Love Explosion
Alex Da Corte and Jack Sloss

Fleisher/Ollman Gallery
1616 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

April 18 - May 17, 2008

reviewed by
James Rosenthal

It is ironic that Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, which shows consistent, high quality contemporary art, finds trouble being understood in some quarters, as indicated by the unusual amount of posting traffic (47 posts at last count!) on the artblog recently. The posts were a response to a piece about the Love Explosion show at Fleisher-Ollman by art historian/critic Jennifer Zarro. Of course, any dialogue is good and should be applauded, but as a critic, there are issues involved that pertain to me specifically.

My main concern is the dubious reception for art in the local area, because there is apparently no consensus on what art should look like. The advocate in me thinks, “Can’t this be cleared up by working on the definition?” Love Explosion represents the current brand of pop-conceptualism also called neo-conceptualism. I admit, it is particularly unfathomable to some viewers – it immediately sets up a situation of hierarchy, i.e. we are smart and you aren’t – because they haven’t learned enough about the first wave of conceptual art, have dismissed it entirely, or don’t like the mercenary nature of the booming art market these days (which, infuriatingly, bypasses our fair city).  

So I’m glad to say that Love Explosion is an exuberant show full of wit and serious effort. It also seems enough to have a show in Philly that would sit comfortably in any Chelsea gallery whether you like that sort of thing or not. Back to those telltale definitions:  several pieces suggest multiple readings. This is to be expected. There is a mix of humor with a dash of grim world affairs and a gaudy snake made out of fake fingernails. There is no signature style; par for contemporary art. What we expect to find in a decent show are a few signature ideas even if they are oblique. As Jennifer Zarro suggested in her personalized response to the exhibition, there was a “Morning After” air.  I agree, but for me, that party of ideas continued the next day. The title of the show gives some clue as to the general attitude that enjoys parodying the old phrase from the sixties/seventies -- and it helps the audience to know the Sex Pistols from the Grateful Dead. These links between popular culture and art process make disparate forms of content nearly indistinguishable at times. I like that. The changing signage at the entrance wasn’t so important for what it said but simply the fact the text was changeable. It might have said, “Everything is up for grabs.” This does not mean that the viewer is meant to find effortless and profound meaning in the art. That would be a mistake, so why take that approach?

These general difficulties with ‘approach’ and definition may explain why some recent web posters found the show derivative. Again, so what. Playing with derivation is something innate to the process of art making whether one agrees that originality actually is a thing of the past. Complete originality (when required) comes from a different source and can appear like it was made off the cuff. Ideas are parsed from a mass of visual culture whose vocabulary we are all party to. This can make art seem dumb. But it is a specific type of dumb, conceptual dumb. Another marker of contemporary art is the proliferation of media. The dynamic duo of Jack Sloss and Alex de Corte covered the bases in terms of material: neon, sculpture in vitrines, video, film loop, and some funny 2D collage made from dated magazine ads. (Did you know that all the glossy alcohol ads from the seventies had hidden images of sex and death?) Sloss and deCorte messed happily with found objects. There were puns, obscure art references and an interesting personal dialogue between the two artists’ work. All this contributed to a “unified” installation. The fact that the art reacted to the space and appeared like a group show by 4 or 5 artists showed maturity, confidence and focus.

I’m glad Fleisher/Ollman sticks to its guns. Maybe the city will catch up soon.

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© 2008 James Rosenthal and InLiquid.com; image copyright © 2008 Fleisher-Ollman Gallery