General Practice is an abode located a little bit north of 36th Street that doubles as a gallery. Miami-based artist Carlos Rigau runs the space and will exhibit the five-artist show Sections this Thursday. He's played host to an R. Kelly/Valentine's Day-themed dance party, eardrum crushing metal shows, and this week, GP will house Roofless Records' New Year's Eve fundraiser.
General Practice, Rigau says, "fills a void of work that's a little more difficult to commodify."
The space lends itself to a certain sensibility, one marked by the artist's dark but humorous perspective. All flyers and images emerging from GP look like something Dracula might create when inviting friends over for a birthday party.
When Crossfade spoke with Rigau a few months back about a musical experiment curated by Viking Funeral, where bands played one after the other in each room, he called General Practice, "solutions in spaces." His upcoming show Sections was somewhat inspired by the emptiness of three of the first floor rooms. His goal is to find the right ideas to fit the structure. This exhibition allows you to discover the empty domestic area as occupied by artists Ryan Roa, Jeroen Nelemans, Justin Long, Domingo Castillo, and Rigau.
New York-based Roa uses rubber bungie cords to create shapes that connect the wall to the floor. Rigau says it's formalist, modern, and a little S&M, keeping with the murky and somewhat creepy theme of GP. Nelemans from Chicago is using laser levels and mirrors to create boxy shapes in a dark room. Similar to Roa, Rigau notes, "They're both using these materials that create form, but they're not art materials." He added of the works in Sections, "Formally, all of them make sense together."
Long, Castillo, and Rigau have created an environment where viewers can watch a video filmed at the end/SPRING BREAK's space at the Miami International Art Fair. In the cubicle, Long painted watercolors of things like a crotch in a Speedo, while Rigau tried to auction off Long's simple creations.
While he comically begged people to buy these paintings, he offered a slideshow of Google image searches of Cousin Itt and told personal stories about onlookers. Rigau said cynically of the event, "Selling watercolors at an art fair speaks for itself." The Heat Lightning said, "The coolest thing happened last weekend, and you weren't there." With this installation, you can pretend you were that cool that you were there.
Sections opens on Dec. 29 at General Practice on 7 p.m., 3930 NW 2 Ave., Miami. Visit generalpractice90210.blogspot.com.
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