AM kicked off a weekend loaded with great shows by attending the opening of Mostly Memory at Thinkspace (previewed here and here) featuring the work of street artists Armsrock and Elbow-Toe. Gallery patrons were abuzz over the depth, significance, and aura of insight found within the series of works presented by both artists.
Check out all of the photos from the opening and the pieces from all the artists after the jump.
The focal point of Elbow-Toe’s body of work is the current financial crisis and is an allegory of the power of memory and its ability to hold us back or move us forward. It is focused around a 6 x 10 foot linocut of an Everyman (seen above) and the people he meets during his journey west. The level of profundity in each of Elbow-Toe’s pieces is astounding. Be sure to check out the work in detail as most of the parables are found in the intricacies of each piece.
Armsrock’s intricate hand-drawings focus on a different aspect of memory, the need to remind ourselves of mistakes we’ve made as human beings, and centers around a “memorial collage” formed by victims of human atrocities entangled within one another. Armsrock presents these horrid and tragic depictions in a classical style, very much reminiscent of the old masters. Beyond being visually impressive, the drawings inspire countless moments of reflection.
In the project room, Jon Todd opened his show Life Sentence featuring a series of paintings that evoke the symbolic, coded illustrative aspects of seemingly dark and dreary prison tattoos and casts them in a colorful and buoyant reworking.
Discuss this show here.
