With Alios’ opening of a lighting showroom space in Downtown Container Park came the anticipation of some really, really great art in the outdoor shopping mall. After all, owner Todd VonBastiaans—the guy who designed the giant pancake pillows with Bryan McCarthy and brought the Henrietta Pussycat puppet out of retirement for a political spoof on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon—has some impressive works at his disposal. We’re talking pieces by Judith Schaechter, Mickalene Thomas, David LaChapelle and Venske & Spänle.
The current Valentine’s Day-themed exhibit, which lasts until April 1—Alios’ departure date from the Container Park—delivers. Geared toward “dudes,” it includes a healthy mix of macho and fabulous.
Angela Kallus’ 2001 “Neapolitan” stacks three monochromatic acrylic roses-on-canvas works—dusty pink, crème and chocolate—on the same wall as Shan Michael Evans’ cartoonish and dreamlike rendering of space that hangs before a silver Louis Poulsen saucer-like Aeros lamp.
John Zoller’s painting from a 1950s coloring book image of a young couple on a date hangs next to a retro-looking Louis Poulsen PH50 Pendant lamp. There’s a Michael Swearngin oil-on-canvas cowboy, three paintings by Marty Walsh and a Norbert Brunner reflective work in which Swarovski crystals spell “fabulous.”
And while the Eric Joyner triptych, featuring Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots resting between rounds, gets a lot of attention from visitors, it’s the Boris Hoppek punching bags in the window depicting the faces of artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III (and placed on the dusty pink floor with a mirror ball once owned by Al Capone), that steal the spotlight.
Valentine’s Day Mascular Through April 1; Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Alios, Container Park, 478-9636.
