Kevin Mellema Reviews Target Gallery's "Reclaimed"

Kevin Mellema - (one of the few print media art critics left covering the DC area) writes his review of the Torpedo Factory's Target Gallery exhibition of artwork made from recycled components - "Reclaimed". Curated by Light Street Gallery owners Linda & Steve Krensky, the show features an international group of eco-artists. Erwin Timmers' cast recylcled glass and steel artwork "What We Leave Behind" is shown here - photography by Anything Photographic.

Here is part of the text from the Falls Church News Press article:

And Then There Was Art

'Reclaimed,' at the Target Gallery in the Torpedo Factory (105 N. Union St., Alexandria). This exhibit runs through April 26. For more details, call 703-838-4565 ext. 4 or visit torpedofactory.org/galleries/target.htm.

Of all the galleries around town, the Target Gallery consistently does the best job of bringing in work from outside the Metro area. Target Gallery's open call shows are truly open to all comers, where other galleries around town offer open call shows to Metro area or, at most, to Mid-Atlantic artists. The Target Gallery typically brings in work from across the nation, with a few international pieces as well.

The D.C. area art scene operates in a bit of a bubble without any real connection to the outside world. We don't even have a decent connection to Baltimore, and we're practically joined at the hip. It seems to be a problem in general, but the Target Gallery is doing what it can to fight that insular structure.

"Reclaimed" is a recycled materials show juried by Steven and Linda Krensky, Linda being the art dealer and Steve being the biggest art hound in town, seeming to magically appear at every art opening. The 33 works on view were culled from over 450 entries.

Recycled shows can run the gamut from interesting to literally rubbish by a different name. Good recycled art runs off the act of raw creativity in its playful and innovative use of appropriated materials. In a sense, the work has the same underlying ethos of high-end design work. While high-end design operates in that rare environment where money is no object, recycled art hits at the other end of the spectrum, where money is not required. One could debate who's got the creative upper hand here, but you've got to admire the folks making something from nothing.

Of the 14 area artists in the mix, Erwin Timmers of the Washington Glass School gang shows his archaeologically-inspired take on 1980s era personal technology, titled "What We Leave Behind." Adam Bradley assembled one of those ever-so-cool "Jet Pack" sculptures that takes us back to an innocent age of space travel and boyhood dreams. Honestly now, who doesn't want to have a jet pack of their very own?

"Podulator" by John Stephenson of Boone, N.C. riffs on the same vibe with a Deco-era teardrop auto headlight assembly brought into the hyper-cool space age 1950s with assorted metal bits attached. With auto parts running amok, Mexican artist Alfonso Arambula Robles crafted "Chat Noir," a cat with its back up and hair standing on end, using half of a car tire and screws to depict the respective cat parts...

Click here for the complete article.