It's not an exhibit you're likely to see anywhere else, but the one-off works at Parentheses Gallery will redefine your expectations of a gallery show. Mis-fit is a collection of work from 38 artists, unique works that are "other" in some way---some were created to fit the show's theme like Jon Claytor's painting of a young man wearing a Misfits tank top, but the most fascinating pieces in the show are the ones carrying artistic baggage---the work that the artist might not have considered worthy or the outsider art that resulted from trying something completely new. These are the can't-miss pieces in the show, and curator Dave Hayden will be happy to tell you all about them. Where else are you going to get to lay eyes on OTHER AKA Troy Lovegates' "AGO 160"---the throw-away print that resulted from offsetting 160 limited prints made from a linocut---the image is stamped so many times in slightly different ways (and a couple times upside down) that what would have been the original desired image seems to radiate off the page. Here's something that was used to facilitate a separate clean print but in doing so, became completely original in itself. Or consider Heather Snider's "Shipyard Valentines," intricately folded almost origami-like floral constructs created from discarded paper, or Matt Leines' "Blue-Haired Man" that was lost while completing a collection of work, and only later found and finished, or Gabriel Parniak's "Broken," painted on a piece of linoleum. Because, that's what really draws you in to each and every piece in Mis-Fit---the way that the work feels inevitable, like the artists just couldn't not make them, the way inspiration seems to creep up in them and to hell if it just doesn't fit with what's expected. This is art for art's sake, and you don't want to miss it.
To June 16, (((Parentheses))) Gallery, 2168 Gottingen Street
