What I Meant to Say
Posted by ben on 14 Jul 2007 at 05:01 pm | Tagged as: responses/reviews
Last night I made it out to Vtrue in time to catch whimsical but seamless ceramic sculptures by Pattie Chalmers. Drawing from fables and foibles, Chalmers’ cartoon-like characters are honest and simple without seeming trite. Mr. Disappointment (detail below) holds a bouquet of flowers and a lonesome visage, recalling an especially pathetic R. Crumb character.
But the installation is filled with other characters, several of which radiate satisfaction. Gracie, on the opposite end of the stage from Mr. Disappointment, looks out at the observer with the newfound clarity of her glasses, eating honey sandwiches.
[Note: All photos in this post by Justin Parr]
You can’t see it in this photo, but behind the honey sandwich three bees are sewed into Gracie’s dress. She has apparently found a way to capture the sweetness of life, unlike the Bee Maid (Flemish Matron) next to her, who is desperately trying to catch a bee, ending up with nothing but a hand covered in stings.
Two young boys have the mischievous countenance of, well, young boys up to no good (sorry, no photo of this one). Their names are Donny and Jeff, and they sport a smiley face and a rainbow on their shirts. Between them lies a pile of twigs and rocks, for who knows what nefarious scheme.
On the other side of the gallery, Helen Buck (Smoking Cranach) is separated from Nancy (Gold Dress) by a bunch of flowers and a sugar factory puffing out white smoke. The antiquated formality of Helen’s dress plays nicely against the ennui in her eyes and the cigarette perched between her lips. No need for her to capture bees: her sweetness comes straight from the factory in nice little packets.
This show is up at Vtrue till the end of the month, check it out while you can!
Gary (the owner) told me that vtrue is now usually open daily (or at least tues-fri) with his office having been moved into the space in the back. This is one to see!
good photos jparr, we need more stuff like this!!
These characters are charming. I passed by the gallery around 3 a.m. this weekend, and ended up pressing my face against the windows, straining to see all the details on the sculptures. I’ll have to make a proper visit.