Crumbs in the Crowder

According to the owner, Pawn Gallery decided to give Detroit artist Topher Crowder his first big Dallas show, "so he wouldn't start hacking people up with a machete," if that gives you an idea how edgy this guy is. Crowder's ink-on-paper images are huge on the wall but draw the...

By Jim Schutze

July 5, 2007

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According to the owner, Pawn Gallery decided to give Detroit artist Topher Crowder his first big Dallas show, "so he wouldn't start hacking people up with a machete," if that gives you an idea how edgy this guy is. Crowder's ink-on-paper images are huge on the wall but draw the eye into bottomless whirlpools of detail--a thousand comic book stories in a single frame. Like hyper-industrialized, decaying Detroit itself, Crowder's images break down into layers of odd gizmos and scurrying widgets, with sly references to everybody from Hieronymus Bosch to R. Crumb. The free opening reception for Enter Patient Zero, open to the public, is 7 p.m. Friday at Pawn Gallery, 2540 Elm St. The show will hang until July 28. Gallery hours are 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call 214-682-1545 for more details.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: July 6. Continues through July 28

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Jim Schutze has been the city columnist for the Dallas Observer since 1998. He has been a recipient of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ national award for best commentary and Lincoln University’s national Unity Award for writing on civil rights and racial issues. In 2011 he was admitted to the Texas Institute of Letters.

Contact: Jim Schutze