Visual Arts
Thought-provoking imaginary worlds at Greg Kucera Gallery

By Matthew Kangas
Special to The Seattle Times

COURTESY OF GREG KUCERA GALLERY Mark Newport's 10-foot-high "Fantastic Four (Reed Richards)," 2003, hand-knit acrylic yarn and buttons, with wood hanger.

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Two young artists, Mark Newport and Tim Roda, have sensational new shows at Greg Kucera Gallery this month. Although both interpret the human figure, they are very different.

Newport hand-knits larger-than-life costumes of comic-book superheroes and meticulously beads and embroiders comic-book covers. Roda creates ominous black-and-white photographs of adults and children in bizarre, cluttered interiors. Together, they present two of the most thought-provoking and visually compelling exhibits of the summer.

Astoundingly, Roda, 27, just finished at the University of Washington graduate school of art. Already a mature artist with a complex, deepening vision of parent-child relationships and the artificially constructed nature of photography, Roda's solo debut is a major event. His completely original talent slyly draws in the viewer with oddly lit scenes of people in cramped and crowded domestic environments. Cheesy patterned wallpaper, skewed corners with deep perspectives, and facial expressions of fear and confusion combine to disturb and unbalance the unsuspecting viewer.

What is going on in these pictures? Dream worlds of animals, toys and garage-sale remnants are the theatrical props for the people Roda situates in confining sites. Using family members and friends like actors, the photos distantly recall Sally Mann and Diane Arbus, famous black-and-white photographers whose work seems to prey upon the innocent models as much as on the viewer.

As a result, the stories implied within each shot are enigmatic and multi-layered, like a Faulkner short story. Roda's artistry is such, however, that precise titles like "The Last Italian Supper with My Mother" or "The Farmer, the Wife, My Mom and Me" (both 2004) deceive us into thinking these are part of real life. Far from it, the complicated compositions with diagonal wood scraps, windows and doors, and draped cloth make up a completely imaginary world that one wants to observe but is afraid to enter.

	COURTESY OF GREG KUCERA GALLERY An untitled 2004 Tim Roda photograph. He uses family and friends as actors in staged scenes in confining spaces, creating enigmatic, multi-layered and often disturbing implied stories.

Newport's vision goes to the heart of teenagers' fantasies mediated by popular culture. Looking at his laboriously embroidered superhero comic-book covers and the brilliantly colored head-to-toe costumes of Batman, Aquaman, Spiderman and the others, visitors are brought back down to earth after the hushed and tense world of Roda's characters.

Now associate professor of art at Arizona State University, Newport, 40, has been included in prestigious museum surveys in California, New York, Illinois, Texas and Switzerland. This is his 10th solo show since 1996 and his third (and best) at Kucera.

Exhibit Review "Mark Newport" and "Tim Roda," 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, through Aug. 28, Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S. (206-624-0770 or www.gregkucera.com).

The "Superheroes" hang limply on the wall or, in a few cases, are suspended from the ceiling. Thus, Spiderman, Ironman, Daredevil and others come alive with the brittle colors of the acrylic yarn and slightly oversize dimensions. Tallest of the lot at 10 feet high, "Fantastic Four (Reed Richards)" (2003) goes beyond normal human size to a weirdly stretched effigy that delights and disturbs at the same time.

Comic-book addicts will love Newport's homages, but so will those interested in the new frontiers of traditional craft materials like thread and fiber. Not using a knitting machine, Newport's painstaking efforts to do justice to his superheroes will be appreciated on many levels.

The same is true of the embellished comic-book covers. Like medieval illuminated manuscripts, certain areas in each are highlighted for special treatment. "Lois Lane" (2003), "Catwoman and Batman" (2003) and the new gay comic-book hero, "Rawhide Kid" (2004), are especially beautiful.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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