December 7, 2008 - With humorous pieces like a tiara made from beauty supplies and a sterling-silver ring that prominently features cat whiskers in place of jewels, the exhibit "Laughingstock -- Humor in Art & Craft" on display at Luke & Eloy Gallery in Lawrenceville is not only a riotous display, but many pieces are a laugh riot in themselves.

"I've always wanted to do a show just about things that are funny or have a humorous component," says the gallery's owner Brigitte Martin, who opened her gallery in late September.

The German-born Martin comes to Lawrenceville with her newest gallery via Cleveland, where she maintained a small gallery in that city's Little Italy section for a year. That was before moving to Mt. Lebanon a little over a year ago with her two children and husband, who is originally from this area.

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A classically trained goldsmith, Martin has many friends with similar vocations and interests and many are represented here, which goes a long way in explaining why the works are of such high quality. Many different art media are represented in this exhibit, such as art jewelry, photography, audio and video art, mixed-media sculpture, metalwork, wood and fiber.

All of the artists use irony, goofiness, satire and sarcasm in their work with equal aplomb, making for a very enjoyable gallery going experience.

Some of the jewelry pieces could function as snide commentary on the purchaser/wearer. For example, a brooch, titled "Official Decision Maker," by Kerianne Quick of Urbana, Ill., resembles a badge and has a roulette wheel for making quick, or quicker, decisions.

"That's a tool for an indecisive personality," Martin says. "The dart really spins. So, if you want to make a decision and cannot make up your mind -- yes, no, maybe so."

With similar embarrassingly expressive intent, a choker by Dallas jewelry artist Deanna Ooley says it all with the word "DEBT" cut out in metal and wrapping around the front of the neck. And Rumi Ishino of Long Beach, Calif., pokes fun at marriage with her "Marriage Ring," an engagement ring that's topped with a tiny toilet that holds a cubic zirconium in its bowl.

Even San Diego artist Heather McCalla's small sculpture of a belly-busted robot standing amid a pile of little gears titled "Spill Your Guts" gets into the self-deprecating act, though not a jewelry piece itself.

Most of the pieces are jewelry or wearable craft of some kind. Some are not at all related to the wearable arts, but nevertheless humorous. For example, the sounds of Pittsburgh artist R. Weiss' piece "Dog Choir" fill the gallery. An audio composition, it's comprised almost entirely of sounds Weiss recorded in his Mexican War Streets home of his friends' dogs. A variation on the famous dogs barking "Jingle Bells" this is not. In fact, it's far better. "It's like these dogs went to Juilliard," Martin comments.

Like Weiss' work, not all of the pieces have an obvious message either. Some pieces are just outright fun. An earring titled "Aviary Series 3" by James Obermeier of Naperville, Ill., is probably the most outrageous ear adornment one will ever see. Sporting a tiny sterling silver branch, Martin says of this unique earring, "It goes over the ear so that a bird can sit on the branch and chirp in your ear."

Fun aside, though, Martin says. "His work is about the distance that exists nowadays between humans and nature."

"Vet Spoon" by Cleveland area artist Colette Zilka is an imaginary flight of fancy that engages with the idea of injured war veterans and prosthesis. Here, Zilka has fitted a spoon that supposedly lost its handle during the "Great Food War of 12 p.m." with a rubber prosthesis that is far less than sufficient. It's framed with a hilarious write up by the artist that details the spoon's current troubles with life after the war.

Also a laugh-out-loud riot are five "Porno Brooches" by Philadelphia jewelry designer Chun Chun. Porno because these brooches feature flowers whose sex parts have been pixilated so as not to reveal the details.

Finally, Gabriel Craig's video piece "Narcissist: 8 Confessions of an Academic Jeweler" pokes fun at the jewelers themselves, presenting a fake fashion show in which jewelers present ridiculous wares of their own supposed creation and comment on how each makes an important comment on or about society at large. A fitting entry for a jeweler who is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate in Jewelry-Metalsmithing at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

"This video makes fun of academic jewelry," Martin says. "It makes fun of a lot of what you see here. He's an academic jeweler himself, and he basically pokes fun at this marginal little slice of academia that we represent."

Read more: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/s_601911.html

Publication: Pittsburgh Tribune Review

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