“Multiple Propositions”

Aug. 12-Sept. 15

Herron Gallery

It’s one thing to commit to an idea. It’s another to be artist Martin Brief. In one of his series of works, “Newspapers,” Brief randomly picks a date, takes the front page of The New York Times from that day, and fills in every letter o. Those dots are then copied, without the source material, and they become, well, art. And more art. And more art. Brief says he’s going to continue the series until he randomly picks his birthday.

In another Brief work, “Truisms (after jh),” he takes familiar statements (i.e. “A little knowledge can go a long way”) and replaces every word with its dictionary definition. Rather than help explain the quote, it becomes more convoluted.

Artistic thumb-twiddling? Fascinating explorations of meaning and content?

Decide for yourself at this show, which features drawings by Brief and eight other artists from the Midwest. Details here.

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