Some Exhaust
By Merrily Kerr
Contrary to its title, the artwork in "Some Exhaust" was no leftover waste, nor did it have any noxious (read subversive) qualities. It did, however, make up one of New York's most enjoyable and inventively installed group exhibitions of the late summer, with curator and artist Matthew Lusk transforming the gallery into a sculpture-filled suburban garage. Apart from Julian LaVerdiere's huge piece of destructive equipment, which felt out of place, a DIY aesthetic reigned, exemplified by Rachel Owens' delicate weeds crafted from broken bottles climbing the garage wall, as well as Lusk's pile of tires studded with knives and holding plastic flowers.
Vehicles were few but included Bob Winsock's Tonka-scale camper van (which measured seven feet long) and Michael Peter Smith's grid of tiny Hot Dog Vendor Carts. Viewing the best work was like discovering forgotten treasures in the depths of storage, as with Lara Kohl's ice castle in a freezer or Bryan Crockett's nylon and resin spider web, which read "You Will Never Know." Owens' cardboard horses with fires lit inside their bellies and Kristine Robinson's eccentric collage sculptures related the least to garages but were among the most memorable pieces in a show that, overall, successfully turned one of the most mundane spaces in the home into the most interesting.