James Case: Haven for the Dispossessed
Road Agent
- Garland Fielder -
James Case, Cockcock, 2006
iPod, digital file
3.5 x 1.5 x .25 inches
Nature abhors a vacuum, or so they say. This principle seems to hold true in the art world as well. It is a good thing, then, that the recently opened gallery Road Agent presented James Case's first solo offering Haven for the Dispossessed this summer (the vacuum in this case being that there are simply too many shows in the Big D with too few ounces of substance). Case's show is by no means perfect, but the work is close enough to make for some challenging and thought-provoking viewing. The artist's universe is eccentric, populated with imagery from the cosmos coupled with iconic vocalizations. Sometimes flatfooted—and sometimes just flatfooted enough to work—Case implores us to join the ranks of modern mystics, all mussed up with the cagey likes of Dionne Warwick-like astrological predictions and the quick draw of the easy pun.
James Case, A Good Dose of Happiness, 2006
Steel, aluminum, fool's gold, satin
Dimensions variable
In one central untitled piece, a Jaguar hood ornament is replicated and turned into a fractal that suggests a swastika. Repeated and overlaid, the image becomes a vague astrological chart rendered in sumptuous graphite. Other large-scale drawings incorporate similar objects—namely, automobile ornaments—morphed into similarly starry diagrams. Most notable are two mirrored Firebird emblems in line with the typical American maless adolescent masturbatory predilection for muscle-car lust.
Casess sculptural assemblages also work very well in this manner. His overt constellation fixation is peopled with little missile mockups, all glittery with fool's gold—moon nuggets strewn about the space. A Good Dose of Happiness, a rocket placed in the center of the gallery floor, is slickly produced, covered in a highly polished chrome finish. Its three stages are separated—severed to reveal a spilling of more chunks of fake gold. In lesser hands, this piece could come drearily close to a bad pun, but Case embraces artifice just enough to reveal a little boy's glee in handling mockups of an elder generation's phallic war toys. This piece would completely flop if not for the superb and masterful use of materials on the part of the artist, which occurs consistently throughout the entire show.
James Case, Cockcock, 2005
Thermal ink print
22 x 30 inches
However, a ham-fisted iPod nano projecting a slide behind its reflection does not go over quite as well. Here, it seems technology (the iPod) literally gets in the way of an already obfuscated message (the obscured projection). The same goes for a large mandalalike vinyl transfer: the piece is all chaos and no revelation, especially when viewed in conjunction with Case's much more resolved graphite works. Still, the show is definitely worthwhile, and the gallery should be given props for supporting artists of the experimental ilk. It seems Road Agent has instinctively filled the gap left by Angstrom Gallery's closing, which might help keep North Texas in the game—in contention with other, more established art world hot spots. This is not to say that there are no other art spaces and galleries in the Metroplex willing to take on heady artists; it is just that too many, quite frankly, tend to settle for lightweights.