Review

"Sunday," Oil on Canvas.

Lisa Lala
Lists

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Blue Gallery
118 Southwest Boulevard
Kansas City, MO
816.527.0823

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
Runs through: March 2.

Artist's site: http://www.lalastudio.net
Gallery site: http://www.bluegalleryonline.com

One question first: Is this a solo exhibition or a group show?

Yes.

Well, sort of ... sort of a group show, that is.

Lisa Lala's paintings are the clear stars of Lists, her current show at Blue Gallery. That's as it should be; her work is bold, thought-provoking and utterly her own in style. But if you were to make a list of the number of people involved in the exhibition, you'd be writing for a while.

On the southwest wall, near the door of the Crossroads gallery, hang more than 1,400 lists: to-do lists, lists of life goals, Bucket Lists. (Paper, writing implements and tacks are available, so that the list of lists can continue to grow through the run of the show.)

"The List Wall" is a project that started out small, and grew.  And grew, Lala writes. Originally, it was going to be a place at the gallery where people could write their list. And it still is.  But I also began collecting lists for the wall... then set a goal of 1000... and that is where all the fun began.
Lists came in from all walks of life: business owners and employees, news reporters and government officials, students and scientists.

Statistics repeatedly show that just by writing something down we are more likely to accomplish it. So what do people want to do? Everything from "pay off parking tickets" to "start a family charitable foundation". From "stop biting my nails" to "live in the inner city". From "download better music" to "die on my own terms."

All of that mirrors Lala's paintings, which have taken over the rest of the gallery (a rarity for any one artist).

Sunday, pictured above, exemplifies the form: Lala's wide horizontal strokes half-masking images of commonplace items (eyeglasses are a recurring theme) and ... more lists, written into the paint itself.

Right now I am a list junkie, Lala explains . Reveling in the power of lists. Realizing the direct effects on my life, and also experiencing lists as a window into other's lives. It struck me recently that I could cross off some things, some really big things, off my lists. Lists written years ago, that seemed difficult or improbable at best ... someday build a house with our own hands ...  have a view of the sun setting over water ... paint.

Sensing the humor, and appreciating the mystery, that when you put it out there to the world, it often responds like an echo. Materializing out of near impossibility. Buy butter ... clean the tack hut ...  find the right teacher ... create fusion. The path of lists is often obvious, but other times complex beyond tracing. If you keep putting it out there, and it works out in ways you never considered— is it luck? divine? destiny? Perhaps it is simply the act of deciding what you want and pursuing it, or seeing it when it falls in your lap. Regardless, the fact remains:

If you really want it, write it down.

Lala has gone not one better, but two. She has written it down ... hung it on the walls for everyone to see ... and invited the rest of us to join her on the journey from "I want to ..." to "I did it."

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