Noelle Nardone, Skate and Destroy; I loved the choice of Asian-inspired hip-hop lettering
Since it’s election day I have to put my vote in for some sweet dogs at Gleaner’s Cafe.
The closest I have personally ever come to owning a dog is owning a dog painting. This is the perfect dog. She’s always sweet and I never have to walk her.
The pups at Gleaners were painted by Noelle Nardone. They are painted to look like stickers or wheat-pasted signs posted on plywood (but this plywood is pristine and finished). They also come with text billboarded onto the plywood. Some of the words were dry and funny, some a little too sappy or obvious for me. But all in all, I wanted to pet the dogs–always a good sign for a dog painting.
My fave was the one on a skateboard. My number 2 was No. 1.
I dashed down to Gleaner’s after getting an email from Nardone, who entitled her email and her show Recent works: where Nietzsche meets Minor Threat. It was the Nietzsche that caught my attention. Also the plywood.
I’m not sure what the Nietzsche was all about. Dog and superdog???
Imagine my amazement when Noelle herself was sitting in the cafe uploading her daily dose of caffeine. So we had a little chat. She quit her graphic design job–she’s now doing some freelancing–and this exhibit is her first attempt at dipping her toe in the get-your-work-out-there-no-matter-what water. I think she ought to keep dipping. She also has some nice animal drawings that sometimes veer into fantasy, and she’s also making t-shirts, which are in the window of the cafe.
Minor Threat, by Noelle Nardone
The pups have nice juicy paint on them and each one of them seems to be handsome and well-loved by the artist. While we were sitting there, in walked Nardone’s husband, Tom McCloskey, a Nexus member whose techno-tv dogs and other critters have interested us at artblog in the past (see posts here and here). Needless to say, he was leashed to the family dog. I can’t tell you the breed, I’m sad to say, because I’m somewhat dog challenged.
But those on the wall are just my speed. Here’s my flickr set.
