 by Betsy Mowry
Altered Esthetics’ group show, Bike Art, brings the work of close to 50 artists and cyclists together in an engaging juxtaposition. The exhibit is sizeable, with more than 100 works of art capturing every conceivable element of the cyclist genre. Featuring a wide array of mediums—from sculpture, photography and painting, to live performance, comics, multi-media and collage, the show has something for everyone. Work covers each well-worn wall and hallway. Viewers should allow plenty of time to examine and enjoy each piece in the gallery’s comfortable environment. It’s a great way to support your local artist-run gallery, while getting an eyeful of some incredible and diverse art.
Most of the Bike Art artists are local, although there are a couple of
inclusions from Canada. Mankato artist Beau W. Layman uses his artistic eye
and talent to turn scrap into sculpture. Built of recycled bicycle metal, Layman
welds pieces together that would normally be tossed in the trash. In his artist
statement he describes his vision, “My life is surrounded by the amazing
objects that people throw away … my entire life is somehow touched by
bicycles.” His sculptures are whimsical and, though made of re-used bike
parts, possess an elegance that makes them appealing. For example, the curvature
of the scrap parts used in “ReCYCLIST” effectively creates a feeling
of movement and direction—almost as if the piece was made from one continuous
ribbon of metal.
 Cesia Kearns combines collage and illustration to depict lively costumes for
the play “10-Speed Revolution” by Walking Shadow Theatre Company.
The characters Max, Anna and Jake grin sardonically from their poses, and the
colorful collage segments have you leaning in to read more. “10-Speed
Revolution” tells the story of how these three fight mercenaries, the
city council and nefarious corporations when their bicycle is stolen. The play
features music by Twin Cities punk bands, and will be showing at Altered Esthetics
during Art-A-Whirl, May 19–21.
Bike Art wouldn't be complete without a nod to beloved bicycle messengers everywhere.
Gary Hopmayer’s “Different Spokes” photographs depict Chicago-based
messengers in their natural habitat. The bikers are as diverse as their backgrounds
and it’s interesting to imagine the many things that they’ve seen
and done. Documents of biographical bits are displayed between the photographs
and are just as interesting to read as the candid photos are to look at.
Another photographer worth noting is artist Phillip Barron. Taken with black
and white pinhole photography, his pieces show solitary bicycles in various
settings that are beautiful and ethereal. At the other end of the spectrum,
Minneapolis-based cartoonist Roger Lootine’s “Bike Comics”
are displayed in a handful of humorous poster-sized illustrations. Lootine is
best known for his socio-political comic series, “Residue,” which
ran in Pulse for several years.
An artist/community-run gallery, Altered Esthetics is located in a funky converted
warehouse space in Northeast Minneapolis. Look for the freestanding garden arch
in front of the doorway. A portion of the sales for each show is donated to
a charity working in an area relevant to the exhibition. Funds from Bike
Art will be donated to Bolder Options, a Minneapolis-based program that
connects at-risk youth with mentors to participate in fun, challenging athletic
activities—specifically running and biking. ||
Bike Art runs through June 28 at Altered Esthetics, 1300 Quincy
St. NE, Mpls., 612-378-8888. Gallery hours Tue.–Thu. 6–8 p.m.; Sat.
1–5 p.m. Special Art-A-Whirl hours Fri. May 19, 5–9 p.m.; Sat. May
20, noon–9 p.m. & Sun. May 21, noon–5 p.m.
|
