Niche 3708: An Artistic Odyssey

Jared Fuller’s Niche 3708 is a quaint live-in studio and gallery situated across from Longfellow Park in Minneapolis. Open for just more than a year, the simple yet inviting space packs a punch with its current show, Fire & Salvation, featuring two new series of works by Yuri Arajs.

One is a series of mixed media paintings described by Arajs as “Images based on forest fires that explore the beauty of surface within the destruction of fire.” Painting on wood, Arajs layers varying amounts of polyurethane and latex over each surface. The yellow and white tints of these materials, swirled across the wood, create movement and evoke a smoky environment. Loose charcoal sketches of charred trees are scattered among bits of bare, unblemished wood that peek through the hazy surface, highlighting the resolute endurance of the forest.

Even more engaging, though, are the vintage Bible-page series that adorn 3708. In these, Arajs has spliced images from an 1880 Bible, framing specific parts of each etching and altering them with bright acrylic paint and/or found objects, such as copper and metal. The result is a bizarre, sci-fi-like collection of work that dramatically changes the narrative of the original illustrations, challenging the viewer to find new meanings.

In “Altered Story 2,” a thick rectangular band of white acrylic paint slices the piece in two, deliberately concealing the central figure in the illustration. Here, and in most pieces from this series, the “foreign” component—paint and/or found objects—is situated directly in the sight line of the subjects, becoming the focal point of each piece.

It’s an odd juxtaposition—the stark, synthetic strip dominating the decades-old etching—yet something about the piece seemed hauntingly familiar to me. Later I connected it with a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s classic “2001: A Space Odyssey,” in which a black, rectangular monolithic slab confronts an ape-man. For Kubrick, monoliths link the primeval, futuristic and mystical sections of his film. For Arajs, acrylic paint and found objects link Biblical characters to an altered, futuristic divinity.

In “Altered Story 7,” thick, white paint reframes an etching of Jesus facing an unidentified woman. Hovering just a few feet from a seated Christ, most of the female figure is concealed, except for her torso and long, flowing, dark hair. A white robe is draped loosely over her body, exposing part of her back and shoulder. It’s a mighty provocative image, save for the fact that Jesus is the one ogling her, and we’re forced to decide whether his gaze is one of compassion, or the lusty desire of a virile, long-haired hippie.

This twisted little game of reconciling preconceived religious notions with contemporary artistic interpretation can be played again and again throughout this exhibit. Don’t resist the temptation to draw your own conclusions.|

Fire & Salvation runs through Aug. 18 at Niche 3708, 3708 34th St., Mpls. 612-804-4472 or www.niche3708.com. Hours are Tue. and Thu. 6–9 p.m. & Sun.
1–6 p.m.