Works by Tim Rollins and Wayne White at Fleisher/Ollman

Words on the Street

Two local shows focus on the importance of words.

by Roberta Fallon

“Rich Text” at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery is a roundup of contemporary word art that’s a smile from start to finish. While the show is wonderful on its own, it’s made even better thanks to a video exhibit by New York artist Burt Barr at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

“Rich Text” features works by Jina Valentine, Justin Quinn and 19 other artists. Quinn’s love of Moby Dick (or at least its letters) shows in his collage piece Chapter 71 or 8466 Times E (2005), a starburst spray of the letter “E” that’s so bold, it’s like a foghorn sounding in the night. Valentine’s Poisonous Books and Natasha Bowdoin’s two hand-lettered works use words as visual cacophony.

Alex Da Corte’s word art at Fleisher/Ollman

The show includes a number of pieces that are clearly inspired by the work of Jenny Holzer, an early practitioner of word art. Holzer’s aphorisms, such as “A MAN CAN’T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE A MOTHER,” express underlying anger and are instantly captivating. Jayson Scott Musson, Anthony Campuzano and Alex Da Corte make works that riff on society’s ills. The artists use various media—Musson works digitally, Campuzano paints and draws, and Da Corte sculpts—and their messages are delivered with urgency.

Mark Mahosky and Trevor Reese use words in sculptural settings to create quasi-autobiographical works that are tender and playful. Bob and Roberta Smith (aka Patrick Brill) make beautiful scrap wood signboards with funny shaggy-dog stories emblazoned in lovely letters. Wayne White paints free-associative phrases (“TINTED LARD,” “INVISIBLE RULER”) on found thrift-store paintings with results resembling tacky movie posters.

A still from Burt Barr’s Roz

Meanwhile, PAFA’s Morris Gallery has been turned into a screening room for the next six months for a new video series. Burt Barr’s Roz (2004) is a rumination on what words mean when mouthed by a person who doesn’t get their meaning or doesn’t care. The video shows a young woman lip-synching Otis Clay’s version of “The Banks of the Ohio” while standing in the shower. Whether she knows the song is about a brutal murder of a young woman is a mystery. The short piece loops and the repeated words tumble out of the young woman’s mouth. Love, death and remorse go on forever.

Over the years word art has evolved into a legitimate art form. Today’s artists use words as another tool in the toolbox. Word art is rich with color, shape, texture and narrative, all of which engages the viewer. These shows are an opportunity to see the range of exciting work out there.

For more on the Philadelphia art scene go to fallonandrosof.blogspot.com.

“Rich Text.” Through Feb. 22. Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, 1616 Walnut St., Suite 100. 215.545.7562. www.fleisherollman.com Burt Barr: “Roz.” Through Feb. 22. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Morris Gallery, Broad and Cherry sts. 215.972.7600. www.pafa.org