Art: 'Nest,' 'Metamorphosis' and 'Fall Collection'
'Nest'
Really, it was bound to happen. Terrence Payne's patterned silkscreens have long begged for the textile treatment. And it's not like Amy Rice's stencils are strangers to old cupboard doors and window shutters. So why not push the furniture flirtation just a bit further? This weekend both artists are doing just that, with an ambitious, first-of-its-kind show in an empty house in St. Louis Park, where they will outfit the old Modernist residence with arted-up accoutrements. From drapes to chandeliers, sofas to armchairs, the home will embody the antique, illustrative charm of these two interior decorators. Their 2-D world becomes inhabitable, but only for a weekend. This is something to see. (Free reception 6-10 p.m. Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 8000 Westwood Hills Dr., St. Louis Park, nestinfo.blogspot.com.)
- Gregory J. Scott
'Tetsumi Kudo: Garden of Metamorphosis'
In the aftermath of World War II, Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo grappled with his country's impotence, humiliation, destruction and cultural confusion as a rapidly westernizing Oriental nation. His floridly colorful, sexualized and often morbidly grotesque constructions compressed personal and social history into bird cages, aquariums and little boxes that explode with psychosexual symbolism. Although Kudo (1935-1990) attained fame in European avant-garde circles thanks to idiosyncratic performances in the 1960s, the Walker retrospective is his first major American show.
- Mary Abbe
'The Fall Collection'
The stated goal of 555 Studios, a tattoo parlor/art gallery, is "to fill the large void left by OX-OP's closing" -- meaning, to create a new space dedicated to so-called "lowbrow" art. But from the looks of their upcoming group show, "The Fall Collection," they're not giving their artists enough credit. Sure, there are a few testosterone-charged illustrations, the standard jock art of the tattoo crowd (tongue-wagging cattle horns, skulls floating on mushroom clouds). But there's also more contemplative work. A piece by Louis N. LaPierre, in particular, stands out: frail telephone poles, like emptied crucifixes, get lost in a stormy gray environment. The image is somber and quiet, and might offer a nice moment of meditation before a customer sits down to get some permanent ink. (Opening reception 7-10 p.m. Sat.)
- Gregory J. Scott
Eddie Hamilton + Scott Helmes
After a few months of empty walls at Barbette since the departure of curator Yuri Arajs, owner Kim Bartmann called up Arajs' good friend and colleague Teri Anvid to take over. For a new exhibition, Anvid brings together the ink drawings and pastel figure paintings of Eddie Hamilton and the abstracts and collaged figure paintings of Scott Helmes. While Helmes has been a major player in the local art scene since the '70s and takes a more traditional fine-art approach, Hamilton is a relative unknown and has a more organic feel to his work. "It's a juxtaposition," Anvid explains. "If I would've named the show, it would be called 'Heroes and Figures'" -- a reference to the heroic, childlike imagery of Hamilton's work and the figure-based abstract art by Helmes. (Free opening reception 3-6 p.m. Sun. Through Dec. 3.)
- Jahna Peloquin
