May 27, 2004
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Artful
jesters
by LINDA MITCHELL
"Beyond common sense
lies a universe of utter chaos, unrelieved nonsense and riotous
freedoms of expression. Under their influence, our universe is
refreshed, and we begin to reinvent our relations to the world."
-- mission statement, Museum
of Laughter, Montreal, Quebec
(from Artful Jesters by Nicholas Roukes)
I'M A BIG FAN OF VISUAL HUMOR,
so it probably won't be surprising to hear that I've been thoroughly
enjoying Nicholas Roukes' new book Artful Jesters, published
by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley. The book opens with an historical
overview and a short discussion of the role of humor in art,
emphasizing 20th-century masters such as Picasso, Miro, Klee,
Duchamp, Dali and Magritte, who helped establish the place of
visual humor within the realm of fine art. The bulk of Roukes'
book, however, is dedicated to brief profiles of 50 contemporary
artists from around the world who "imbue their expressions
with various genres and blends of playful wit and ingenuity."
Since I've long been of the
opinion that our region is home to an unusually large number
of visually witty people, I was delighted to discover (at least)
two North Coast connections in Artful Jesters. The first
of these -- Richard Shaw -- actually lives in the Bay Area, but
frequently visits the North Coast and recently juried the Redwood
Art Association's (RAA) Spring Competition, which is currently
on exhibit at the Morris Graves Museum of Art.
I got a chance to meet Shaw
at a dinner hosted by his old friend John Montgomery, an RAA
board member, retired surgeon and local artist. Shaw turned out
to be a charming fellow with a playful sense of humor and, since
the Montgomerys have been collecting the artist's work for years,
I was able to see several examples of his art. My favorite was
a house of playing cards stacked on old books, a trompe l'oeil
extravaganza composed, unbelievably, out of porcelain.
After meeting Shaw, it didn't
surprise me to learn that he had chosen Justin Mittman's "This
is Not a Teapot, v. II" [photo
at right] for the Best of Show
award in the RAA's Spring Show. The earthenware piece, featuring
a pink-frosted, candy-sprinkled donut with a smoking pipe for
a spout and scissors for a handle, displays the kind of technical
virtuosity and playful mindset that would undoubtedly appeal
to an artist like Shaw.
Shaw also included in his choices
Ginny Gromer's earthenware "Girafft," and John Pound's
digital print "Ran Dum Mutation," other fine examples
of North Coast visual humor. Of course, the work of these three
local artists represents just the tip of the comedic iceberg
on the North Coast. Just off the top of my head I can think of
Jesse Wiedel's darkly comic narrative oil paintings, Jeff Jordan's
surrealistic, mythological mutations, Marian Coleman's whimsical
critters. There's Jesse Crumb, Scott Cocking, Joy Dellas, Frances
Boettcher, Forest Stearns, Donovan Clark, Jeremy Hara, Cyrus
Smith and -- well, you get the point. There are hordes North
Coast artists who incorporate humor into their work.
One of the best opportunities
to witness local visual humor in action is during this weekend's
Kinetic Sculpture Race (KSR), an event that has given artists
an opportunity to express their levity since 1969. The race has
made international media darlings out of many of the participants,
including founder Hobart Brown and perennial favorites June Moxon,
Ken Beidleman, and the leader of the pack, the beloved Duane
Flatmo [pictured in bat
suit, below left], who (drum roll,
please) is one of the 50
artists featured in Artful Jesters.
In Flatmo's profile, Roukes
focuses on the artist's kinetic achievements. "... Flatmo's
art-mobiles represent the epitome of surreal art on wheels, and
they are comprised of an artful blend of art, humor and engineering
that would please Buckminster Fuller and Salvidor Dalí."
Faint praise, indeed, but there's much more to Flatmo than the
KSR -- the artist's funny bone permeates everything he creates.
There are Flatmo's surreal cubist
paintings, his ubiquitous graphic art, his inventive junk sculptures,
and all that public art. In fact, more than half the murals on
Eureka's Mural Tour were either created by Flatmo alone or in
collaboration with his young protégés at the Rural
Burl Mural Bureau, an Ink People program the artist founded to
help counteract the city's graffiti problem. An accomplished
musician, Flatmo plays in the rock band Spud Gun and once
appeared on The Letterman Show, where he played a guitar
with an electric eggbeater. He has also appeared on British television
in Junk Yard Wars and in Canada on Weird Wheels.
The last time I saw Flatmo,
he was working madly on "Bats in the Belfry," his brand
new rig for this weekend's KSR. I haven't seen the finished product
yet, but the artist tells me he and his crew will be dressed
as bats (yes, that's Duane in the corner of the front cover)
and the machine will be covered with bells of all sizes, making
it "very noisy." I can hardly wait to see what this
"artful jester" comes up with next.
The Kinetic Sculpture Race
kicks off on the Arcata Plaza at the noon whistle on Saturday,
May 29, and finishes on Memorial Day in Ferndale. The Redwood
Art Association's Spring Show continues at the Graves through
June 20.
Linda Mitchell can be reached
via
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