Current Show at Cubicle 10

Last weekend I ventured up to Baltimore for an opening reception at one of my favorite local galleries, Cubicle 10. On exhibit until October 9, the group show features the work of Noah Angel, Big Al Carter, Georgia Goldberg, David Meyer, and Tariq Tucker. As you may recall, I've discussed Cubicle 10 a couple of times. See here and here.

As a whole this show entertained me a great deal. There were standouts in Big Al Carter and David Meyer. There were OK works by Georgia Goldberg and Tariq Tucker. And there was one disappointment in Noah Angel. Let's discuss:

Big Al Carter

Big Al is a big man. He's burly. He's missing a tooth or three. But on the night of September 11, during his first opening show in years, Big Al was all smiles. He has a big personality. Everyone gravitated towards him, including me. I wanted to be his friend and bask in his excitement to be showing his work. Big Al's art occupied most of the bottom floor of the gallery. He shows new work and old work, some of it at least ten years old. The range of his talent and creativity, seen in this show, is astounding. In the front room, Big Al shows large, colorful paintings that call to mind folk art. They are brightly colored and the forms are outlined in thick black lines. The paintings are framed with nailed-together rough boards of wood. They feel straight from the south with their content, color and technique.

Step into the next room and you may not realize you're seeing more of Big Al's work. Here are delicate, small prints. The subject matter is the same - African-American southern culture, but the demonstrated skill and vision are museum quality. They are incredibly refined but communicate a great deal of emotion. Many of these prints are more than ten years old... I can't believe some collector hasn't snatched them up yet.

Big Al also shows some sculptural works, but these didn't do much for me. In all honesty, it has been nine days since I saw the show and although I can remember some scuplture there, I can't for my life recall what they looked like. It's ok though, the rest of the work, and the man himself, made up for any lesser work. I hope Big Al gets the opportuntiy to show his work more in the future. I feel lucky for having the opportunity to see it myself.

David Meyer

Meyer, from Newark, Delaware, is the Head of the Sculpture Program at the University of Delaware. In this show, he shares work from his series Patterns of Probability, 2003. See below for two examples:

My favorite piece in the entire show is the black work at top. It measures approximately 12" by 12". I love the color and composition. But I should let you in on a secret. It was practically guaranteed that I would love it. See, the materials and concept are almost exactly the same as I've been pursuing recently. The end result varies in appearance from what I make, but the similarities are enough to make me a huge fan of Meyer's work. Meyer's work is composed of encaustic on MDF (composite board). His process involves cutting MDF to size, using a table saw to cut the lines in the board (approx 1/16" - 1/8" deep), using forstner bits to drill circles or varying sizes and depths, and finally applying encaustic to color the piece. What results is something more sculptural and organic than what I make. The works come off to me as celestial tile artifacts. And after speaking with Meyer for some time, it seems this work was a lot fun for him to make. We agreed that although the process is incredibly tedious and repetitive, it is also meditative.

Meyer is an extremely talented artist with decades of experience. I felt humbled to be speaking with him and exchanging ideas with him. It was extremely encouraging to find that we're tackling very similar issues in very similar ways. I'm in the infancy stages of my career... Meyer has been around the block many times. He shared with me some of his philosophical ideas about art and his work in particular. But the key thing is this: it's not so much what he intended, but the experience the viewer has with the work. Meyer has created art objects that are to be experienced, not discussed. I highly recommend that you visit his Web site!!

Georgia Goldberg

Goldberg's work was very interesting to me. Not so much the work itself, but the apparent pricing of the work: ~$20,000!!! I didn't see the price list at the show, but I saw her work in a 2003 edition of New American Paintings and the works fell in the $20k range. The pieces on exhibit were large, about 7' by 10', and they were different, but Goldberg must have one incredible reputation. Executed on paper, these drawings/paintings appear as abstract architectural compositions. The colors were muted. The compositions were rigid. If it weren't for their large size I probably would have ignored them completely. I'm thinking at those prices there must be something to the work I missed, but alas I may never know. I won't lose sleep.

Tariq Tucker

Tucker's sculptures are about light (literally) and ideas. They are mounted in almost complete darkness in the garage space of Cubicle 10. The works are plenty of fun but there isn't much substance. I must admit, other than Flavin's flourescent tube sculptures, I've never been able to get into light sculpture. Tucker's sculptures probably succeed, but for me, they feel forced, much like neon sign sculptures. It's certainly acceptable that art be fun, but I like fun to be a secondary impression. I want art to be more than a toy, and I readily admit that there is likely some childhood event that makes me adverse to light sculptures. Perhaps a light-filled toy fell from the top shelf in my bedroom and struck me on the head. I'm not exactly sure why I hold this bias, but at least I freely admit it. If I find a light sculpture that really impresses me, then that will say a lot. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Noah Angel

Without a doubt the most disappointing piece in the show was Angel's video piece. In it we see the artist sitting in a bedroom ripping out pages of a book and throwing them in the air. He has a fan blowing in his face. However, and be sure you are sitting down for this, the video is played backwards!!! That's right!! Let me repeat that. The video is played backwards!! What results is a person grabbing ripped out pages from a book out of the air and attaching them to the spine of the book. I'm doubtful that Angel is the first artist to make use of rewind in video art. Given that, I'm not sure why this piece is in a contemporary art venue. It feels quite old. Big Al's prints, made more than a decade ago, feel fresher. I can say one positive thing. Had Angel submitted this piece to the Trawick Prize, I think he would have been a shoe-in for becoming a finalist. I can visualize a still of this video on page 87 of the October issue of Artforum in 1991. After seeing one page reattached to the book, it's almost insulting to be forced to seriously consider the piece any longer. I think most people agreed with me... I don't recall anyone giving the work more than 15 seconds of their time. Given that the video was played in a room just beyond Big Al's rooms, I wish that space could have been given to him.

I think the show is definitely worthy of a short drive to Baltimore. Cubicle 10 is a space that needs to be seen and supported. Go see the show before it closes on October 9.

Cubicle 10
1431 N. Central Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 468-0608
Hours: Saturdays 11-5