Exhibition Review by DeWitt Cheng at East Bay Express

September 30, 2009

“California’s natural paradise, El Dorado, is also a hotbed of creative innovation. This nature/culture paradox informs Narangkar Glover‘s oil paintings, pencil drawings, and embroidery depictions of a concrete skateboard bowl, vividly aqua-blue, with bright yellow edging stripes. We see it either empty, almost an abstraction, or more three-dimensionally, as a backdrop to the lanky young skateboarders, who seem more intent on pondering than on grinding, at least momentarily. The stylized, patterned landscapes (foliage, chain-link/slat fences, and telephone wires), the interiorized figures, and the loose brushwork suggest sources in Bay Area figuration and Expressionism. Glover’s rock-tune titles (“Today”, “The Other Side Of This Life”, “Poorboy Shuffle”, “Green River”, “Looking Out My Back Door”) probably refer to skateboarding (and/or painting) soundtracks. Also included are thematically associated works by Michele Ramirez, Duncan Knappen, Timothy O’Brien, Pete Glover, and Alexander Cheves. It’s Gonna Be Awesome runs through October 11 at Blankspace Gallery (6608 San Pablo Ave., Oakland) BlankspaceGallery.com or 510-547-6608.”