(Least) Collectables

If you were lucky, you were allowed to be a mild hoarder as a child. Back then, everything felt as though it had value. Wrappers off of lollipops, seashells and baseball cards acted as currency in that Fort Knox you called a bedroom. The cards you kept in either a shoebox (“extras, or lesser cards”) or a photo album (“worth something someday”). They seemed so important then, as though your entire future revolved their appreciating, like a dreamer’s trust fund. Now, you know better. Or do you? That’s the question Dallas artist Taro-Kun addresses in his new exhibition, It’ll Be Worth Something Someday, at The Public Trust, 2919-C Commerce St. Visit the gallery’s small room this evening during the opening reception (6 to 9 p.m.) and you’ll walk into a makeshift trading card shop where more than 200 of these throwback collectables have been defaced. Browse the collection and you’ll find that these once-treasured items have taken on a new form of value, but now rather than collecting Mickey Mantle or Hulk Hogan, you might lean toward a cigarette-smoking cat or a cartoon, three-eyed linebacker. Get an eyeful of grown-up treasure tonight. Visit trustthepublic.com.

Sat., May 5, 2012