vibrancy. Speaking of vibrant, Kevin Dalton’s dangling neon fragment is probably brighter than practically everything else in the show. It is almost certainly a scrap from some other project, given new life through its wildly changing colors, patterns, and shapes. Within, we find an abstract landscape of peaks, clouds, and a blazing sun, all warping around the constraints of the jagged surface it is rendered on and suspended by a few wires. One raindrop form remains unpainted, revealing the wood gran beneath, just for good measure.

Kevin Dalton, “Appalachi and Points South.”

Swirling purple breezes twist about, surely not unlike the drifting mind of the prone figure in Amy Borch’s “Perspective.” The nude female lies, eyes closed and upside-down from the viewer’s standpoint, while a gentle yet noticeable turbulence disturbs the air around her. For the subject’s part, she remains undisturbed, calm and contemplative despite her surroundings.

Amy Borch, “Perspective.”

An interesting addition to anyone familiar with New Boon(e) is the costume from Josh Beaver’s performance “The Off White Beast” which hangs silently between other artworks. Perhaps unlike most of these other static pieces, this work by Josh Beaver, Maggie Stewart, and Zac Beaver was made for movement and madness when it debuted as the outfit worn in the final dance of the short production.

Unfortunately, New Boon(e) moves quite fast since they double as a studio, so the morale boost was somewhat short-lived, as they sometimes tend to be. They surely have more on the horizon, though, so stay tuned to their upcoming shows and performances as the warmer months get underway.

New Boon(e) is located at 253 North 3rd St., Philadelphia; [email protected]; newboone.com.