Feed Me Weird Things.

A show curated by well-warped painter René Smith is opening tonight at Subdivision Gallery in Long Island City. Smith's paintings start out seemingly innocent, but they can hit a vaguely taboo note while you're not looking. She somehow keeps the whole thing delicious rather than blushy though. I'm looking forward to seeing where her tastes take us.

I wrote about Smith's solo show for Libby and Roberta on artblog back in 2005. Artists include Brendan Carroll, Leidy Churchman, Ann Flaherty, Rubens Ghenov, Andrea Moreau, Smith, Rachael Wren, Mika Yokobori, and Elizabeth Zans

Bonus points for those of you who caught the Squarepusher reference in this post's title.

Post-opening Update: I gotta mention two standouts in this show, Brendan Carroll and Rubens Ghenov. Hell, yeah!


Carroll's bank of Polaroids were especially touching. His photographs of the backs of his subjects are as expressive as the the quotes that the artist includes below their image. The strength of the assemblage works because of the expert juxtapositions of images.


Rubens Ghenov's piece was just one of those images that took hold and wouldn't let go. I found myself returning to it over the course of the opening. I loved the stark silhouette, but the texture of the background was also engaging. I didn't actually get to the part where I thought about "what the image means". I just grooved to my own baskinghood that the picture set off. I was comfortable looking at it in the same way as I would an early R.E.M. lyric.