Enter into a white cell begging to explode with contemporary metabolic energy. This is the mind of Scott O'Brien and what he puts forth in Pilsen's Cyt. O. Gallery. His 31 by 13-foot space, tucked away on the fourth floor of a rehabbed warehouse on south Halsted, lies in a neighborhood peppered with frame shops, avant-garde boutiques and art galleries.

O'Brien aims to simply display what he thinks looks cool. "Opening the gallery buys me the opportunity to learn about art," he oozes as he stares at "Poison in Your Mouth," a piece about insidious oral fixations. The freelance medical editor admits he has no creative prowess, a point hard to deduce from the roster of artists and visual concepts that have splashed the gallery's sterile walls.

Brooklyn artist Jeff DeGolier was Cyt. O's first artist in September 2006. O'Brien saw his work and convinced him to send some pieces to Chicago. Since DeGolier, O'Brien has taken on the role of a cerebral sketcher, suggesting an initial concept and leaving the artists to produce the final product. February 2007 brought the "I Lows," a collaboration of self-portraits based on the theory of highs and lows. He sought out a group of concert graphic designers to create work for the show. O'Brien asked another featured artist, Joseph Clayton Mills, to mix experimental sound with his text-based paintings.

When art buyers, students and families stop by to examine the pieces (priced $300 to $1,000), O'Brien wants them to, "come in and find one piece that will move them to anger, frustration or excitement."

Centerstage Reviewer: Nola Akiwowo