gallery night @ studio 5

a good night at jesse the painter's. was as knocked out by greg bahr's photography of objects he made by hand as i was by his collage work i saw for the first time last fall. pussyhouse propaganda ("art criminals" calvin abucejo and ray liberio) had a handful of new pieces, including from the darkest depths of mordor, which depicted evel knievel in full flight over the map from lord of the rings in their typical pop-culture mash-up stylee. james lassen's representational drip paintings, done in latex house paint, had the same kind of lines as his miniatures -- an impressive feat.

the gallery owner was represented by a single portrait, but he's been busy preparing for his upcoming solo show, en un manera silenciosa (set to run from may 23rd to july 16th at galeria de la rosa), where he'll lift the curtain on a half dozen new works. the detail from cortez the killer (a new piece, not the one that was my favorite at his 2003 show at gallery 414) on his promotional postcard provides a tantalizing glimpse -- not many artists can get away with invoking the spirits of both miles davis and caravaggio, but jesse earns it.