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Show f 1 pp pi Tj 1 - .It?! . i - CX ' w, . C '"''"''v ''-,k- - . . III w i I, w-- If Y ildhc-'.by KATHRYN J ' COWLES you've heard of Cap'n Crunch cereal and all its variations (Crunchberries, etc.), but have you heard of Satan Crunch, Monster Crunch, Fascist Crunch, Plan 9 Crunch or Flash Gordon Crunch? In the world of Steve D. Stones' latest paintings collages, the boxes Y : ..... of salt that resemble sand banks with other, empty holes that conspicuously lack water, which is natural in a desert, but not on a u Made Up Of Place i by KATHRYN react to the space I come in contact with while I'm away. As with the luggage, the pants suggest a tight link to land. Salt is linguistically connected to Salt Lake City, yet also to the places nearly north, south, east and west of Salt Lake especially the oceans, as emphasized in the blue spaces of water on some of the maps. "And what is space anyway if not the body's absence at every COWLES he'd bury him face down, as was custom for a man with no heirs, so that he'd copulate with the earth and all his sons and daughters would be soil," said Jim Crace in his novel "Quarantine." University of Utah professor Brian Snapp's ceramic and mixed-medi- a exhibit at Finch Lane Gallery (i.e., the Art Barn) addresses the irrevocable bond human bodies have with place. A pair of pants, made of careful- s: given point," said Joseph Brodsky in "To Urania." The pants are named after exactly where they are not which is everywhere but here. They axe shaped by what they lack, which is a human body to fill them. (Or perhaps the human body has been replaced with pieces of earth. Or perhaps the human body was earth to begin with, as with the sons and daughters in the Crace quote.) Snapp's series of "Back Nine" nautical maps, stands precariously at the entrance to the gallery. Packed inside the pants, literally holding them up, are 150 to 155 pounds of rock salt about the weight of an artist such as Snapp. Altogether, there are four pairs of pants: "Nearly North," "Nearly East" and ly seamed-togethe- r so on. Along the same lines, six suitcases, entitled "Baggage 1" through "Baggage 6," are covered in muddy cement though they still retain their original shapes quite clearly. The pants and suitcases suggest that place is something a person carries with him or her perhaps even an extra appendage of the body, if not the body itself. The heavy baggage place adds to a person is like a contextual suitcase. People drag places with them everywhere they go. I leave Utah, and yet Utah, the physical land, informs everything I do how I H ' t ... 1 vs Vl I. - 4 e O C, - I I f ... - toagolf-bottbatketfu- 1 -- ' i -- ' tl RED MAGAZINE ofeggt. golf course. The grass is in the shape of elongated, sometimes complicated fairways and is attended by "grow lights," which emphasize the artificiality of the highly groomed surfaces. One patch of grass a perfect circle about five inches in diameter even has a sign that reads, "Lawn treatment today. Please stay off until dry." e These figures juxtapose pot-lik- the natural the white starkness of the rock salt, the quiet wildness of the grass and its small inhabid tants, a bowl of potentially basgolf-baa sterile eggs in forced decidedand ket with the ly unnatural formality of a golf life-fille- ll course. But, perhaps the best comment on this opposition comes through-ththree remaining "Back Nine" sculptures, hanging on a walL Inconspicuous at first these works become more meaningful in light of the earlier pieces. They are similar in shape to the four day human figures on the floor (and somewhat phallic, implying a subtle fertility), yet lack the holes filled with raw materials. Instead, painted green fairways and blue patches of water indicate a continuance of the golf theme. The whole image is seemingly sterile, but at a closer inspection, a connect-the-dot- s of holes and lines are gashed in the surface, revealing a rugged, wound, like nature pushing out from below the painted surface, like "sons and daughters" made of wild soil, like fertility conceived from a sterile source. And if you think about it, with all the perfections of a golf course, the players and audience are focused on one thing: the hole. The imperfection. It's like a direct connection to the wild earth beneath the surface, a nod to a place that was there before the golf course of these cereals are blown up to huge proportions and jumbled with popular icons, some floating in filthy milk, some endorsing various products. "Satan Crunch Cereal" features the Cap'n with Satanic red face, while "Fascist Crunch Cereal" flashes classic Nazi black and whites of hundreds of soldiers a frightening commandeering of childhood nostalgia that adds a political, if very disturbing, element to the art. The phrase "Love that crunch" on the fascist cereal is particularly unappetizing. It's all very disturbing, and disturbing is good, as long as there's a point to it Unfortunately, some of Stones' paintingscollages seem transparently vulgar for no reason except to shock. Shocking is definitely a method many artists use. But some of the shock value in Stones' latest paintings is deflated by the fact that to a certain extent it's been done before. The most original part of Stones' work, oddly enough, seems to be his incorporation of past works of art in pieces such as "My American Gothic" and "Princess Mona Leia Organa" into the present as if they are merely another form in the col- lage of images. "The Last Supper of Colonel Sanders" is an obvious takeover of da Vinci's The Last Supper," mixed with a critique of commercialism and possibly religion. In addition to Sanders standing in g Finch Lane Gallery. kathrynred-mag.co- m terra-cotta-color- I ' ..... Tnrtt of the "Back Nine" make their wayt R6 AUGUST 30, 2001 red-oran- Some figures have circled holes I 1 n, over-groome- I ; V., ... sculptures (10 through 13 and 17) take the relation15 through ship between land and the human body a step further with the help of golf courses, of all things. Each of the first four human-likfigures made of clay, soil, grass and salt various insects they have col(and lected in their few weeks' sojourn at the gallery) is a combination of natural day and deep holes filled with grassy earth (among other things), which the artist waters every other day. face-dow- 11 for Jesus Christ who makes an appearance in many of the pieces the prophets' spots are filled by such random pop figures such as Santa Claus, Gumby (but in camouflage), Popeye (with a disgruntled-lookinOlive floating nearby in a bikini on an innertube), a few storm troopers, Bert, of Bert and Ernie fame, apparently asserting his manliness, and the Cat in the Hat a la Dr. Seuss with a fluffy, severed bunny head, blood and all, in a heap on the long table. A chocolate river, like that described in Willy Wonka's factory, runs in front of the crowd. But I wouldn't trust that stuff to be chocolate in this upsetting world. Many of these images seem to come from kids' stories, toys, TV shows and ideals, and a child in this exhibit would likely be very upset by it Another comment on the world of kids' entertainment called "Consumer Land Inc.," features Mickey Mouse, complete with dollar signs over his eyes and scandalous lipstick kisses on his cheek, surrounded by a circle of red glitter. Naked ladies smile and pose obviously inappropriate for little Mousketeers. Monopoly-gam- e squares delineate the paintingcollage, and various consumer logos are represented as property on the gameboard such as McDonald's, Mirimax and ABC Stones' art is effective in frightening its audience, even if the ideas aren't entirely original. But the paintingscollages are worth catching, if just for their clever messes of opposing and absurd images and their ccshowing with Brian Snapp's thoughtful sculpture. Catch Steven D. Stones' paintingscollages through Sept. 14 &t 1 and will exist long after. This is the place that we carry with us as baggage everywhere we i. J V-- 9 i. V ( go. This fine group of sculptures, along w;th paintings from Steve D. Stones, will show at Finch Lane Gallery, just off the University of Utah carripus, until Sept. 14. Don't miss ;tthis is one of the strongest s how; yet this year, kaihryrired-mag.co- For better or for wone, Stones' paint'wgt ute $hock value and vulgarity to make ttatementt. |