Dog Days: Not your typical pet portraits

I wrote this during our very nasty heat wave in the “Dog Days” of August. A perfect time to see a show called Dog Days, whose theme is dog photos. Not your typical doggie portraits, but dogs in contorted poses, dogs who look like their owners, dogs whose presence is felt but are physically absent. The organizer/curator and one of the photographers of the show, Jenny Jenkins, came up with the idea after a meeting with fellow photographers. They all had photos of dogs, and decided to combine a dog show with the “Dog Days” of summer. Jenkins researched the history of “Dog Days” and came up with this definition: “the period of summer between early July and late September when the weather is hot and sultry.” Jenkins also explains that in ancient star gazing, constellations were seen as animal forms such as Canis Major and Canis Minor. Sirius, the Canis Major main star, is most visible in the summer, hence our show title. These facts are fascinating and the show is just as interesting.

Dog Days takes place in Gallery T, located in the Northrup King building in Northeast Minneapolis, and is a must-see, especially during Art Attack and Art A Whirl. There are tons of artists in this massive building. But I digress.

Dodd Demas has two photos here. My favorite is “Father, son, new house, new tree, new dog.” This is a brilliant photo. We see in vivid color the drab new suburban rambler (still unpainted), the front yard with no grass, the new tree (a stick with potential), and a little boy kneeling down holding a black puppy. The brilliantly humorous part is the dad. Gone are the black socks with sandals. The new dad sports white ankle socks with cheap white gym shoes. He wears very tight, very short shorts (polyester sans-a-belt), in an unforgiving red. Dad is a very pale pink shade of white. His ample thirtysomething paunch spills gently over the top and bottom of the fashion “don’t” shorts. What could top this you might ask? Dad’s face! It is that perfect combination of stern, confused and loving, quintessentially dad. The most amazing part of this is that it’s not staged. It has a very natural caught-the-moment feel. A great photo. Demas’ other photo is of a Brittany spaniel in a contorted pose in front of a very nice, normal suburban home. This photo is great, but it’s hard to compete with “Father, son, new house, new tree, new dog.”

Xavier Tavera is an outstanding, well-known photographer whose large, colorful and emotionally poignant photographs are some of the most interesting work we have in Minneapolis. “Bandit and Jane” is a portrait of a lap dog and a lady. Atop a platform we see Bandit, a hairy, overheated, little brown and white dog, slightly overweight with mouth agape. Next to Bandit stands Jane, the proud doggie mommy. She, too, is voluptuous, a little sweaty, and has brown hair with blonde highlights. These two are placed happily in front of dramatic, red-flocked wallpaper. A brilliant formal portrait with the sophistication and wry sense of humor Tavera is known for. Tavera’s other portrait of “Pignose and Thor” is equally strong. We see Thor, an intimidating punk rock guy with a Mohawk (a definite type), squatting next to his pit bull, Pugnose. There is a definite correlation between the two. Both are a little scarred up, both are menacing looking. Both have round, pugnacious faces, with of course a pug nose, they both squat in front of a brick wall. The piece de resistance is the “b-e-e-r” tattoo on Thor’s knuckles. Tavera’s portraits are ironic and compassionate.

Larry Marcus’ “Ghost Busters” is a wonderful photo for anyone who has kids, or a sense of humor and love of this movie. “Ghost Busters” is a fantastic black and white photo of two little boys who hold large hoses,and wear swimming goggles, back packs and rubber boots while posing as perfect Ghost Buster look-alikes.

There are so many great photos in this show. The photographer/gallery owner Mike Tincher’s “Do Dogs Really Smile?” is a very funny piece that seems to prove that they do. There is also the large, softly out-of-focus, beautiful color print of a dog printed on vinyl by Jenny Jenkins. David Olkon’s portrait of a brindle pug is great, a less than attractive dog, with a lovely little red tongue. Also, Karl Rascke’s wickedly funny photos of places dogs have been. A “Beware of Dog” sign hung unceremoniously on the front gate of a mansion. “Breeding Reading,” a notebook of dog breeds tied to a fence, at what we can only assume is a dog run. I was told that Karl Raschke is the son of the famous Baron Von Raschke, the All Star Wrestler. At the opening he was performing his trademark “the claw” to the art lovers. I’m sorry I missed that opening. But you can still see the show.

Dog Days runs through September 30 . Gallery T is located in the Northrup King building, 1500 Jackson St. NE, 4th floor, Mpls. 612-724-6145.