C.H.U.D.Z.


2009-05-01

Mutants feature heavily in this show, named for the 80's toxic-waste classic, particularly in the works of Alex Barry. In one drawing from his abject, funny, and oddly sweet series, "Ugly People Mating", Barry shows twins bumping freshly severed arm stumps over a bucket of fried chicken in a living room furnished only with a painting of a graduating bear, a rug, and a bookcase holding a chainsaw, a shark, and a sword. Josh Slater and Richard Colman each have a cultish mysticism to their works. Slater's vaguely ominous altars and shrines resonate with architectural oddness, recalling the glorious art deco temple to Zuul in Ghostbusters. Coleman's works have a great visual punch, creating a space that is at once architectural, symbolic, graphic, and psychic. It's as if an illuminated manuscript had a love child with a Peter Max cartoon and a really good Peter Saul painting.

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