Deep North, film/video and sculptural installation by Chris Larson
This Sunday, I’m hitting the road with one of my favorite writers (and the only guy I know with publicly acclaimed facial hair), Andy Sturdevant; we’re taking a daytrip to Rochester Art Center to see Deep North, the new exhibition of work by St. Paul native, Chris Larson. I last saw this pop-savvy aburdist-philosopher’s work at the Creative Electric Gallery a couple of years ago - and once you see Larson’s work, you don’t quickly forget it. He’s the savant of pop-cultural margins and unlikely juxtapositions, but there’s surprising depth to his multimedia art as well. He’s especially good at revealing the weirdness inherent in mainstream American middle-class living: the strange cultural conventions of office work and modern family life, our estrangement from physical labor, our ambivalent relationships with technology. I’m eager to see his newest stuff.
So, I’m taking the carseat and trashy bits out of the old ‘99 Corolla (I’m probably going to leave the dog hair in place, though–sorry, Andy); we’ll get some bad food on the road and just make a day of it.
I’m curious - what was the last show (music, visual art, theater, whatever) you were willing to leave town to see?
(NOTE TO SELF: pick up an assortment of healthy snacks - beef jerky, pink lemonade Jolly Ranchers, powdered donuts…)
Tara Donovan at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art. Hey, your favorite artist only has a first national-profile show once, right? And who knows how much longer those Northwest frequent flier miles will be redeemable. (…okay, we were there for a wedding too. But that was TOTALLY secondary.)
On wheels rather than wings, it was Jeff Rathermel’s sculptural paper installation at Carleton College in Northfield. Not quite as far.
Comment by CL — November 14, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
The last show I specifically left town to see was also at the Rochester Art Center - Iñigo manglano-ovalle: blinking out of existence in 2006 (http://www.rochesterartcenter.org/exhibitions/2OG/2006/inigo.html). It was during a heat wave, so we splurged on an air-conditioned hotel room and stayed the night.
Also made the trip for the Marimekko show the year before (http://www.rochesterartcenter.org/exhibitions/2OG/2006/marimekko.html). RAC does great exhibitions - a compelling mix of national/international and local/regional artists - and I only wish I could get there more often! It makes for a fun and easy day trip.
Oh, but now I just saw CL’s comment about the Carleton College Gallery - I did go there earlier this year for the “Furniture from the Upper Midwest” show (https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/gallery/functional/).
Comment by Julie Caniglia — December 3, 2008 @ 12:58 pm