Art: 'Draw Too'/'Through the Looking Glass'
Fresh ideas are scarce this summer at the Soo Visual Arts Center, as the Lyndale gallery attempts what could be a stale sequel to a show it mounted four years ago. The theme? Bringing sexy back to drawing. At the original "Draw" in 2004, the goal was to prove drawing's sustained relevance and allure, to show that wild innovation could still bloom in an art form frequently considered basic and first-learned. For "Draw Too," the twist is merely semantic; artists were asked to choose from four possible definitions of the word "draw" on which to base their work (think drawing a photo, drawing a gun, drawing a breath and drawing a tie in a sports match). As a concept, it seems pretty sketchy. It'll be up to the artists -- notably John Largaespada, Scott Stulen and Isaac Arvold--to keep things interesting.
If you do take a chance on the show, be sure to duck into the smaller Toomer Gallery while you're there. In "Through the Looking Glass," Jen Davis offers a new set of images from the pastel-soaked girlscape that seems to play out perpetually in her mind. The work exhibits none of the nonsense lunacy of its Alice in Wonderland title, but it does convey the thrill and trepidation of a child who's lost her way in a not-always happy fantasy world. Kitten-faced young girls and bloated mollusks take the place of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, but Davis -- a bit of a Cheshire Cat herself -- doesn't let on as to which characters can be trusted. (Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday 06/20.)
