Again and again arcane histories and contemporary legends collide; a portrait of John F. Kennedy from a “magic-bullet’s eye” point-of-view is shown alongside a drawing combining massive pyramids within an urban landscape. The work between both artists communicates in such a similar fashion that at times it cannot be immediately distinguished who was the maker. Fenchel displays a number of digital collages, composites of nature photography, vaguely ritual images, color fields, all arranged in simple geometric forms, reminiscent of both abstracted hieroglyphic symbols and Albers color studies. Meara presents a collection of music videos installed in an array of boxy televisions and synchronized incandescent lights, all at once like a thrift store, nightclub and Nam June Paik installation. The rear of the gallery is covered in clear vinyl wallpaper adorned with CDRs gutted to gold leaf thinness. This, along with most everything else in the show, is a fine demonstration of the abstraction of stored information; representative of ever present patternmaking and abstraction produced throughout the cycles of time. (Lisa Larson-Walker)
Through March 15 at Roots & Culture, 1034 N. Milwaukee.
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