Eric Inkala's "Overflow: A Pleasure Trip"

Eric Inkala‘s no fool. After a good run of years of painting his coloristic, hazy-dazy, arabesque, Little-Engine-that-Could-meets-Pacman murals (this guy is a tagger of the most whimsical sort) on walls around town, Inkala’s finally been hit by the legitimacy bug. That is, in the manner of graffiti artists gone legit–like Keith Haring in the 1980s and, more recently, Barry McGee, whose work was a highlight of the recent Carnegie International–Inkala’s bringing his particular brand of graffiti stylings indoors to show at The Gallery @ Fox Tax. (Note: Fox Tax is a tax and financial services company that also has an art gallery.) Called "Overflow: A Pleasure Trip" and curated by Emma Berg of mplsart.com, this is being billed as Inkala’s first local solo gallery exhibition. How exactly he manages the transition (from outdoors to in-; from renegade to law-abider) remains to be seen, but press materials promise there will be "smoothly cut whales hanging from the ceiling," "bulbous characters" flowing in and out of the background, "walking creations of his recurring character," and the sum of these parts will form an "abstract diary that represents everything from the day-to-day mundane to his travel experiences…"

"Overflow: A Pleasure Trip" runs August 8 – September 6. The opening reception is on August 8, 6 – 11 pm. The Gallery @ Fox Tax is located at 503 1st Ave NE, Minneapolis.