Space 1026 and Vox Populi host out of town guests this month in group shows of like-minded collectives from Boston (Oni at Vox Populi) and Brooklyn (Change Agent at Space 1026). There’s lots of works on paper in both shows. Here’s the CA spin. Next post up, Oni.
Change Agent
Change Agent, a five-person art, design and music group with a focus on street culture and activism, has put together a show that’s one of the most visually satisfying (i.e., least chaotic) outings at the Space by an out of town group. The work is cooked to perfection — it’s spicy and agreeable. My review this week at PW is about this show. Here’s a preview.
Orien McNeill’s wall drawing with 3-D components (detail above) depicts a Star Wars-type world seemingly at one with and under siege by big robots. All time and space has been collapsed in this work to create an eerie, depopulated fantasy world. Fish glide in the sky, propelled by mechanical means; twin towers rise up out of water and are bridged in the upper floors by a pagoda-type dojo.
The drawing, done (I believe) in marker — freehand — is something. Details like filagree flourishes in the architecture and in one place a space ship entry to a building evoking an open maw of a shark — only here the teeth are tiny, perfectly depicted sewing machines — make this more than teen notebook drawing.
Other notable works are by grafitti artist Swoon, whose woodblock prints hang by clothespins on lines in front of the windows. The work is figures and it makes for a kind of ghost tribe hanging around. (image shows one of Swoon’s figures installed in an outdoor location.)
Charlie Pratt’s aerosol painting, Mosco’s dragon-esque painting on the wall and Mode Raw’s oversized, digitized image produced and printed via fax transmission (around 45 pieces of brownish white paper glued to the wall) are nicely done, and share something of the experimental energy of Space 1026.
Speaking of which, don’t miss the artist’s book (image), a cardboard affair with turnbuckle fasteners, cut and paste images and hand-written statements by each artist. The last page is a very funny computer printout. It’s a parody of a corporate flow chart and it depicts the alternative collective’s various “departments” and their interactions.
This work is young and earnest. But there’s a professionalism throughout that indicates hard work and commitment. Check it out.
