Gallery 25 lands one hot exhibit: Also, a gimmicky idea at Arte
Am?ricas leads to some gems.
Donald Munro, The Fresno Bee – California – KRTBN
Published: Jul 13, 2007

>From my critic’s notebook:

* If I were Donald Trump, I’d forget Running Horse and bestow my money
on what Fresno really needs: air conditioning for Gallery 25. The scene
at ArtHop last week was a little like stepping straight into the sauna
at your gym. I managed to last about 10 minutes before nearly passing
out in a sweat-soaked stupor.

As you can imagine, there weren’t huge crowds in Gallery 25 because of
the heat — which is too bad, because the show is so fascinating. In
one of those truly strange coincidences that leave you asking, "What
are the odds," it turns out there’s another Gallery 25 in Gyumri,
Armenia.

(Our Gallery 25 was named for the number of members it had when it was
founded years ago; their Gallery 25’s name came from its street
address.)

They found out about our Gallery 25 and arranged for an exchange. So
you have a chance this month to see works from a variety of Armenian
artists.

My favorite is a stunning painting by an artist named Arthur Sargsyan.
It’s a multimedia work somewhat in the vein of Mary Maughelli — a
collagelike compilation with swirls of thick color, Armenian text,
statuesque buildings and squiggles of motion. Like Maughelli’s work, it
draws you in like a churning whirlpool — once you’re inside, it’s
enveloping.

I’d started off with Corridor 2122, which has an interesting
photography exhibition curated by Jim Heitzeberg titled "Pictures With
Content." Six different artists are represented ranging from Michael
Reed’s peppy series over a period of months documenting the clothes he
sheds at the end of the day — who knew a pair of jeans slung over a
bathroom hamper could be so artistic? — to Kirtley King’s disturbing
"Focusing on Close Objects to Resolve the Black Holes Left Behind,"
which uses NASA-style planetary photos to close in on the minutiae of
everyday faces. (If you get close to enough to anyone, we all start
looking like something from outer space.)

My favorite of the exhibition: Jo Anne Yada’s four ambiguous images, in
grainy shades of black and white, suggest disembodied human figures —
almost like a crime scene.

There’s a sense of floating in the works, of disoriented imbalance,
that suggests, if not tragedy, then grim times ahead. They’re quite
compelling.

Finally, I ended up in the coldest place of all: Arte Americas, which
has a special gallery housing works from the Fresno Art Museum that’s
like a walk-in freezer. Brrrr. Felt good. It was fun to finally catch
Joe Bravo’s big "tortilla art" show. I’m still not sure that Bravo’s
tortilla paintings are much more than a gimmick. Some seem serious,
such as the iconic image he painted of Che Guevara. Others just have to
be satirical in intent, such as his warm and fuzzy portraits of puppies
that look like they belong in a Hallmark store.

Whatever his intent, it’s an interesting approach that has driven lots
of traffic into Arte Americas, which is a good thing. And once you’re
in for the tortilla art, you’re exposed to Bravo’s big, brash paintings
done in vivid propaganda style — almost like Socialist Realism. Even
poor, put-upon George W. Bush gets his chance for satirizing. But he
didn’t get his own tortilla. What’s up with that?

* I want to acknowledge an amazing theatrical performance: "Lucia’s
Chapters," a riveting piece performed last Friday at Summer Arts by the
noted avant-garde theater company Mabou Mines.

This two-person show had me mesmerized from the opening scene, when an
intense beam of light narrowed down to a razor-sharp vertical line
bisecting the imposing figure of Lucia, played by the consummate Ruth
Maleczech. This was Lucia Joyce, daughter of the famed poet James
Joyce, living out her last days in a mental institution.

There are times when theater is so good that it makes you shiver.
Perched solidly in a chair, at times picking up a cherished photo album
that reminded her of her famous father, Maleczech didn’t have much
chance to roam the stage. Her character was too frail for that. But
even seated, she created such a nexus of energy and intensity that it
was like watching one blazing light bulb in an otherwise dark room.

An astonishing technical design for the production used sophisticated
video and projection techniques to create both the world of Lucinda’s
mind and her somewhat fuzzy take on reality. (Or was it just blurred by
all those drugs pumped into her over the years?) The lighting and set
design never overwhelmed — and in fact at times settled for simple
darkness. It was a beautiful example of how technology can enhance a
performance without drowning it.

The reporter can be reached at dmunro@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6373.