Edra Soto, "Light Within The Dark," 2009.
RECOMMENDED
Brian McNearny and Edra Soto’s two-person show, “Forever Vegetal,” treats the themes of birth and death with mythological import. On the birth side, McNearny’s “Bog” is the place where life begins—in a thick, heavily textured oil painting. The primordial Dagobah sends forth the figure of “Glob,” the vaguely mutant form surfaced from oil paint on a found desert-camo-looking banner, giving the work a vaguely sci-fi militaristic tinge.
Edra Soto’s explorations are more geared toward the end than the beginning, though “forever” could probably nest in either camp. Stuffed animals covered in shit-like sod occupy the floor of a too-dark gallery, parked around an illuminated square—think Billie Jean. The light is certainly transcendent, and the animals are appropriately reverent, despite their recent unearthing. The question remains which way the light will take whatever beleaguered soul decides to step on, up or down? In the same corner lives “Light Within the Dark,” where baby Jesus rests upon a charcoal mountain range like Christ the Redeemer surveys a sinning Rio. Tucked behind the miniature range are a string of Christmas lights, the light most directly behind the Jesus figure blinking like a beckoning landing beacon. Crash ye planes unto me, the tot says, in the ultimate come-to-Jesus moment. Merry Christmas. (Erik Wennermark)
Through January 16 at Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center, 1034 North Milwaukee Avenue
Related Stories
Bodily Autonomy: A Review of Beyond Reach at Roots & Culture In a world where virtual space is becoming more abundant and our physical world more precarious, the artists present the body as transformative and a vehicle for change.- Delayed Departure: A Review of Roni Packer and Michael Lopez at Roots and Culture An immersive collaboration between two artists questions authorship and objecthood.
- Tracing Seismic Culture from its Highs to its Lows An octopus in distress can chew off a damaged leg to ensure survival, knowing that a new one will grow in its place. Or so says the press release for Takashi Murakami’s retrospective “The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg” at the Museum of Contemporary Art. As a metaphor for Murakami’s practice, the phenomenon is apt. From his early paintings incorporating…
- Between Being and Becoming: A Review of Gordon Hall at the Renaissance Society An ephemeral sculptural installation and performance elegantly softened the threshold between the object and the body.
