Natalie Sciortino-Rinehart

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  picks May 16, 2008

  Iva Gueorguieva

  With Cy Twombly–esque energy and the mischievous lushness of Cecily Brown, Los Angeles–based artist Iva Gueorguieva launches into her canvases, and the results juxtapose curious, self-conscious markings and sweeping brushstrokes. In Vespers Pageant, 2007, both title and image indicate an elusive dichotomy. The artist offers seemingly innocent abstract fields of blue, green, and purple forms that are in fact inscribed with highly sexual contour line imagery. While evening church services often provide a theater for such pageantry, those conducting the vespers would probably not equate the secular

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  picks April 09, 2008

  Dan Tague

  On entering Dan Tague’s new exhibition, one is surrounded by enlarged images of US currency—one-, five-, ten-, and twenty-dollar bills that have been crumpled, folded, and twisted. Their initial allure is quickly undermined by the sobering phrases appearing between the creases: OSAMA WARS, GOD IS AMERICAN, HUNT FOR OIL, SERVE THE STATE, HOME IS A TENT, STATE OF FEAR, TRUST NO ONE. Tague works within the parameters of the currency itself—its reminder of such American values as annuity coeptis, e pluribus unum, and “In God We Trust”—to reveal his own perspective on our governmental system.

  The

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  picks March 19, 2008

  David Sullivan

  David Sullivan’s exhibition, “You Win,” playfully and provocatively utilizes a variety of digital media and animation. Like any successful satirist, Sullivan executes his visual commentary on consumer culture through its own modes of production. Vibrant prints on die-cut aluminum showcase icons from early arcade games, while two animations, Market Drop and Boom, both 2007, depict the effects of our country’s cultural and political exports. The show fulfills its promising title, as viewers are invited to interact with a custom-designed arcade game reduced to its essential function in providing