Newspaper Page Text
GROTESQUE. COMIC PROPORTIONS
Going Dutch: Paul Thomas, local artist, musician and former
host of the thrift store/avant-garde living room X-Ray Cafe,
has found new fans in the Netherlands, where he is partici
pating in an exhibition that examines mythologies of the
South, especially those in Southern Gothic literature. The
exhibition, titled "What the modern era has gained in civil
ity it has lost in poetic inspiration," will be held at the 1646
gallery (www.1646.nl) in the Hague and is curated by Joris
Lindhout and Maaike Gouwenberg. In an email interview with
the curators, I asked how the two met Thomas. Gouwenberg
replied that they were introduced by local artist, musician and
Lamar Dodd School of Art instructor Christopher Cogan dur
ing a three-month road trip in the U.S. Cogan has studied and
exhibited work in Europe over the years and his connections
facilitated the meeting.
"Paul became very important within our exhibition," says
Gouwenberg. "First of all because he has an amazing collec
tion of Southern objects, pictures, stories, etc., and because he
understood our way of thinking about the South and Southern
Gothic very well. We share the love for the rough, but beautiful
life in the Southern states, you can say."
Thomas' contributions to this exhibition are photographs,
film and a modified electric Santa sculpture. He describes
his work as "involving the themes of sex, death and resur
rection as depicted in the literature of Flannery O' Connor,
William Faulkner, James Dickey, Cormac McCarthy and Harry
Crews." Cogan also has a sculptural installation in the show,
a piece he intriguingly describes as "a sort of cave stalactite
made of weapons. The materials used are lights, soap and
Red Man chewing tobacco." Go to www.art.uga.edu/index.
php?pt=5&id=337 to see this for yourself.
Gouwenberg explains how the Southern literary connec
tions of the exhibition were first inspired by storytelling on
film: "Our interest in the South in general started after seeing
the documentary Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus in the
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in
2005. Joris was already interested in it from the perspective of
popular culture (i.e., movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
and Deliverance), but the urge to build a large-scale project
around it really came from Searching for the Wrong-eyed Jesus.
After that, we started reading some of the authors mentioned
in the documentary, who all fall under the Southern Gothic
trope. The way in which social problems are made visible by
blowing them up to grotesque, comic proportions—and how
these can function as subversive critiques on those social
problems—is a very interesting way of dealing with the rela
tion between social critique, creating cultural 'products' and
entertainment."
I asked Gouwenberg why they were interested in doing a
show about the South in the Netherlands. What relevance did
they feel the subject will have for their audience?
"The Southern states is an area that is fairly unknown by
the general Dutch audience. By showing both the harsh and
poor part but also by focusing on its beautiful landscapes
and culture we want to open up discussions about the social
political situation in connection to the Southern culture," says
Gouwenberg. "In the end, it would be wonderful if this way of
working could open up a conversation that connects the South
to the Netherlands."
Relatively New to Town: Matty Goldstein arrived here from
south Florida only a year ago. Goldstein studied painting
and sculpture at the School of the Museum of Art in Boston
and has most recently used his experience as a sign painter
in his construction of pop art light-boxes. These,
plus paintings on panel, are on display at Whole:
Mind. Body. Art. on Jackson Street now through
October in his first exhibition in Athens: "Electricity
Encouraged."
In the darkened room, glowing light-boxes pres
ent psychedelic images in reds, pinks, green and
black. Goldstein's artwork explores imagery from
horror films and reworkings of pop icons to create
paintings and illuminated boxes. Elvis Presley, the
"goth Elvis" Glenn Danzig, Regan from The Exorcist.
the scary little girls from The Shining and Nancy
Sinatra all appear.
Far from the work of a very different "painter
of light," Goldstein's visions of horror kitsch are
vividly hued nightmares. Goldstein says, "I love the
phantasmagoric," referring to the projected images
of skeletons and ghosts first created by "magic lan
terns" in the early 19th-century. We talked about the
exhilarating feeling of being scared watching horror
movies, the terrible beauty of images like Nosferatu's
shadow reaching out to grab hold of his vig:im or
the perfection of George A. Romero's classic zombie
film. Night of the Living Dead. The reds and pinks
of "Walls of Blood," depicting a scene from The
Shining, are built up in layers which reverberate like
the concentric glowing rings of thermal images. The
repetition of elements and the flipping of images to
mirror each other create a kaleidoscopic Rorschach
of lasers, animals and nude silhouettes.
My favorite piece is titled "Electric Sirens." Mirror
images of women in waves are at the foreground
with pirate ships floating on a red sky behind them.
The waves splash across the surface, breaking into
pixels of black. It is these in-between spaces that
interest Goldstein; the negative spaces create an
image between the duplicated mirroring on either side of the
picture. The way the colors are layered creates a holographic
effect, and it is, like many of the artworks in the room, a bit
mind-bending when viewed up close. Visiting this exhibition
is a little like walking through a gallery of funhouse mirrors,
each reflecting a slightly unnerving vision of reality. Check
out a newcomer to Athens' art scene and find an excellent
opportunity to start getting into the Halloween spirit! On view
through October; see www.wholemindbodyart.com for hours
and contact information.
Mark Your Calendars: The Georgia Sculptors' Society's
"Inaugural Pulaski Street Art Crawl" takes place on Saturday,
Oct. 8, 5-9 p.m. on Pulaski Street. Participating Pulaski Street
artists are opening their art studios to the public, and Pulaski
Street businesses will showcase artwork from Athens-area art
ists. The crawl begins as ARTini's Art Lounge on Broad and
Pulaski, with the final stop and main event at Pints & Paints
in the Leathers Building. Admission is free and open to the
public. For more info, please visit www.georgiasculpture.org.
Caroline Barratt arts@llagpole.com
Matty Goldstein s artwork is on display at Whole: Mind Body. Art. through October.
AMICI
Italian C a
Wednesday
WING NIGHT!
Home of the Best Wings in Town
TRY OUR NEW ASIAN CHILI WING SAUCE
50< WINGS • *6 PITCHERS
THIRSTY THURSDAYS
All Draft Pints $2 after 7pm
LIVE MUSIC with
NEW SNEAKERS
Friday
LIVE MUSIC with
CHROMAZONE
HAPPY HOUR
ALL DAY!
PIZZA & BEER SPECIALS
*10 Large One Topping Pizzas
*6 Pitchers ALL DAY
of Bud, Bud Light, Yuengling & Miller Lite
WING NIGHT SPECIALS DURING MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
TWO for $20
Any Two Pasta Entrees,
Two Side Salads and TWo Drinks for $20
HAPPY HOUR 3-7pm
$3 Wells • $3 Craft Beer Pints
$2 Select Domestic Bottles
233 E. CLAYTON ST.
706.353.0000 f
AMICI.CAFE.COM
Art Classes
& Workshops
NOW ENROLLING!
COMPLETE LIST OF CLASSES AT WWW.OCAF.COM OR CALL 706.769.4565
706-548-1115
> 1037 Baxter Street, Suite A
Open Monday through Saturday
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011- FLAGPOLE.COM 11
