Arts & Entertainment

Q: Is This Not Art?

A: This is Art!

By Nicole Beckert 

With his thick glasses and inquisitive gaze, Mark Mothersbaugh is still recognized by the occasional random dude as the front man for Devo, possibly the weirdest band spawned by punk rock and New Wave. Created as a response to the general chaos of America in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Devo was a continuation of Mothersbaugh’s work in the visual arts. An accomplished illustrator and printer before starting the band, Mothersbaugh’s unique graphic sense shaped the direction of the band conceptually, musically and visually. Though he has kept himself occupied outside of his work with Devo by scoring music for dozens of films (including those of the wildly popular Wes Anderson), about 100 commercials and television shows such as Pee-Wee's Playhouse and Rugrats, he continues to create anywhere from one to 25 drawings per day. Beautiful Mutants, a selection of portraits created as part of this daily project, are drawn from Mothersbaugh’s collection of more than 3,000 photographs, daguerreotypes, photo booth strips, and ambrotypes that have been hand manipulated or digitally distorted to “correct” the asymmetry of the human form; in creating these “perfect” humans, Mothersbaugh reveals the hidden truth that lies behind the human facade. Beautiful Mutants hangs in the gallery at Star Clipper (6392 Delmar Boulevard, University City) from Friday, November 16, through Friday, January 4. The show opens with a free public reception from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday. For more information, call 314-725-9110 or visit www.starclipper.com
Nov. 16-Jan. 4, 2007