Toying with ArtFriday, July 4, 2008; Page C02By Jessica Dawson
· Art referencing childhood, the trend that won't die, takes a stroll through DCAC, bringing along a mixed bag of photography, sculpture and works on paper -- some of it pretty good. One is Steven Strawn, who offers a battle of dolls and monsters that revisits Greek legend with a cast from Mattel. Another is Andrew Wodzianski, who departs from his overwrought portraiture to play with found images. Here he inserts the beastly bodies of superheroes onto the silhouettes of '70s-era fashion girls. One sylph wearing a pink dress is interrupted by massive pectoral musculature yet seemingly oblivious to her superpowers. A comment on contemporary women, perhaps?"Kid Mutiny" at the District of Columbia Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW, Wednesday-Sunday 2-7 p.m., 202-462-7833, to July 13;http:// . On July 13, DCAC hosts a 5:30 screening of the documentary film "Toy Punks" and a 7 p.m. curator's talk.www.dcartscenter.org
In This May Sting a Little, a girl doesn't know her own strength
"Clowns are usually assholes. As a child, the only clown I ever liked was Clarabell from the Howdy Doody Show. He was aggressive, hostile, and squirted people with water from a seltzer bottle. Worse yet, he communicated by honking an obnoxious horn. In my early films, you can see Clarabell's influence on Divine's alarming makeup. In fact, Divine became for me a kind of underground combination of Elizabeth Taylor and Clarabell. Today most clowns get on my nerves. If I met someone who told me he or she wanted to be a clown, I'd avoid that person. Remember John Wayne Gacy? He dressed as a clown in his spare time when he wasn't murdering young boys in the basement of his Chicago home."
Coulrobphobia 1
34 x 60"
oil on canvas
