Back in August we broke word that Fuse Gallery, the art space behind Lit Lounge in the East Village, was set to close on September 11. That date has come and gone, and owner Erik Foss has been keeping busy retooling the space for its reopening as a rec room, and also lending his paintings to an upcoming art exhibit featuring a slew of downtown fixtures.

Foss tells us the back room of Lit will now be stocked with a pool table, dart board, and video games, so it can stay open every night and make the bar some money – but the walls will still be plastered with rotating installations, starting with Foss’s own collage of hundreds of concert flyers, plus some photographs by Ivory Serra (nephew of Richard Serra). Artists Rambo and Bast will also contribute some décor (Rambo is planning a love letter to Dash Snow, who was a fixture at the bar).

cut teethYou’ll get to see the back room in action on October 22, when it hosts an afterparty for an art show opening at 9 Great Jones where Foss is displaying some of his “punk paintings.” “Cut Teeth,” curated by Rob Aloa, will be hosted by “Sopranos” actor Dominic Chianese, and will feature East Villager Leo Fitzpatrick (of “Kids” fame), Bast, Icy & Sot, plus a reading by Cro-Mags frontman John Joseph. The show, says Foss, is a tribute to “the scenes and groups of friends that inspired us as artists.”