Super Coool

Beep Beep Gallery opened the group show "Nostalgia" Saturday night.



But instead of making the opening I was a little drunk on Earl Grey Martinis (They sound cooler than they actually taste) and standing in a bowling alley pondering life's bigger questions: Is it worth waiting two hours for a bowling lane to open up? No. Who knew bowling was such a popular sport these days? Not me. What's next, roller skating?

But as my Roller-derby fanatic friend would say, roller skating is where it's at.

"Conscious Crew vs. Public Offenders" Joy Phrasavath

And thus we return to my childhood. Peewee Herman break dancing with the smurfs! It's almost too much to handle. It's seems fitting for the ME generation to have a show reveling in our own childhoods, rehashing the heyday of boom boxes and making portraits of He-Man (and Skeletor).

"We're Squared: Love and Peace. Let's Roll Again." Joy Phrasavath

While the show is packed with witty art and many quality works, I was left wanting a counter balance to the light-hearted content of the show. Maybe I am just being a downer since the show is meant to be a fun play off of the childhood toys and personalities we grew up with during the 80's but a few works examining the implications of that consumer driven culture and particular icons would have made it a more well rounded group exhibition.

"Scare-bear" by Jason Kochis, Acrylic on wood

This is the sinister Scare-bear telling me to get over it.

There was a good variety of materials being experimented with, like BLINK's layered aerosol painted plexi-glass piece "Huxtable." From what I hear he (they, it) will have a show with Beep Beep in the not-too-distant future.

And Kerry Boles felt on wool pieces, like "The First Tape My Dad Bought Me," were a big hit.

One of the sharpest pieces in the show was John Tindel's "Megatron," a very cool multi-paneled silver leaf and aerosol painting of an automatic rifle (although I think I would lose the little megatron icon cube). This paintings is an exception to the carefree, somewhat static, personality of the exhibition. While glamorizing a weapon in the same sleek fashion as a GI Joe cartoon and breaking it down into fun removable parts like a Transformer, the fact that a gun is so emblematic of 80's kiddie entertainment and can surface under the titled of "Nostalgia" is both thought provoking and dead on. (And priced at only $450 this piece is a $teal.)

I also really liked Katie Ridley's drawing on paper "Boom Box and Tape." The piece pegged the Nostalgia theme without becoming trite or too obvious. Instead the drawing imbibes it's own quirky character and I think it may have wanted to come home with me. For only $400 - it's such a deal and I feel like I'm hosting the Price Is Right right now. Anyone interested in beefing up their art collection ought to pay Beep Beep a visit.

"Alaways" by Squanto, Mixed Media

And I couldn't really get over this one either. Something about an "I heart Trolls" T-shirt with matching earrings, bracelets, socks, etc kept me chuckling all the walk home. I felt like I once knew a girl like this on the elementary school playground, her name was Bridget, and she described in gory detail all of the horror movies my parents wouldn't allow me to see. I wonder what she did with all of her trolls or her extensive slap bracelet collection for that matter.

"Nostalgia" is up at Beep Beep till February 17th 2008. Definitely check it out and buy yourself some ahhht (or records or zines).