Review

"Futilitarian," Fiber Installation.

Danielle Yakle
Futilitarian

9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Lawrence Arts Center
940 New Hampshire St.
Lawrence, KS
785.843.2787

Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday-Sunday.
Runs through: Aug. 20

Gallery site: http://www.lawrenceartscenter.com

Disclaimer: I haven't yet seen Danielle Yakle's fiber installation, Futilitarian, which opened last night at the Lawrence Arts Center.

But I did catch her thesis show this past spring at the University of Kansas School of Design, and between that and the preview image (see above), I can safely say that Futilitarian will be a treat for those who like a few shudders mixed in with their art appreciation.

Yakle's room-filling fiber sculptures are both graceful and grotesque, with echoes of influences as disparate as Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch (he of the vivid depictions of Hell, its inhabitants, and the things people do to get there) and the nest scene in Aliens. (It's worth noting that the film is set on a moon called Acheron, which was also the name of a Greek river, the "River of Woe," believed to flow into Hades.)

Add in the show's title, which seems to suggest that "It's No Use," and there's yet another reference to the netherworld: In Dante's epic poem Inferno, the sign at the gates of Hell reads: All hope abandon ye who enter here. In other words, It's no use hoping.

If that makes Yakle's work seem like a complete downer (so to speak), it isn't. There's a certain macabre fun to her organic constructions, similar to that found in certain Dr. Seuss books (usually when the hero is exploring someplace remote, menacing or both). And, as with all abstractions and semi-abstractions, those with a penchant for allusion and hidden imagery will have a field day.

It's fair to say, really, that it's no use trying to resist the dark charms of Yakle's art.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Updating...