July 20-26, 2006
Arts Agenda : Last Chance
Last ChanceCatch It or Regret It
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Bikers can be spaceyweaving in and out of lanes, running red lights, taking up the whole road. It's not that they all have a death wish; they're just deep in thought, constructing artistic visions as they anger those around them. This show reaps that creative output: Witness recycled bike parts transformed into sculptures, handbags, chain-ring clocks and freaky dolls. One message, set against parking ticket wallpaper, sums it up: "Ain't got to pay no meter."
You'll find a lot of bronze skateboards in this Jake Henry installation, along with skulls, scary birds and abandoned or wrecked versions of what were once considered technological marvels. In Bird No. 1, an owl watches you with its iridescent gold eyes, while a snake slithers near its claws. Walls painted with blue and orange tempera add life to the gloom.
These 19th- and 20th-century seascape and harbor paintings reflect the many moods of the era when they were painted: peaceful, turbulent, dark and restless. George Frederick Bensell's Cows Watering is a radiant painting of Philadelphia, where the light picks up the glitter of the water and the silhouette of the pink autumn trees.