Decorative Vessels, and an Assortment of Other Objects
Featuring Jon Love and Larry Buller 

Alternating between joyously silly and covertly fetishistic, these two artists use humor and craft to pry open very genuine questions relating to domestic life in the 20th century, utilizing the idea of the “decorative vessel” as a point of departure. 

 Jon Love’s series of accurately titled “Goth Dads” reimagine a traditional family role with the unmistakable stylistic trappings of a seemingly incompatible countercultural movement. On the whole, Love’s historicized mode of figurative drawing acts as a backdrop against which Internet-age irony and playfulness are allowed maximum effect. 

 Larry Buller’s accumulations of ceramic objects combine straightforward domestic wares with sexualized objects (dildos, plugs, etc.) and imagery. While loosely inhabiting the territory of tchotchkes, adornments such as fur, fake gems, luster, and glitter serve the role of “queering up” the work. 

 The awkwardness of some of the mash-ups in this exhibition points toward a schism between traditional domestic life and some of the cultural movements of the last couple decades. While not exactly providing a blueprint for the closing of that gap, in their own way each of the artists attempts to loosen up some of the more rigid boundaries that criss-cross the kitchens, pantries, and dining rooms of day-to-day life.