Solo Room artist William Accorsi has the drop on you with "Cowboy".   A Tom MIx mix-mash whose shotgun shells are way too high caliber for the pea shooter in his holster.   You must come to the gallery and see his brilliant button and bead sculptures also...   Alexander Calder reincarnated.

 

Dave Channon's "Chimpanzeeni The Great"  seeks political (not mental) asylum from the Somalian Circus. The lightbulb over his head means he is getting an idea.   Did you know that The Arts Upstairs is also a wildlife refuge in addition to being a Artist Community Center?

Our other solo room artist, Justin Nikles, sums it up in "The Incredible Eye".  RAAarRrrR, roughly translated, means Zeitgeist with a dash of bag-under-the-eye insomnia.

An update on the Old Glory a'la Jasper Johns with some cherubic Kislinesque angels scampering up the ladder of succession to the throne.  Inspired by Katrina, "Flood Flag" is the work of  Dierdre Finley.

The mind plays funny tricks, like seeing connections when they aren't really there. So here is another Johns homage, "Jasper Johns Baby Dance" by Richard Treitner.

In case you missed it, maybe you have a strong bladder.   This piece is hung in the Salon de Refuses (bathroom)

While we're at it, let's draw another comparison between the hilarious "Hot Rod Hybrid" by Joe Jackson and a collaboration between Robert Rauschenberg and one of my absolutely favorite artists, Jean Tinguely.

Am I right?

Pumpkin is hot this season. The color and the bulgeousness of the mighty fruit is present in "Katrina" by Valerie Owen.  Something about the gluteus maximus chiaroscuro...

Lisa Crumrine Has developed a nifty technique that combines the best of stained glass and mosaic tiles. The ones she works into weatherbeaten old window frames particularly tickle my fancy. Here is "Irises".

Lenny Kislin has mastered the art of assemblage in a serenely simple, elegant and formal way. Take an impossible ride on "Ancient Wheelchair".

I keep telling Kevin Green to raise his prices. Does he listen?   No.   "Weather Station" is only $185.   And it is guaranteed to draw lightning down from the skies.   Electric grounding cable sold separately.

OMG. Clare Kassor.

Her absolutely unique thread paintings (that's right, made from colored threads) must be seen with a Sherlock Holmes Magnifying glass to be perceived. "A Cool Stream on a Hot Day" is one of  four in the current exhibition.

In "Thanksgiving", Robert Ricard rounds out our Art Safari with a holiday feast for the whole family. The munchkin-pilgrim-fairy-freak family to be precise. Kind of how I remember Thanksgiving dinners of my childhood. He never forgot, obviously.  Perhaps the destiny of his unfiltered juvenility led him to The Arts Upstairs after a frustrating string of rejections from some other galleries who shall here remain nameless.

No artist ever gets rejected from The Arts Upstairs.  Judged and juried, gallery curators have their own taste and it isn't likely to be the same as yours. That's the best explanation I have come up with why the art at The Arts Upstairs is more likely to be loved by you.   And me, too.