2011 Monster Show | basementagallery

The Monster Show, Group Exhibition

July-August, 2011

Curated by Anja Ulfeldt

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Monster Show Artists

Brük Dunbar, Matt Forristal, Robin Frohardt, Crystal Silva and Mars Jokela,

Chris Ritson, Joseph Kowalczyk

Reveiew by DeWitt Cheng

The words "monster" and "show" are etymologically related, so The Monster Show is a freakishly apt title for this exploration of "the corporal, the ephemeral, and the grotesque" in humorous Monster Mash style. Brük Dunbar's ceramic "Worm Theory," a sheet cake of composting annelids, is memorably unappetizing, and Matt Forristal's fanged plush animals ("Sheepzilla") and Robin Frohardt's (and Mike O'Tool's) inflatable "Trash Monster" are humorously absurd. Crystal Silva and Mars Jokela retrofit a trio of hand puppets with sinister animal skulls bearing dyed fake hair ("Orange Punk Skunk"), while Chris Ritson masks a porcelain female bodhisattva figurine with magnesium sulfate crystals ("Guanyin"). Joseph Kowalczyk's sardonic "Bride of Thalidomide" reminds us that moral monsters walk among us, even if their victims can't.