A R T L E T T E R
The Timely Magazine of Art
#3 | <!>previous/ next>!> Artletter index | April 15, 1995 |
Core Fellows at the Glasssell school ends 4/23 Amber Eagle's photographs give you cake icing, which you know, but then there's this hellacious interior psycho-drama, technically seamless.-Giles Lyon Core Fellows at the Glasssell school 4/23 Amber Eagle's imagery is incredably dumb-like a prom girl getting into David Lynch or like album cover art.-Jeff Elrod Jesus Moroles at McClain gallery 5/8 Nature gives a simple slab of granite more endearing qualities than Moroles ever will. I can only conclude that his work makes wonderful, designey paperweights and doorstops for those without enough cash to buy a Noguchi.-Louise Cranston Art Guys: Think Twice at the CAM 6/25 The Art Guys have some really strong, heavy pieces, like Goatee Off: Manifest Destiny postage stamps and Ashes of the American Flag Rearranged into Three Other Easily Recognizable Symbols, but the static objects like the bottles, the pencils and all the bats covered with stuff are too easy, and undermine the heavy work which is saying something above and beyond the formal observation of the world we live in. I have a problem with the way they frame everything and plaque everything. It makes me not buy a lot of this work, because its presented in a crafty way. Heavy anarchistic ideas candy coated. The Art Guys blur the lines between entertainment and art. Is art entertainment? Let's define that.-Jeff Elrod Art Guys: Think Twice at the CAM 6/25 The Art Guys use traditional tricks: surprising formal combinations, punning, moustaches, and viewer participation, but without the nihilism of Dada or Fluxus. Their earlier work seems more interested in taking an actively critical stance versus the museum/gallery system, using ornate frames and gold plaques to art-ize various insignificant items. The best piece of this type is the framed receipt which records the cost of it's own frame. My favorite pieces are the ones which actually manipulate the real world, like Bulk Up for CAM, Pennies from Heaven, and On Guard. A lot of the works (the pencils, baseball bats, toothbrushes and birdhouses) are cute art-toys which look like too much work to be really fun.-B.D. address letters to: Bill Davenport, 801 Tulane St. Houston, TX 77007 look for ARTLETTER #4 on May 1