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Gallery Sat Jan 22 2011
Heads on Poles
The current show that is up at Western Exhibitions was created from a simple call to artists by Paul Nudd and Scott Wolniak, who requested "Heads on Poles". What they got is exactly what you might expect them to have gotten, a few politically driven works, a number that had environmental overtones and some just fun, off the wall pieces. Making your way through the gallery presents a pretty interesting problem. As we all know, we are not supposed to touch the art even if we want to, it is hard not to be reminded that if these were actually dismembered heads on poles, that the same rule would most likely apply.
Decapitation is unfortunately part of our lives, we have seen grainy footage of executions on the internet which have found their way deep into our collective consciousness. We have seen a number horror and comedy movies where a decapitated head isn't treated with disgust at all, sometimes being met with joy as children run off playing soccer with it. As we grow up we all hear stories of decapitation from Inca games, to stories we heard about Vietnam or the Old West, its a fascinating thing to be focused on, and it is never easy to really wrap your head around.
The crowning jewel of the show has to go to Nick Black, whose piece I do not know that title of but consisted of oozing butter, popcorn, disfigured toys and plenty of moving parts. If you haven't seen an art show made up of toys and primarily found objects, hung for the sake of reigniting the place where fun and art intersect, this show is a must see, although I must warn you it is made up of primarily Heads on Poles
