Lawyers are the ultimate insiders. Just ask anyone foolhardy enough to represent him- or herself in court. So just how does a lawyer get to be an outsider? Rob Lowe’s stunning 1985 haircut for his new TV series, Lyon’s Den, seems to be doing the trick for him. But around here, nonfictional lawyers do it with art. The evidence was entered into the record recently when “Lawyers as Artists” opened at the newborn Outsiders and Others gallery in downtown Minneapolis. About half a dozen artists, all members in good standing with the Bar Association, hung their work and braced themselves to mingle with a jury of their peers.
Under the questionable influence of chocolate martinis, the crowd gave much attention to a set of lush, erodelic pen-and-ink compositions by attorney Valerie Tremelat. Avron Gordon’s black-and-white photos of lilies were easy on the eyes. Still, there was clearly a drift toward one corner: Just about everyone felt summoned to the crop art produced by Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services attorney Laura Melnick.
Melnick’s work lays claim to outsider status in at least three ways. She has no formal training of any kind in the arts, and crop art itself is an outside medium more associated with the Soybean Belt than the Warehouse District. And being a lawyer originally from Ohio, Melnick herself is an outsider to the rural culture that spawned the form.
“I’m from Cleveland,” she confessed when we spoke at the opening. “I never saw crop art before I moved here and went to the State Fair.” At this year’s State Fair, Melnick entered a subtle satire titled Curious George Looks for Weapons of Mass Destruction, making use of sixteen varieties of seed to depict America’s favorite monkey checking under the yellow hat for VX. It won a blue ribbon and “first place reserve,” a euphemism that means second place. Last year she also took a prize with an entry titled Goodnight Buffoon, featuring the image of Governor Ventura pondering a bowl full of mush at sleepytime. Both works will hang at Outsiders and Others through November 8, though without the usual accompaniment of crop art by her husband and two children, who also hold ribbons from State Fair competition.
Another crowd pleaser was the first item to sell at the opening: a bronze casting of a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser. It was one in a series of Pez castings that includes Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther. Homer went quickly at the attractive price of $55. The Pink Panther, however, was priced at $95. Watercolor painter, landscape designer, bronze artist, and District Court Judge Gary Bastian explained the price difference. “I could make up to three hundred of Homer,” he said. And while the Pink Panther Pez can be had in plastic for pretty much anyone who needs one, Bastian broke the mold for the bronze casting. “It’s one of a kind.”—Joe Pastoor
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