When you're an artist, people offer you all kinds of comments on and advice about your work, something they would never think of doing to, say, an accountant. Anthony Thompson Shumate decided to use those remarks as fodder for his show "Cocky" at Barbara Davis Gallery.
Shumate created a host of works based on and titled after specific quotes, like "Why don't you get a real job?" or "Why can't you paint a fucking rooster? Everybody likes roosters!" or "Can't you make it bigger? How does it look in Red?" Until you know this, you'll undoubtedly wonder why stuff like a tie, roosters and a urinal are together in one show. The coolest object -- "You know I've seen a piece like that before. Do you even know art history?" -- is the urinal. Rather than just signing it, à la Duchamp, Shumate "pimped his urinal" with a thick coat of automotive paint and pin striping. How cocky.
(Through December 31, Barbara Davis Gallery, 4411 Montrose, 713-520-9200.)
