| Piece of Work Rock
n' Roll, Drugs and Sex D. Berman Gallery, through April 5
BY MOLLY BETH BRENNER
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A huge charcoal drawing looms on the wall of D. Berman Gallery; gray-black billows, splotches, and smears meander across it like a plume of post-apocalyptic smut. Upon closer inspection, the texture of the piece reminds this viewer of industrial waste products: factory smoke, coal dust, oil stains on cement. Thin lines run through the background of this bleak scene, simultaneously evoking those ubiquitous bar codes on supermarket products and film streaks that appear onscreen at the beginning of old rundown black-and-white movies. Floating through the grime is a curling banner printed with the words "rock n' roll, drugs and sex." The background world of Twaddle's drawing
is covered in tired filth. Even the phrase the viewer may initially
think she's seeing, "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll," has
been worn to dull gray with overuse. By reversing the phrase and placing
it at the center of this burned-out scene, Twaddle draws our attention
to it, making it an example of verbal recycling in an otherwise wasted
landscape. Sure, "rock n' roll, drugs and sex" sounds off
and a little out-of-the-loop, like something a conservative Christian
preacher, or first-semester English as a Second Language student,
might say. But it's new, and it offers a strange sense of whimsy and
hope to this otherwise gloomy work. Rock n' Roll, Drugs and Sex offers
a glimpse of innovation for those tired and sick of this hackneyed
world. |
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