Sweet, sophisticated and intelligent dreams

No Name’s new show Sweet Dreams…, curated by Franklin Sirmans, promises to be one of the most interesting shows of the season. The art works chosen are sophisticated and intelligent, compiled of local and New York artists. As No Name closes for the winter, they go out, not with a whimper, but a bang.

The Soap Factory, home of No Name Galleries is huge, so there is a lot of room for a lot of art. Therefore a lot to look at. In one large room a group of well-intentioned social activists have created a chaos that exemplifies their passion. This is next to Wing Young Huie’s beautiful photos of Twin Cities residents. Reminding us white folks that this is not, thankfully, just a white city. Our “majority” tends to forget this. The most poignant of Huie’s photos is that of a Caucasian woman whose face the jovial African American baby she holds on her lap obscures. Next to this are Greg Dickerson’s bright abstract paintings of flowers, legs and houses in vivid color. They are approximately one square foot, and 100 of them create a beautiful montage spanning a huge wall.

One of the highlights of this show are Ashka Ohsaswa’s incredible ink drawings. Mildly reminiscent of anime and children’s stories, Ohsaswa’s dark strong lines are washed with bits of color. In “Bird and Elephant,” a small, long-legged bird wearing Mary Jane shoes and knee-high socks stands on top of an extremely wrinkly elephant with large tusks. The bird holds a fishing pole with a rat and a mouse tied to the fishing line like some kind of bizarre bait. In “Bird and Dragon” the same Mary Jane-and-knee-high-wearing bird ties string to a kite that has a dragon drawn on it. The dragon drawing is exquisite in its detail. Ink is unforgiving, one false move and you’ve ruined your work. The evidence of Ohsaswa steady hand is clear. The third bird drawing shows our hero as he/she winds up a ball of string. The bird stands in the lower left corner wearing sandals and has human toes with an elastic line on its legs where the socks were in the previous paintings. The bird always wears gloves with fingers, and has an orange beak. In the upper right corner we see a menacing spider staring ominously at the unsuspecting bird. Ohsaswa successfully combines traditional ink style with cartoon subject matter.

Athena Robles’ “Casualties of life” is an umbrella woven from sleep bamboo and string Under the umbrella hang origami birds on long strings. The birds are made from handwritten letters, reminding us how rare they are. Robles’ work is intimate and delicate. “Fire Escape” is a beautiful upside down umbrella made of laced bamboo and molded paper stars. A ladder hangs from the umbrella, yellow and braided, dainty and gorgeous.

Kevin Ei-ici de Forest’s “Record Shop” is amazing. De Forest has created an installation/room with hundreds of record sleeves. Using existing brightly colored imagery from the ’60s and ’70s as his foundation, he paints on top of them with an array of unusual subject matter. De Forest also usually sneaks in a self-portrait to top it off. One featured record jacket is “High School With Out Racial Tension,” a white on white painting of a small clean schoolhouse, trailer-style, complete with lovely green lawn and blue sky. Like much of his work, it is soothing and creepy at the same time.

We also see a new Bruce Tapola, the darling of the art world. How can you not love Bruce? The Tapola twist on pop iconography from the past has evolved into a much more complex and subtle interpretation. His new installation “Mis En Scene: The Young and the Restless (alternative set) 2003” is innovative. The entrance has a very large theatrical spider’s web, and a very large theatrical mouse hole. The adjoining room is extremely dark, and houses three massive mirrors and a big fake gorilla arm that lies in the middle of the floor. The piece de resistance of the “mis en scene” are the two paintings practically hidden in the dark. Painted in drippy brown washes with a soft focus feel, they are nauseatingly romantic scenarios. In each painting a couple walks across a sandy beach hand in hand. They are sappy and drippy. Wonderful.

There is much, much more. Sweet Dreams... is No Name’s last exhibit of 2003. The Soap Factory is located on 2nd St. SE between 5th & 6th Aves., Mpls. Hours: Thu. & Fri. 2-8 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. 12-5 p.m. 612-623-9176. www.soapfactory.org.