The Red Show
At the dA Center, Thru February 28
By: Stacy Davies


The dA curator, Rolo Castillo, is a real anarchist. He doesn’t give a hoot about writing long, curatorial dissertations on why he’s put together a project, and really, I give him props for it. It does lend itself to a hodgepodge, anything-goes-mentality, but sometimes that can be refreshing, and Castillo certainly has a keen eye for art that works.

This weekend, on lovey-dovey V-Day, he’s put together everything red. Doesn’t have to mean Valentines, of course, there are other forms of red—some people might be engaged in bloody couple squabbling and single types may be tossing back too much pinot in hopes of snagging a midnight shag. Whatever your motive and agenda, The Red Show will certainly give you something to think about—and might even be a hotspot for acquiring a spindly or Rubenesque pickup.

Castillo’s piece, as usual, is a riot. In the large-scale Church Fight two multi-colored birds wearing rubber rooster caps square off in front of a house of worship. Each bird has a word bubble that reads “tomato.” One of the fowls is most likely pronouncing it toe-mah-toe, you see. And they’re fighting—two cocks in front of a church, about something petty. Love it.

Other works of note include Mark Lindley’s Deja Rouge—a canvas of layer upon layer of chunky red tones—and Eric Ward’s molten lava-y Rupture, a fiery piece of Plexiglas with protruding piles of pseudo-magma. Thomas Stubbi’s culty bizarre Dogma Eat Dogma in which a group of hooded pagans worship a red Fu Dog and giant banana split will no doubt keep your internal conversation pleasantly befuddled. CM Venice McCurdy’s vintage red book impaled with nails that spell out “read” and A.S. Ashley’s clever, goopy-red mouse trap Missed You Again are small treasures that are just too clever. Perhaps most intriguing pieces, however, are Richard May’s dual men’s room doors covered with repetitive stenciled text: “be a man”; each door is also painted up with a figure of Iron Man and Superman, as well as collaged clippings of a lynching, a black boy in tears, the Lone Ranger, Tarzan, and signs that read “thou shalt not cry” and “thou shalt not display weakness.” Harsh, jacked up, and fantastic—just what you need on such a sentimental day.
(Stacy Davies)

The Red Show at the dA Center for the Arts, 252 S. Main St., Pomona Arts Colony, Pomona, (909) 397-9716; www.dacenter.org. Thru Feb 28. Free