- The Art Gym at Marylhurst University
- Yep, that’s a cage.
By all appearances, the Art Gym at Marylhurst University is a weird place to visit if you live in Portland. It’s inconvenient (a car helps; so does the 35 bus, which goes straight to the campus), and there’s plenty of great art right here in town. But the Art Gym’s consistently brought in some of the strangest art around, and it’s worth the trek for that reason alone. The space’s latest show—Heidi Schwegler’s collection of macabre-great sculpture, sound, and photography, Botched Execution—closes Friday, May 15, so consider this your official reminder to get out to see it while you can.
I mean, if you WANT to. Because I’ll be honest—I’ve seen this show once and that’s PLENTY. Here’s what I wrote about it during my visit:
This is really a sculpture show, though, and to that end, Schwegler’s concerned with texture, implementing a flocking technique, a coating process that gives a velvety, dusty sheen to whatever it touches. On gray objects, the effect is something close to a skin of dryer lint, or mold. The show includes a flocked kiddie pool, a flocked laundry basket, and flocked Venetian blinds; the latter’s materials list also includes “gunshot residue,” in case you were wondering. Similarly, did you know that if you drain Elmo’s face of all color, it looks like he has three eyes? I didn’t, but now I do!
Schwegler seems especially interested in creating sculptures that function as destroyed facsimiles of everyday objects—detritus cast forever in hardy materials like concrete and aluminum. There’s also a clown that’s been shot in the face, and a sequence of portraits of Schwegler’s face as she’s gradually beaten up, frame by awful frame. The title, “My Struggle,” is wrapped up in its own layer of violence—it is, of course, the English translation of “Mein Kampf.”
I know, I know, that sounds creepy as hell! You’re probably doing an involuntary nope-nope-nope octopus move right now. But as far as sculpture and installation go, this is the stuff! And if you’re a fan of horror, well, a free gallery show is way cheaper than a movie ticket.
