In this witty if slightly bland exhibition, L.A. native Mario Ybarra Jr. constructs various scenarios in which black squirrels or squirrel surrogates engage in the rituals of 21st-century American life. Four large paintings show bushy-tailed rodents drinking beer, barbecuing and deejaying—as well as playing (or perhaps preparing to blow each other's heads off) with bazookas, swords and submachine guns. Several small sculptures depict them in scenes of suburban bliss (a father taking a photo of his newborn) or urban danger (two thugs confronting each other).
There's a certain obviousness to skewering human behavior in this fashion, but Ybarra effectively uses the kitsch factor of his conceit to satirize the mindless quality of our daily routines. In his sculpture Just Say No, a trick-or-treating squirrel recoils from the offer of a beer and a joint; in the video Paws Down Tails Up, five very amateur cheerleaders wearing squirrel tails and ears do the titular "dance" in L.A.'s MacArthur Park. The world is thus reduced to catchall slogans and half-time extravaganzas, but Ybarra still manages to show that fun, mindless or otherwise, is an important social glue.
Ybarra's larger paintings, with washy gray grounds that recall Christopher Wool, have a certain visual heft, but the ones featuring squirrels holding golden flags are compositionally static. And for all their satirical intent, his figurines lack a certain edge. Still, the richness of Ybarra's ideas and wit is enough to overcome the occasional dullness of his work. — Joshua Mack
