By Jim Duncan CVFDude@aol.com
|
Art Dive’s Christine Mullane
is planning a benefit exhibition
of work by Fito Garché. |
Hanging art: a murderous
affair in the tragic life of Garché
Art imitates life but death imitates
art. Fito Garché’s tragic
life left evidence of that old
adage in Des Moines. Despite his
anti-Castro themes, Garché
managed to make a living as an
artist in Cuba. After troubles
with Communist authorities, he
fled that country in 1994, then
spent a year in detention at Guantamano
Bay before resuming his art career
in Miami and Kansas City, with
exhibitions in South America and
Mexico as well. Jail and persecution
haunted the painter. He developed
problems with substance abuse
and personal relationships. Five
years ago, he was arrested for
breaking into an ex-girlfriend’s
home and threatening her with
a knife.
This past June, Art Dive owner
Christine Mullane met Garché
and his agent-girlfriend Jana
Mackey in Lawrence, Kan. Mullane
arranged an exhibition of Garché’s
paintings and bought several outright.
Shortly after that meeting, Mackey
broke up with Garché and
focused on her work as a lobbyist
for the National Organization
for Women and the Kansas Equality
Coalition, petitioning the Kansas
legislature for tougher laws on
domestic violence. Mackey was
murdered on July 3 during a violent
encounter in which, police said,
“she put up quite a fight.” Garché
fled Kansas that same day but
was arrested two days later in
New Jersey. He was found dead
by hanging in his jail cell the
same day.
One of Mullane’s Garché
paintings shows a tortured man
hanging in a jail cell. She has
taken all the Cuban artist’s paintings
off the market for now, despite
considerable demand. She is planning
to organize an exhibition to benefit
domestic violence.
DMAC Downtown enters
“Twilight Zone”
The Des Moines Art Center (DMAC)
Downtown’s new exhibition should
be introduced by Rod Serling:
“You’re traveling through another
dimension — a dimension not only
of sight and sound but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous lands
whose boundaries is that of imagination.
That’s a signpost up ahead. Your
next stop — The Twilight Zone.”
Like that anthology of great tales,
DMAC‘s “Private Universe” collects
stories of great imagination from
the last 130 years. Themes range
from historic to contemporary:
Max Klinger’s crazed reflection’s
on what was, in the 1880s, a new
theory called evolution would
later influence both surrealism
and psychoanalysis; Anna Gaskell’s
eerie film seems to provide psychological
context for what could be television
news’ latest “Amber Alert” incident.
Such diverse art is held together
by its cohesive theme — everything
is a creation of complex imagination.
Some of the show’s artists paid
dearly for their visions. Yayoi
Kusama has been institutionalized
for decades. Joseph Cornell, whom
curator Laura Burkhalter called
“The Godfather of the exhibition,”
was infamously reclusive.
Most of this art is lighter than
the psyches who created it: Kusama’s
sculptures mix large phallic symbols
with dazzling women’s shoes in
a feminist dream closet guaranteed
to make anyone smile. Patrick
Nakatani’s photograph’s detail
the life’s work of an imaginary
archeologist who has discovered
late model sports cars beneath
the ancient ruins of Maccu Piccu,
Stonehenge, etc. As in “Twilight
Zone” episodes, nothing in this
show is as it seems at first glance.
Wondrous surprises and ironies
await patient observers.
The exhibition also restores some
of long cloistered treasures of
the museum’s collection. Former
DMAC director Peggy Patrick observed
“It’s like meeting a bunch of
old friends again after years
apart.” “Private Universe” runs
through Jan. 25, 2009.
Pimp Touts
Iowa State professor Ingrid Lillgren’s
affordable “Assemblages” provide
rock solid grounding for the dazzling
gems in Ann Au’s autumn collection
at 2Au. … Bob Nandell’s four-decade
career in photojournalism dazzles
the Cowles Communication Center
at Grand View College through
Dec. 11. CV
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