In a space above Nonie’s in downtown Peterborough, a sneeze away from the Sharon Arts Center’s Downtown Exhibition gallery, Tim Donovan runs Launch Art, which he calls an incubator for new art and artists.

And as one might imagine, those on the precipice of a life of art can get a bit edgy. Now hanging on the walls is a print show called “You Bastard,” a 26-print show by 26 different printmakers with different takes on that phrase.

But edginess is something Donovan embraces, going as far as to give it a name. He calls it New Realism.

“New Realism is tackling issues of youth today,” Donovan says. “It’s not necessarily pretty. It’s about the content. Obviously if you have a painting you want to have it painted well, but that doesn’t necessarily mean pretty.”

Alongside “You Bastard” are two other exhibits, one dealing with consumption and obesity and the other dealing with eating disorders. These issues and disorders are closer to the surface of everyday public life, Donovan says. With reality television and shows like Celebrity Rehab, artists can confront these issues rather than pushing them to the side.

“The whole idea of Launch is to really be a contemporary gallery,” Donovan says. “We want to take artists and launch their work and get it out there. Of course it’s always nice to make sales, but the mission is to promote art and to promote what art is.”

Beyond the beauty of oil paintings of Mount Monadnock, which he says can be truly magnificent, Donovan says he hopes to look toward different types of art. Many shows that portray beauty can be conservative, he says.

“There are all types of different art,” he says. “Art is everything.”

And that includes images of two obese women feeding each other hamburgers and a skeleton eating an ice cream cone. Both of those are currently on display.

James Chase has his own work on display currently, and is also the curator for the “You Bastard” exhibit. Samuel Johnson is the other artist, dealing with consumerism and extremes. The skeleton eating an ice cream cone is his work.

The big night for Launch Art is First Friday. At all other times, admission to the gallery is by chance or by appointment.

Coming up next month is a drawing show with brother and sister Ed and Christine Mottau. While Donovan says the coming exhibit is less controversial than the current one, he says the exhibit is very contemporary and conceptual.

“It focuses on mark-making,” Donovan says. “With these drawings Christine did, her mark making is so large. The process adds to the meditative quality. She spent so much time on this. You think, ‘How did she have so much time?’”

Most of the exhibit is monochromatic, with different marks as shades of gray. Donovan says his own black and white film will be on display as well, called “Flare.”

The show will open on Friday, May 7, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

For a look at the current show, contact Donovan at 345-5915 or timdonovan@launchart.net. You can find out more about the organization at www.launchart.net.