"Far Out" @ Blue Lucy

Blue Lucy Gallery View

This show was prefaced by Blue Lucy's PODs installation at First Night. Featured artists are Embear, Roman Black, Samuel South, B.Kole. Nate Greco, Josh Sullivan, Phillip Clark, Chad Mize, Sugar Bear, Sleep, Joe Boccia, Adam T., Allen Leper Hampton, Pale Horse, Casey Paquet, Frank Strunk, and Bask.






 It's not only a black light (UV) show, but the works have their 3-D aspects, which are totally lost in the illustrations presented here. Will 3-D come to dominate TV and movies? Will it make a dent in the art world?

 In spite of the 60's-sounding title for the show, no one would mistake these works for anything from that era.  They're recontextualized into 2012.

Pale Horse, "Shamanaut"

Pale Horse's "Shamanaut", a five color screen print, has some three-dimensionality when viewed through the 3-D glasses provided. We see a male figure in lime green (think Life) Chinese Philosopher garb. There's what appears to be an astronaut's helmet on his head, or is that part of his set of multiple  halos? He has 4 arms, like a Hindu Deity and stands on an Axis Mundi Lotus. Behind him is what appears to be a radiant sphere enclosing many smaller white spheres, and behind that, what looks like a Chinese depiction of Heavenly clouds. There are two slivers of an Isis moon in the upper corners and in one hand he holds a miniature version of the cosmic Lotus he stands on.

Casey Paquet, "Bad Hunting Trip"

Casey Paquet's acrylic and enamel om wood "Bad Hunting Trip" is a tableaux of a hearth/mantelpiece with three stuffed animals mounted above it, with a rifle on a rack made of the deer's hooves as the crown of this pseudo-altarpiece. There's a small figure of a duck decoy and a kerosene lantern on the mantel above the fireplace. Thsi came across as a metaphor for the trophies and objects of desire in our lives.

Frank Strunk III, "Machinations of the Heart"

'Kinetic Metal' is the term used by Frank Strunk III to describe the material used to make his "Machinations of the Heart" sculpture, and it is certainly that. A large metal heart, with small 'windows' that let its inner light shine out, more skims the wall from along its edge. In the center is what appears to be a compass.The piece is around 3 feet tall.  The microtopography of the surface has several small dents and stresses on it.

Emily Dyer, "Get High"

 What could be more fitting for a black light show than an allusion to pot smoking? Emily Dyer's "Get High" is a psychedelic-style acrylic on wood painting that brings back the days of flower power, with a touch of humor and irony. There's a foundation of green, on which an orange 'female' bong with breasts and a pentagram just below rests. Literal Purple Haze comes out of it, along with green, stony-looking (I am told) flowers floating about, and a larger green figure, red-eyed, presides over the work. Rainbow colored rays emanate from the Purple Haze.

Josh Sullivan, "Ghosts and Vodka"

 A morose figure holds a burning home in his arms close to his heart in Josh Sullivan's "Ghosts and Vodka". There are leaves falling around the house. The figure looks at the viewer like a witness to his own undoing.












Congratulations to all the artists in this show, and Chad and Philip for an innovative show.

--- Luis







 Through March 4th, 2012. 653 Central Ave., St Petersburg. Free.