Last Friday the Art-Patrol braved the oppressive heat to make our appointed rounds. Our junior deputies were off on special assignment in California, but we took on a seasoned veteran from another precinct for a guest patrol.
First stop: Bruno David. Here we found a summer group show with some pleasant surprises, like an oddly-shaped Bill Kohn canvas from Spain in 1986 and a big Ken Worley oil stick piece from a few years back. We also found artists such as Sandra Marchewa and Worley taking turns doing sound bites with a video crew out front.
Other notables from the show included Leslie Laskey’s “Relics” (2007), a C-print on Japanese paper that stopped us in our tracks, Bunny Burson’s “Consequences” series, consisting of mixed-media with chad, and an untitled photorealist oil by Ingo Baumgarten. Some of us are suckers for photorealism.
Next we made a dash through the light show at the Pulitzer, basking in the aroma-therapy-like glow, and lingering to commune for a while with Serra’s “Joe” in the sculpture garden, despite the lack of breathable oxygen.
We walked up to Grand and crossed the street to PSTL Gallery at Pace Framing, where a steady stream of visitors observed Stan Chisholm’s latest work. We did too, and enjoyed it. Later, WhenLandsExpand sparked a vague, unfinished discussion about decorative versus message-laden graffiti, cartoon as metaphor, a la Roy Lichtenstein, and other heady meta-aesthetics. We like art that elicits these kinds of conversations, even if they don’t necessarily lead to easy conclusions.
Also at PSTL we bumped into Post-Dispatch art reviewer David Bonetti, with whom we shared a rambling conversation about heat, health-care insurance, local media (new and old, print and otherwise), San Francisco, New York, the Getty Museum in L.A., and the seemingly endless variety of art-related activities happening everywhere one goes, if only one has the time to check them out. He marveled at our modest attempts to cover the local scene, and on our own dime, no less, and we parted amiably.
Before we beat feet to Cherokee Street it was suggested that we make an unplanned stop at Drive, which had a show listed on the ArtDTour. We tried our damnest, circling the block and shinnying through the alleyways in search of a place to park, all to no avail. After twenty minutes of just missing several choice spots and not finding any others, we gave up and headed south. Maybe we should have taken the Lumiere limo?
Having already seen the “Historical and Contemporary Resistance” posters on display at C.A.M.P last summer, our visit to Black Bear Bakery was as much because we were curious about the space and its inhabitants as for the advertised artwork. We did peruse the newly framed and hung posters in the seating area. We also enjoyed the fresh cookies and earnest company while we looked around. Upstairs, in what was once a balcony area of the old theater, a movie was being shown about how to squat in real estate for fun and profit. We are generally fond of anarchy, but we had places to go and things to do so we did not linger.
At Glasscents Gallery we were greeted with a blast of incense, which, while in keeping with the nascent gallery’s name, was anathema to some of us. So, it turned out, was much of what we saw there, though the wide range of offerings should appeal to a broad demographic, and the location amid the growing Cherokee gallery scene can’t hurt. Good luck, Glasscents!
In fact, we were so hasty to get on with our Friday night we neglected to visit MadArt! Drat! That looks like a good show, too. We’ll have to catch it later.
