Arts

forces of evil in a bozo nightmare Plush Gallery heralds its return to Commerce Street downtown with a provocative gallimaufry of witty and mostly small pieces. Reinforcing the oddity of this jumble is its new location in a small boxy office space on the fourth floor of the Manor House apartment tower. The juxtaposition of technocratic building and wacky gallery, container and contained, makes for a surprising experience. Sara Cardona's large acrylic-on-map paper painting "Venus Takes Her Bath" reads like carnivalesque in the office of funhouse management. The long painting of an elastic woman bent over in a backward pose jumps off the wall as though Gumby's wife in a surreal bureaucratic setting. Marjorie Schwarz's small drippy figures of acrylic on wood make small contradictions in space, throwing a little goth in the hyper-mod structure. In contrast to the rest of Dallas, which is wont to camouflage its peculiarities in shades of rose and pink splendor, this gallery wears its weirdness on its shoulder. Through September 17 at Plush Gallery, 1222 Commerce St., Suite 403, 214-498-5423. (Charissa N. Terranova)