Sad times, according to Monty Python’s Roger the Shrubber: “There is
a pestilence upon this land; nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange
and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this
period in history.” American culture is confused and adrift, still
bereft of unifying larger purpose even after the exit of Bush the
Rogerer and his corporate buccaneers. (Remember “the vision thing”?)
Contemporary art about nature reflects our current predicament,
naturally, and our predilection, both triumphant and uneasy, for the
virtual, artificial, and hybrid — for the personal and
idiosyncratic.
David Burke, Devin Cecil-Wishing, Andy Gouveia,
Clint Imboden, Liz Maher, Ginny Parsons, Mark
Schroeder, Michael Singman-Aste, Patch Wright, and T.
Joseph Enos examine and explore the current zeitgeist, employing a
variety of media and approaches. Burke’s lushly colored paintings
present forest or jungle views that stylize naturalistic elements
(blossoms, lianas, vines, tendrils) unto visionary landscapes that
suggest Brauer, Hundertwasser, and, with their painterly drips and
atmospheric perspective, Darren Waterston; the writhing pink blossoms
in “Pandora’s Eden….” could have come from Max Ernst’s
primordial forests. Imboden’s three sculptures use globes to comment on
ecological and political themes: one globe is sectioned and pounded
full of spikes, resembling a dandelion; another sits atop a tripod of
crutches; a third sits, cut apart and fashioned into a chafing dish,
atop a bomb casing, with the stenciled word “BOOM” inside. Maher
constructs sculptures from a profusion of unlikely elements: “It’s a
Family Affair” is a chandelier sporting satin-sleeved bride’s arms and
hands proffering both pearl necklaces and daggers. Her meticulously
sewn tree sculptures are likewise semi-human, featuring arms bearing
candies and glasses of insulation-foam bubbly, with French fries and
Doritos spilling out from Freudian trunk cavities. Schroeder’s
sculptures contrast finely crafted organic wooden form (breasts,
beehives, bombs) with fabricated metal geometry (gears) or free-form
plaster or clay; the top-like “#7” seems to have been assembled from a
cookie or cake, a segmented spindle or earthworm, a bottle cap, and an
acorn. Wright makes conceptual surrealist sculptures on biological
themes from office supplies and furniture: “Whale: Proof That Tables
Had Legs” wraps a folding banquet table, covered with barnacles, in
white plastic, with the folded legs standing in for the tiny vestigial
leg bones that cetaceans still possess. “Shark Pelt…” is a flattened
sharkskin mounted on the wall, bearskin-rug-style with gaping maw, but
the denticles of its abrasive skin, formerly used for sandpaper, are
now replaced by disposable razor heads. Artificial Nature
runs through August 23 at Autobody Fine Art (1517 Park St.,
Alameda). AutobodyFineArt.com
or 510-865-2608
