At first glance, the work in Demetrius Oliver’s new show “Extracts“ could be thought of as just an artist having fun with his body and a digital camera. Oliver snaps himself with a lump of coal in his mouth in Lump, shoots his feet in cellophane in Fin and his torso with a garbage bag in Anchor. So what gives? “While much of my work is photo-based, it is also a conflation of sculpture and performance,” says Oliver. Fair enough. Indeed, his Halo, which finds his puffy afro crowned with yellow No.2 pencils, is quite a show.
Feb. 28-April 1
This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2006.