C. Emerson Fine Arts' latest exhibit, Under the Influence, showcases the genre of contemporary art often dubbed "pop surrealism" and occasionally "lowbrow" because it bridges practices including illustration, screen-printing, custom toy production (or decoration), and so on. As such, the show may be a bit of a departure for the gallery, where offerings are frequently a touch more cerebral.
(Only one artist in this show, Austrian Isabel Czerwenka-Wenkstetten, adds a conceptual twist. After filling a TV frame with a distorted, fun-house-esque mirror, the artist photographed visitors as they regarded themselves in it during the exhibit's opening reception; the sculpture remains installed on one of the gallery's walls. In a statement, she describes the project as an attempt to "resist and fight back" against media images of the body.)
Humor and visual delight emerge as the main concerns of Under the Influence, which offers a smattering of paintings by artists including Patrick Fatica, Patrick Francisco, Jennifer Lewis and others. All are good, or very good, representations of the genre, and gallery owner Lori Johns deserves props for her commendable goal of bringing fresh work to the area.
Fatica, who studied at Ringling, in particular stands out for his renderings of distorted female figures — vaguely medieval, vaguely extraterrestrial — within cartoonish-ly sublime landscapes. (Pictured: Fatica's Somehow I Thought You'd Save Me, Somewhere.) Also included in the show: a collection of screen prints on mixed media (striated backgrounds created by collaging security envelope patterns) by Miami artist Rocky Grimes, whose printed T-shirts are also available.
Under the Influence continues through April 4. For more information, go to c-emersonfinearts.com.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2009.