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OX-OP PRESENTS:
MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
“BEAUTIFUL MUTANTS”
JANUARY 3rd - JANUARY 31st, 2004
Artist Reception Saturday January 3rd, 7:00 pm – 10:00pm

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A more personal and insightful version of the Rorshach ink blot, Mark Mothersbaugh’s latest gallery show, Beautiful Mutants, is filled with “corrected” and manipulated apparitions. These works are intended to force out the true essence hiding behind the perfected facades of images ranging from personal photography, photo booth strips, and daguerrotypes culled from sources all around the world. There are many possible reactions to this sort of artwork: you might fall in love, find yourself creeped-out or decidedly unsettled, or even learn something introspective while looking at these pieces, and Mothersbaugh will enjoy each and every response. As he puts it, “Each interpretation is correct. Objects in this world are what they are to you because of how you see them.”

While Beautiful Mutants is a new show, the attitudes underpinning it have developed throughout Mothersbaugh’s life. His first forays into the realm of art developed from a childhood blurred by extreme nearsightedness and the new world opened to him by correctional glasses. Brought into sharp focus, images became almost an obsession for Mothersbaugh, who began with various media including rubber stamps, ink illustrations, screenprinting, decals and mail art in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When he was not touring the world as a member of the Akron-based quintet DEVO, he began a 30 year habit of creating postcards for his friends and family; a form of personal diary-keeping, this collection of artwork eventually found its way to the world with last year’s Homefront Invasion! gallery tour, now followed by Beautiful Mutants.

DEVO has famously provided another outlet for Mothersbaugh’s visions of the world and its humans. Following the 1978 release of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, DEVO released an average of one album per year for 20 years, pushed into the mainstream with 1980’s “Whip It,” and consequently found themselves touring worldwide. Their unique brand of music and theories on the devolution of homo sapiens affected millions and still does through records and radio and as the band finds occasional time to perform live. Mothersbaugh’s musical career continues presently in the form of his Los Angeles company, Mutato Muzika. The company’s music has found its way into movies, television, and commercial applications, with recent projects including the movies The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Welcome to Collinwood, and Rugrats the Movie, as well as TV shows such as The Mind of the Married Man, Hidden Hills, MDs, Rugrats and Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Ox-Op Arts cordially invites you to explore this world of Mark Mothersbaugh and his Beautiful Mutants.


OX-OP is open to the public Tuesday through Friday 4-8pm, Saturdays 1-5pm as well as by
appointment, with new shows opening the first Saturday of every month.


FOR FURTHER INFO AND PHOTOS, CONTACT:

Wes Winship
612-259-0085
wes@ox-op.com

OX-OP gallery
1111 Washington Ave S.
(Behind Grumpy’s Bar)
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Ph. 612-259-0085
www.ox-op.com

Art Dealer

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Mark Mothersbaugh-"Beautiful Mutants"
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