A droll and aptly named group exhibition opened at Pierogi in Williamsburg in early April. Entitled Out of Character, the exhibition has been curated from local artists all working in and around the figure and focused on a humorous take on the human condition.
Co-curated by the Pierogi Gallery and Willy Hartland, the show includes a broad array of animations. Three monitors play loops of a total of 17 animated films, all fully exploiting the creative possibilities of the medium. The animations range from hand-drawn to computer-generated. It is fascinating to watch such a wide-ranging exploration of the medium. It’s sometimes hard to find a thematic thread of how the various videos were grouped together, but for me it’s always a treat to watch original and compelling animation.
Not all of the videos are meant to be humorous and neither are all of the exhibition’s other works. For the most part, what they share is a slightly skewed worldview and, for lack of a better adjective, a sense of sly humor. Hence my use of the word droll. None of the artwork in this exhibition is really angry or antagonistic. The humor ranges from New Yorker cartoon sophistication, as seen in the drawings by Guy Richard Smit (The Francis Bacon Experience), to the joyful manic energy of a Joyce Pensato drawing of Felix the Cat, which is in turn in dialogue with a hilarious sculpture by Matt Friedman entitled Enlightenment. In this angry and anxious time, it was lovely to spend time with work that made me smile. To be clear, this is no Pollyannaish sappy show. There are plenty of pieces with a little bite to them. It’s just that you never feel in danger of being bitten.
There are two vintage Red Grooms pieces that still pack the same punch as when they were freshly made. You can smell the cigarette smoke from The Builder, as he strides purposely down a NYC sidewalk, armed with the tools that built the city. Tools of the trade stored around his body and beefy hands ready for action.
The exhibition is most successful when there is more than one piece by a given artist, and we have a chance to understand their vision. Some works, like the fascinating painting by Matt Marello, would have benefitted from having a companion piece in the show, so we could more fully understand the whack Universe that he has created. Though possibly an odd thing to say—I wanted more of his excreting aliens !
I feel the same about James Esber’s deliciously psychedelic portraits. The sole piece in the show leaves me wanting more of his maniacal vision. His portraits of morphing, melting, grimacing humanoids are always a head-trip, in the best sense.
Out of Character is definitely a show to stop into as you wander through the college town of Williamsburg. One of the few galleries left in what was once a bustling gallery neighborhood, they consistently program shows that capture and give voice to the character of the Brooklyn art scene and the characters who inhabit it.
OUT OF CHARACTER through May 20. 177North Ninth St., Brooklyn NY