NY Arts, July/ August 1999

SAMPLING

This group of artists, culled from more than twenty-five galleries from around the world is a mixture of mostly intellectually dense works meant to be a sharp selection of what is ahead of its times internationally. Michel Blazy displays “Spaghetti Bouquet," pasta stalks hot-glued to the floor to resemble tufts of long grass accompanied by an odd protruding six-pronged mold-fuzzed something hung on the wall overhead that many have been in this same pasta plant family. Masahiko Kuwahara shows Ida Applebroog-styled drawings on paper featuring a pig holding a pumpkin head and a pumpkin-being holding a pig head. Perhaps this is some obtuse reference to child abuse. Taro Chiezo’s “Powerful Boy," a bright pthalo green snail painted on a yellow background and “Flying Squirrel," a horizontally displayed pink wax wedge reminiscent of the Mighty Mouse cartoon may refer to a new global mass media childhood where every kid understands the same simple imagery. Lara Boladi’s work is quiet and affecting. Rows of 4” by 6” color glossy snapshots of Cairo interspersed with poetic prose show ordinary people, street scenes and religious objects in “The Eye of Mary Magdalene." “Sampling” is a thought provoking, if largely unintelligible show.

-VICTORIA HANKS,