Ro2 Art Downtown has a small works show, aptly named CHAOS, which is so dense with artwork that I'm not sure where to begin. Gallery owners Jordan Roth and Susan Roth Romans invited a long list of artists to submit a maximum of five works in any medium, with a size restriction of 11"x14". They weren't technically strict about their restrictions. The result is indeed an organized chaos, like a well-prepared estate sale.There's a lot of art in that room.
The stand-outs for me are Paul Bryan's strange kitten video with interactive glory hole; Alisa Levy's photos of chairs, each with a freaky, maddeningly elusive, humanesque presence; Ken Craft's tile-sized painting of canine evolution; and a series of bear (human version) beefcake shots by Brian K. Jones. But my favorite pieces were Spencer Brown-Pearn's tiny models (or maquettes, if you talk pretty) sculpted from thickly printed wedding photographs.
There's a strong UTD/CentralTrak presence in the show, but also a nice representation from UNT students and graduates.
Chaos runs through July 17th at Ro2 Art in downtown Dallas. A closing reception will be held this Saturday, July 13th at 7 p.m.
The artist roster for this show can connect to any man, woman, or child on the planet in just four degrees of separation, making this exhibition more important to modern culture than Kevin Bacon. Let's do it:
Andy Amato, Matt Bagley, Sibylle Bauer, Michael Benson, Lori Brennan, Lionel Bevan, Charley Bevill, Daniel Birdsong, Cabe Booth, Spencer Brown-Pearn, Chris Bramel, Bill Bridges, Fannie Brito, Ashley Bryan, Paul Bryan, Kathie Cox, RE Cox, Kenneth Craft, Val Curry, Eric de Llamas, r. mateo diago, Alexander DiJulio, Chance Dunlap, Janeil Engelstad, Sam England, Gary Farrelly, Danielle Georgiou, Justin Ginsberg, Joshua Goode, TJ Griffin, Linda Dee Guy, David Anthony Harman, Terry Hays, Hillary Holsonback, Scott Horn, Oto Hudec, Jessica Iannuzzi-Garcia, Alison Jardine, Brian Keith Jones, Sonali Khatti, Jonothan Kimbrell, Mike Kury, Alisa Levy, Samantha McCurdy, Aralyn McGregor, Julia McLain, Sara Mesler, Courtney Miles, Susan Moffett, Patrick Murphy, Jeanne Neal, Vanessa Neil, Mark S. Nelson, Vinh Quang Thi Nguyen, Brooks Oliver, Jeff Parrott, DJ Perera, Alvaro Perez, Cassie Phan, Mark Ponder, Robin Ragin, Jason Reynaga, Kathy Robinson-Hays, Rachael Roth, Adam Rowlett, Brian Scott, Thomas Seawell, Delaney Smith, Shelley Scott, Gillian Bradshaw-Smith, Alison White Starr, Rachel Lee Stephens, John Alexander Taylor, Katherine Taylor, Ian F. Thomas, Erik Tosten, Anh Ngoc Tran, Ellen Frances Tuchman, David W. Van Ness, Aimee West, Michael Westfried, Snow White, Chris Williford, Scott Winterrowd, and James Isaac Zamora.
FUN WITH NAMES
Artist named like art: Kenneth Craft
Most common names in Chaos: Brian/Bryan and Scott (inevitably including Brian Scott, maker of the saucy boudoir painting at top)
Best names for NPR coverage: Lionel Bevan, Spencer Brown-Pearn, Oto Hudec, Sonali Khatti, Vinh Quang Thi Nguyen
Also: Snow White. Real person.
