Newcomer to Lynn fills void by opening bookshop

LYNN – Chris Barber was astonished to learn that Lynn, with its unofficial population edging toward 100,000, had no bookshop.The Los Angeles transplant decided to change that by opening Subterranean, a cozy nook within The Little Gallery Under the Stairs (TLGUTS) art gallery in the basement of the LynnArts building at 25 Exchange St. in Central Square.Barber, 42, who lives in the MV24 Lofts on Mount Vernon Street, a short walk from the book shop, settled in Lynn over the summer after learning that a former employer in New York City ? the art shipping company Artex Fine Art Services ? had opened an office in Boston.Prior to moving east, Barber was living in Los Angeles where he worked for a different art shipping company. He found Lynn after researching the region for an affordable community on Boston’s commuter rail line.”I liked the local newspapers and blogs. There seemed to be a lot of grassroots activity going on,” he said. “Besides, I wanted a loft, and when I came up here to look at it, I just liked Lynn ? the architecture, the feel of the place, that it was a small town, which was a change of pace. It was only later that I came to appreciate how much potential there is here and the few people who are doing so much to make it happen.”Barber cited LGUTS owner Jocelyn Almy-Testa as a key motivator, along with Corey Jackson, Katerina Panagiotakis and Lynn blogger Seth Albaum.”Jocelyn is organizing a reading night, which will happen monthly,” he said, emphasizing his desire to create a salon atmosphere. “There will also be nights when a combination of a poet and a folk singer would be invited, or a storyteller and a singer on another night. It will be different from an open-mike night. These people will be invited.”The shelves of Subterranean have been stocked with vintage literature and tomes on art, music and history.Barber’s newspaperman father instilled in him a passion for reading and ? hence ? collecting books. Two of his favorite authors ? Herman Melville and Bruno Schultz.Barber said he plans to grow the collection. “I plan to take some books on consignment, but I have to be selective because of the space,” he said. “I had to really strip down to move here. I kept the best and sent them across the country by truck. They weighed over 4,000 pounds.”Most days, Barber is at work in Boston, but at least three weekday evenings n Tuesday through Thursday from 7-10 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., customers can find him at the shop, often engaged in creating art.Barber’s handiwork won him recognition at an Art After Hours event at the Lynn Museum in late October. He was among six local artists to transform an oaken shoe last into a work of art.The competition was meant to reflect the city’s history as a shoe manufacturing center. Wooden lasts were used in the shoe-making process. Barber turned his cured piece of oak into a skeletal foot, an endeavor that took about 25 hours of carving and shaping with an array of chisels.Subterranean is, as its name implies, under ground. Windows in LGUTS look out at the feet and legs of passersby on the sidewalk. The gallery is a tenant of LynnArts and typically has an exhibition on the walls.Barber met Almy-Testa by chance at Turbine, the downtown wine bar a block away from the gallery. Almy-Testa overheard a conversation about art and joined in. Soon after, Barber established his long-dreamed book store inside the gallery.”I work in art shipping, but mostly I’m an artist,” he said. “The idea of having a book store where people could come and hang out is something I’ve thought about for a long time.”Barber grew up in Gainesville, Fla. where for eight years he played percussion in several bands, then attended the Art Institute of Chicago and graduate school at the University of California at San Diego. Married in New York and divorced in LA, Barber has continually pursued conceptual art, as opposed to formal. As he put it, “My art is not so much about aesthetics as it is about