Exhibit shows FAC’s ‘Eclectic’ side

One of the arts community’s criticisms of Michael De Marsche, the Fine Arts Center’s chairman and chief executive officer, has been his emphasis on building museum attendance with easy-on-the-eyes contemporary exhibitions such as Dale Chihuly and Andy Warhol.

De Marsche goes a long way toward dispelling that reputation with “The Eclectic Eye: Pop and Illusion” — the first traveling exhibit at the newly expanded center.

Sure, there’s a fair amount of eye candy in this exhibit of work from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, such as Warhol’s iconic suite of Marilyn Monroe prints.

But even the eye candy frequently asks the viewer to view things in a new way.

Robert Irwin’s untitled acrylic sculpture may not be deeply meaningful, but there’s no denying the quiet beauty of the subtle geometric pattern of shadows the piece casts — shadows that are the sculpture’s point.

The same is true for Larry Bell’s “DB5 1981 Corner Lamp,” which consists largely of a triangular piece of glass set in the wall. The beauty lies in the play of reflected light off the glass, not the object itself.

And a lot of the work is more challenging.

There’s no way to spin Joel Morrison’s “Untitled,” a cocoon that looks as though it might have been liberated from a Dumpster — the artist calls his work “detritus collage” — as anything but aggressively ugly.

With such works, the Fine Arts Center is asking its viewers to do much more than admire pretty colors.

Even the work that’s not visually challenging often forces the viewer to think. Keung Szeto’s “Art Work,” a superrealistic painting of a bulletin board, is as much insanity as skill, as Szeto’s mastery of painted textures makes the choice of trivial subject matter seem downright spooky.

It’s even stranger when you realize that it’s not all illusion: Some of the objects are real.

James Drake’s “Raft of the Medusa” poses different challenges. On one side, it’s a charcoal copy of Théodore Géricault’s famous 1819 depiction of the moment in which survivors of a shipwreck spot their rescuers.

But the other side consists of Drake’s sculpted copies of some of the figures, including at least one of the corpses Géricault used as models.

It’s powerful but enigmatic, and I wonder whether Drake intends to transfer Géricault’s political symbolism to the present: The wreck of the “Medusa” caused a scandal because its incompetent captain had been hired for political loyalty instead of skill.

Such multiple images are common in the exhibit. In Christian Ward’s “Island,” the painted-on-velvet color scheme and “happy trees” Sundaypainter technique evoke the world of kitsch, while the the multiple perspectives and impossible spaces weave a hypnotic charm that invites leisurely viewing.

Longtime residents may recall a few of the pieces from the Weisman collection’s 1988 visit to the Fine Arts Center.

But there isn’t much overlap between that one and this larger, bigger, and newer exhibit.

In fact, one of the exhibition’s most impressive features is its sheer size: It easily fills up the center’s vast new El Pomar Gallery.

details

The Eclectic Eye: Pop and Illusion — Selections From the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays

Where: Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St.

Cost: Members $6.75-$7.50; nonmembers $10.50-$12; children 4 and younger free; includes admission to permanent collection and FAC Modern More information: 634-5581