8/10
Lisa Strand
Standing in a huge room filled with gigantic, red, crudely shaped pillars makes you think about how small you really are in the whole scheme of things. This feeling is represented in the Albright-Knox’s featured display, the Beyond/In Western New York exhibit. This show appropriately features local artists, all of whose work includes an eclectic mix of style and media.
The bright red, cardboard pillars situated throughout the space of the gallery were the work of local artist Artemis Herber. Other sculptures included patterned black and white fabric forms that were eccentrically shaped by Lyn Carter, another local artist. The gallery exhibit extended to the outside—through a window, Shayne Dark’s cobalt blue, branch-like sculptures were set against the horizon. The most peculiar setup was a series of seemingly store-bought bunny figurines by Alfonso Volo, all of them slightly altered with crocheted and knitted abstract patterns and creepy paint jobs. Some of the knitting hung from the ceiling while the bunny figurines (many of them with embellished red eyes with red dots descending from them) sat atop the unfinished crocheted pieces that still had a needle and thread attached.
Some of the media that was used in the pieces was more conventional. Nathan W. Naetzker used oil on canvas to portray the daily life he experiences in the Western New York area, and Ani Hoover displayed latex paint pieces featuring elaborate circle patterns made from the natural gravitational drip of the paint. Amanda Besl did a series of portraits of profile pictures in outstanding detail, some made using only one strand of hair as a brush. A room filled with roughly 400 small drawings and sketches in oblong patterns was the work of Simone Mantellassi, each drawing encapsulated in a distinct frame. Each of them stated a completely original message that was overwhelming (but still absolutely fabulous) when put together.
Other mixes of artistic talent included Kathryn Ruppert Dazai who used textiles made from cotton, yarn and flour sacks to create her works. Each of them seemed understated, but the creative titles of each piece introduced an ominous point of view to the experience. Another interesting artist was Kristan Horton who took film frames from the movie Dr. Strangelove and paired them with an artistic recreation of the frame made with ordinary household items. An exploding bomb with a mushroom-shaped cloud was recreated using two bowls set atop each other and crumpled pieces of paper scattered around it against a plain black background.
Video technology also added to the exhibit. Lois Andison photographed a picture from her window every half hour for an entire year, giving a stunning sense of reality in a pure form. Jeremy Bailey created a very entertaining and retro video that extended his “self” into a creative, free-moving being that was a true expression of original vision.
The final exhibit visited was a situational setup of an empty office. This installation included a very realistic view of a typical office space that hinted at a subtle message condemning the corporate individualistic greed perhaps found in a customer service office or a tax bureau. In actuality, it is the artist Chris Barr’s Bureau of Workplace Interruptions where workers call or email businesses to break up the doldrums of the office day. Either way, I almost skipped it thinking it was just a small office space part of the gallery.
Beyond/In provided an insightful view into the talent of WNY and its surroundings. If you’re interested in this exhibit, it is currently on display through October 28 at the Albright-Knox, located on Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo. There is free admission to UB students on Fridays.
