‘Meet Me In the Bathroom’ exhibit is more than a filthy, graffiti’d stall

Lizzy Goodman, author of “Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011,” is standing in a filthy, graffiti’d bathroom stall pointing out director Spike Jonze’s snapshots of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs plastered on its walls. Then she moves to another stall to touch up her makeup.

It’s not an actual working washroom, but part of the colorful exhibit, “Meet Me in the Bathroom: The Art Show,” at The Hole, a Bowery art gallery which has been re-imagined as the East Village dive bar of the same name.

Photos of The Strokes and the YYYs’ Karen O’s punky costumes and hand-decorated microphones, along with a guitar from TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek and painted portraits by Interpol’s Paul Banks are just some of the show’s art, photos, memorabilia and artifacts linked to the vibrant musical era.

“A big part of the rebirth was a reaction to the creative stagnancy in New York from the ’90s to 2001, and the violence of that era,” Goodman, who curated the show with film director Hala Matar, tells The Post. “There was a determined joy.”

That era’s joy — as well as some of the stagnancy preceding it — is reflected in the exhibit.

Such signs of the times include the powerful photo by Urs Fischer of an egg being splattered in a single hand — used for the YYYs’ “It’s Blitz!” album cover and Colin Lane’s controversial and sensual shot of a naked butt with a Chanel-gloved hand on it, used on “Is This It,” the first Strokes album.

“Colin’s photo summarizes the era,” says Goodman. “It’s playful and dirty.”

The “What’s Eating Karen O Dress,” by Karen O’s fashion designer Christian Joy, is a deconstructed prom gown, and due to its print of maroon circles on yellow, is referred to as the pepperoni-pizza dress, Goodman says. “Karen said, ‘It’s so ugly, I want to cry,’ then she wore it.”

Goodman notes the paint on the walls was mixed with dirt, and a bar bench on display was modeled after the disgusting one at gallery owner Kathy Grayson’s Hole bar. Above an R-rated couch marked up by Sharpies, called “Studio Loveseat (Xtra Long),” hangs a huge Jackson Pollock-like work, “This Isn’t So Dark,” by Dan Collin.

The artwork is actually chewing gum, which people stuck on the canvas. “It smells like gum,” says Goodman as she leans into it as if it were a rose. “It’s trash. It’s joyful trash.”

“Meet Me in the Bathroom” is open through Sunday. (The Hole gallery, 312 Bowery; TheHoleNYC.com.)