Olek The End is Far: No Acid Required
Visions of camouflage, skulls and topless mermaids on swings are still dancing in our heads. The
show,
The End is Far
, at
is something from a Nyquil fueled dream... and it's awesome. Of course everything is covered in yarn and skillfully crocheted, but Agata Olek isn't knitting a grandma style quilt, she's bringing the edge - courageously crocheting what no grandma has crocheted before (eg. pasties).
Behind a knit table covered in knit fruit surrounded by knit chairs on the wall of a room decorated by knit wallpaper is a knit canvas that reads, "A lady never throws a drink in someone's face during an argument. She chugs that shit and uses the glass as a weapon." That's the tone of the exhibit.
The last Olek show we saw had us crawling around the floor of Krause Gallery, and other than the main installation, it was more of a photography show so it was really a treat to see all of the crochet action up close this time. It seems that Olek has been extremely hard at work following her arrest in London last year. Sometimes you need to grind to pay those legal bills and for fans of Olek's work the results of that grind are something to behold. Camo knit everywhere brings Olek's signature street art yarn bombing to a gallery setting that explores typography, morbidity and freedom. Our favorite pieces were the skulls and skeletons, the mermaids were also beautiful but were a weekend performance and are not guaranteed to be there when you visit. You can see
The End is Far
until March 23rd.
what
Olek - The End is Far
where
Jonathan Levine Gallery 529 West 20th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues) NYC
when
now - March 23rd
