Guy Nelson

Guy Nelson, Guy Nelson–someone please tell us why we’re stuck on this Guy’s name. He’s certainly making a splash at SooVAC, having filled its space–no mean feat–with a host of found-object sculptures and five large-scale paintings. We were drawn to the paintings’ mix of abstraction and primitive/cartoonish representation, along with their goofy titles and a great Pepto-Bismol shade that Nelson seems to favor, but his sculptural provocations based around phalluses failed to strike a chord. (Do penises still shock the young folks?) What did resonate were works like the Dada-ish Inside a Supermodel’s Leg; and Sweet Jesus! a bust of the Son of God made from sticky red licorice that necessarily recalls Marc Quinn’s notorious self-portrait bust made from his frozen blood. Overall, the show is playful, but with a darkly humorous bite: HISSSS features a trike towing a cheerful garland of plastic flowers, among which stuffed rattlesnakes are hidden. 2640 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-2263; www.soovac.org