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Local artist DfcH Dunphy has launched into
her new role as curator of the Gallery®Hotel
Indigo's gleaming art space with considerable
aplomb. Her previous exhibitions, "DRAWN:
from Athens' and "The Flower Show," dearly
j illuminated Dunph/s willingness to draw
exclusively and expertly from the talent
immediately surrounding her. "DRAWN: From
Athens,", a lively, kaleidoscopic group show
examining the medium itself, paired old main
stays like Art Rosenbaum and Jim Bareness
with younger artists like Jaime Bull and
Jessica Woht. (An expanded version of this
show is currently on display at the Hudgens
Center for the Arts just outside of Atlanta.)
"The Flower Show' took an equally diverse
approach towards its notoriously played
subject matter with truly exciting results:
Ranging from the boldly graphic to the obses
sively manipulated, the austere, the baroque
and everything in between, the exhibition
made plain that Dunphy was in her element at
Indigo. However, Dunphy's current curatorial
effort, "The Board Room,' is her most ambi
tious to date by far.
times for this very column. Jennifer Hartley's
trademark blend of quirky figuration and local
narrative comes together to create a deck
honoring the late Fred Birchmore, centenarian
athlete-extraordinaire and legendary around-
the-wortd cyclist- True to form, Hartley's work
neatly evokes her subject's likeness, but more
compeUingly portrays her subjects presence:
an optimistic, youthful-looking Birchmore
poses tike a boxer and invites his audience
to put up their dukes. Furniture designer and
builder Jay Nackashi mosaics together the
cast-offs and excesses from what I imagine
to be a busy woodshop in order to create an
abstract skate deck composed of rectilinear
shapes—maybe not too terribly functional,
but damn if it doesn't look great.
Several artists deviate from the functional
aspect of their forms entirety, using the deck
itself as a launching point towards inventive
sculptural creations. Donald Cope brings his
impressive metalworking skills to the project,
crafting a minimalist chair around the deck,
which itself becomes the seat. Local whiz kid
Ted Kuhn, whose recent performance pieces
The designs of 56 local artists on raw skateboard decks comprise “The Board Room" exhibition at the Gallery®
Hotel Indigo through Sept. 9. See cover.
With a roster of 56 Athens-based artists,
The Board Room" could easily fall apart
through lack of cohesion; fortunately, it's the
form of the work itself that ties the whole
thing together. Several months ago, Dunphy
distributed blank wooden skate decks to
participating artists, asking each to transfer
whatever his/her practice is (painting, tat
toos, ceramics, furniture, photography, etc.)
onto a handmade skateboard. The results are
surprising: despite the unity of form, the
variety of vision here is vast. Many of the art
ists' decks will be immediately recognizable
to anyone who's only marginally familiar with
the Athens art scene, although, in a show this
targe, it goes without saying that there will be
many surprises.
I found myself marveling at the transi
tion so many of the artists were able to make
between their normative modes of working
and the unfamiliar territory of skateboard
art—marveling, that is, at the success of
the leap. The lyrical abstract paintings of
Erin Mdnto&h shift perfectly, matching
soft geometry and saturated color with the
rounded edges of the deck itself. McIntosh's
mark-making and forms take on a distinctly
urban feel when placed upon this ground—an
association that I've never before made,
despite having scrutinized her work numerous
and installations show a rigorous mind in
the early stages of unfolding, balances a pair
of metronomes on either side of his piece,
directly referencing the balance and timing
necessary in skating. Across the room, an
image of blood, photographed at a micro
scopic level, spreads over Kathryn RefTs dece
it's hard not to immediately associate the
piece with injury. Towards the back, Graham
Bradford and Chris Parry, two Athens-based
tattoo artists, bring their considerable talents
to the show. Bradford's work showcases his
elegant wood-stain painting technique, while
Parry's conjures the Grim Reaper,
This is all great stuff; so great in fact, it
may be easy to sidestep the fact that The
Board Room" is actually a fundraiser for our
own SPOA. Sept. 9 marks the closing of the
exhibition, when every piece will be auctioned
off to raise money for the park. I'm consis
tently impressed with the level of commitment
Athens artists show towards these types of
causes—so impressed, I might have to take
home a couple myself.
The Board Room' is on view in the gallery
at Hotel Indigo, which is available for viewing
24 hours a day. Visit www.indigoathens.com/
theboardroom.html for additional details.
Brian Hltselbarger
JUNE 27,2012 • FLAGPOLE.COM 9
SARAH GUTIERREZ