Gallery Paule Anglim Gay Outlaw - Sculpture and Photocollage; Dean Smith - Works on Paper.

Comment: I just love the name Gay Outlaw. Now that I've got that albatross off my chest, Gay Outlaw here shows metamodern (maybe even ahead of its time) sculpture and photocollages to match. It's one of those deals where there appears to be a reasonably robust cerebral buy-in which, according to the briefing, has something to do with "formal art," whatever that is. I probably mostly mainly look at casual art. Anyway, the overriding allure of Outlaw's work is its uncategorizable nature combined with its not inconsiderable craftswomanship. But between you and me, I snuck (or is it snuckded?) a look inside "Three-Legged Intersection" (plywood and milk paint, 2006), a skillfully assembled swiss cheese of a structure nuanced with small wooden ovals glued to the insides of the plywood "legs," visible from the outside by looking through holes in those legs. All's basically well in inner legland except for these pesky pencil outlines around some of the ovals-- looking like interim reminders for where to position the ovals for gluing. Details, details...

In the side gallery, Dean Smith administers some superfine pencil work on a series of drawings that get better and better the closer you scope. His technique somehow animates the compositions with delightfully benign bursts of outward motion.