C&C Music Factory once asked: "Y'all want this party started right?" We did and we do. We wanted this gallery season started right, and Dorsch Gallery managed to do it with Bubble Raft. Last night's season kickoff, with live music and standout sculptures, was much more than just an opening.
Bubble rafts are metal bubbles that settle on the surface of water, demonstrating imperfection and unpredictability in the atomic structure of metal.
Patterns and imperfections abounded in each of the distinctive works that filled the stark gallery space. After visiting many artists' studios, Brook Dorsch was inspired to curate this sculpture-only show. The gathering of these "bubbles" offered an island of creativity and a warm, vibrant party in an otherwise quiet Wynwood, on a regular Wednesday night.
Humor and cleverness are the elements that shape the exhibition. Bruce Conkle's coconut mobiles are garnished with foam rings and quartz mountains, resembling a homemade, yet intricate galaxy. Carlos Rigau's "Adoration for the Golden Cow" features the sounds of Bojangles tap dancing, a stuffed monkey, and the head of a cow, collaged with black tape and tiny lips and eyes. It is mesmerizing, horrifying, and, in typical Rigau style, really funny. The weather outside was stifling, and to offer a moment of coolness, collective Toot created an Anti-Sweat Lodge on the lawn, marked with a handwritten sign, which lowered the temperature with liquid nitrogen.
The art was enhanced by a full-on festival of local musicians. This included the bass-and-drum duo Pocket of Lollipops, who gave us some sophisticated psychedelic punk. Hallandale country group Boise Bob and his Backyard Band introduced themselves as Sonic Youth and then sang about white trash and possum, two of the best Americana road trip topics ever (after Deliverance, of course). Their washtub bass -- named the Holey Ghost -- and electric washboard made for a truly authentic cracker spectacle.
