You wouldn’t immediately think of My Little Ponies or conglomo-store shopping bags as art, but in Virginia Fleck‘s hands, they’re as natural as clay or acrylics. The Austin-born artist takes plastic bags and pop-culture items and weaves them into postmodern mandalas ย a form of constant circular design in the Tibetan sand-painting tradition ย which span seven feet in diameter. In pieces like Liberty Mandala, which is part of Fleck’s new show at Finesilver Gallery, Fleck weaves together Target bags and toilet-paper packaging in a smart commentary on consumerism. Her Make Over Mandala is a hip kaleidoscope in which images of Bratz (the new-school, urban kids dolls) and My Little Pony seem to drain into a central, crouching Catwoman.
Fleck’s quilt show opens alongside James Smolleck‘s somewhat grotesque, Flemish-inspired paintings. Most of the works depict some odd combination of human and animal, replete with Latin phrases scripted in Old English. Many of the faces look ripped straight from an Old Master’s painting, and Smolleck’s pieces seem intentionally distressed, with cracks running up and down the canvas. It’s a jarring contrast to My Little Pony. Show runs through February 18. 3913 Main. For information, call 713-524-3733 or visit www.finesilver.com. Free.
Jan. 14-Feb. 18
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2006.