Hosfelt Gallery: Lordy Rodriguez - 201 Drawings; Julie Chang - Ox-herding.

Comment by AB: 201 color drawings by Lordy Rodriguez evolve cartography into realms of psychedelia; it's a map and it's a cosmic hypnotic mind blow at the exact same time. I'm struck by the evenness of each and every color field on each and every drawing-- imparting a look almost like prints-- and wonder how he creates images so totally void of visible handwork. Well, not much left to do here but ask, and Rodriguez tells me he uses high alcohol content markers and special paper. There you go.

But wait; there's more. The drawings are mounted onto the walls with little magnets at the corners which attract to screws embedded in the walls behind each corner of each drawing. Donning my math hat for a moment, 201 drawings times 4 screws per drawing means that someone screwed 804 screws into the walls. And that, my darlings, is a lot of screwing. Here's a video to commemorate the occurrence.

Julie Chang's paintings blend scenes from ancient Buddhist "Ox-Herding Pictures," some of which date back as far back as the 12th century, with images of textile patterns, family photos, and more. The work appears to be some form of stencil overlay, with certain fields of paint looking like they're applied over stencils with rollers. In the anteroom, Chang shows a group of enchanting plexiglas "chandeliers" that play on available light to create crystalline effects. They're the ultimate in environmentally friendly lighting fixtures using ZERO watts. Good show on both counts. Worth a visit.