Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Openings: King Me


On Saturday night, October 10, King Me opened at Open Space, the new gallery and music venue in Remington.  King Me, the second show to date produced by Open Space, presents the work of the collaborative group DUOX, composed of recent MICA grads Dan Wickerham and Malcolm Lomax.  The show will run through most of October.

This was my first visit to the space, and I felt it was well done.  Concrete floors, white walls, well-placed track lighting and garage doors equals a simple, clean, and good-sized gallery space into which you can pack plenty of people.  And it was already pretty full by 8:30pm, an hour and a half after the opening had begun.  A diverse crowd was sipping from tiny Starbucks cups of free liquor-infused punch (for those 21 and up, of course) and a bunch of chicken wings had just arrived.  Dan and Malcolm were mingling with their guests, both in snazzy get-ups, and when a close friend showed up from New York, surprising them both, there was lots of screaming and excited yelling.

As for the work itself, I have to say that I really don't know what to say.  Do I get it? Not really.  Do I have to get it? I don't know?  I often feel like the biggest complaint about postmodern art is that it seems to make no sense- the meaning is elusive and you often stand there just trying to make sense of it all.  Plastic bags filled with magazine cut-outs and drawings, videos containing sexual acts, a MICA custodial shirt with a painted 40 oz beer bottle sitting on top of it, metallic plastic lids and straws on slabs of plaster, phone books nailed to the ceiling, an aluminum foiled duck, a board with red bricks, red lights, and black belts on it.  A clear Hollister bag with a gold football in it tacked to the wall, a massive collage with black pretzels drawn on it.

They could be talking about materialization, commercialization, symbols and sex, maybe they just love metallics and random materials.  I'm not saying I get it, so I don't really know.  Rob Brulinski reviewed the show for Gutter Daily at Guttermagazine.com, and he wrote that the work, "Attempts to repackage a set of motifs: black pretzels, leisure, work and labor, vacations, journals, morning preparation, transparent Casper, work clothes, sweet and salty sex, image as sculpture, masks, soaps, snacks as lunches, beards, bugs, and hot showers."

Personally I think it's mainly about sex and found materials.  But I really, really don't know.  Regardless, I think it's worth seeing, a good use of the space and interesting at the least.  If you don't get very mild postmodern art, then I have a feeling you really won't get this very extreme postmodern art.  It is quite far from a simple oil painting of a pretty landscape.  But art isn't about getting it, as I have said before.  It's about visual imagery, creativity, and expression- and I believe everyone should expose themselves to as much of it as possible! So, check out King Me at Open Space throughout October, and continue to check out Open Space in the future, as it is already off to a good start- and I am sure there is more good to come!





Open Space is located at 2720 Sisson Street Baltimore MD behind the alligator mural.

1 comment:

  1. Once again, an honest, forthright post. I heartily agree...

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