by Dennis D’Alesandro
Itʼs always nice to walk into a minimal, simply curated show. I hate walking into a show that looks jumbled with too many pieces, or pieces that are too big for the space, etc…Grizzly Grizzlyʼs current show, Southern Cross, is a great example of how to curate a well balanced, comfortable show without overwhelming the space, allowing you to engage with the work in an uncluttered and personal way.
![Grizzly Gallery Grizzly Gallery](https://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/Grizzly-Gallery-300x173.jpg)
No doubt Grizzly Grizzly could be easily overwhelmed, as itʼs perhaps the smallest gallery in Philly, maybe 150 square feet at best. Still, despite the limited space, when a show is hung correctly and its curation is sound, the art is allowed to breath and a successful show is given life.
Southern Cross, the theme and title of the show, is a distinctive five-star constellation, visible year-round in the southern hemisphere. The five stars hang in a cross-like pattern. The show consists of five artists, each given a position in the gallery that represents one of the five stars. (The irony wasnʼt lost on this writer that they decided to present a show that alludes to a major star constellation that is probably billions of light years wide in a gallery smaller than a McMansionʼs coat closet!)
![Grizzly March Madness Grizzly March Madness](https://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/Grizzly-March-Madness-300x278.jpg)
Representing the star Mimosa is an excellent painting by Chris Moss. The picture depicts a loose pile of those cheap, plastic strings of multicolored flags youʼd see strung up in the parking lot of a car dealership, thrown into the hull of a dark wooden boat. The painting is really awesomely colored and painted flatly with a rich matte surface quality that would look great hanging over my couch – a proud addition of my art collection.
![Grizzly Below the Salt Grizzly Below the Salt](https://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/Grizzly-Below-the-Salt-204x300.jpg)
Matthew Fisher’s cleanly painted “Below the Salt,” which hangs in for the star Gacrux, is an obsessively tight, well-crafted painting that seems to toy with a super-realist aesthetic. A lonely grass-like blade rises out of the sand on an eerie sunrise beach. The painting has a clean, well-balanced eggshell surface and radiates a lazy, calming, but strange light. The sand at the bottom of the picture is trippy and complex. I think much of its detail was applied with paint flicked with a toothbrush.
![Grizzly Memorial Grizzly Memorial](https://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/Grizzly-Memorial-300x242.jpg)
In for the star called Delta Cru is “Memorial,” a dark, smallish drawing by Rob Matthews. Based on a makeshift street memorial that the artist would pass on his way to work, the drawing depicts a crucifix leaning against a tree, with empty cans of Budweiser strewn around its base. The dark, somber scene brings pause, making you think of innocent youth snuffed out prematurely, like a best friend who has suddenly been lost.
![Grizzly Montauk Discussion Grizzly Vampires](https://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/Grizzly-Vampires-286x300.jpg)
The other two stars in the show include a sculpture by Stacy Fisher and a mixed media painting by Patrick Brennan. Fisher’s shiny black “Vampires from Mars” has a nice spatial presence and resembles some cylindrical core samples of oil or tar, bringing to mind the Mercury Rev lyrics, “Iʼm a vampire baby, suckin blood from the earth…” Brennan’s medium sized painting “Montauk Discussion” is aggressively textured with multiple mediums, including popsicle sticks.
![Grizzly Vampires from Mars Grizzly Vampires from Mars](https://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/Grizzly-Vampires-from-Mars-300x199.jpg)
All in all itʼs another enjoyable show at Grizzly Grizzly. The gaze-worthy show runs until Dec. 19.