The Anti-Biennial

Lowbrow art comes to the Upper Midwest

March 20, 2006—For its 2006 Group Show, Juxtapoz, the magazine founded by Lowbrow Art pioneer Robert Williams, is abandoning L.A. for Minneapolis. To art snobs on either coast, that may seem an unlikely choice for the guy whose work inspired GNR's Appetite for Destruction album cover, but the bigger Twin City is in fact home to one of the country's more vibrant arts scenes. Starting Thursday night, two of the Minne-apple's coolest venues—the Soo Visual Arts Center in boho Uptown and the Ox-Op Gallery downtown—will play host to works from more than 70 artists, including Shepard Fairey of "Obey the Giant" fame and former Devo front man (and current film-score impresario) Mark Mothersbaugh. His Rorschach-like photograph of his pug ("Fibi, Queen of Dune") is worth the price of admission alone (and we're not just saying that because getting in is free). And since no art show is complete without a little skank metal, the Melvins will be on hand to liven up the proceedings. If you'd rather not mix art and hearing damage, there's always Minneapolis's answer to the MoMA, the Walker Art Center (which, like its NYC cousin, was recently revamped and expanded). Home to a killer permanent collection and a legendary sculpture garden, the museum is also currently hosting a well-received retrospective of the work of German-born sculptor Kiki Smith. What you listen to afterward is up to you.
Juxtapoz 2006 Group Show opens March 24 and 25 at, respectively, SOO Visual Arts Center, 2643 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, (612) 871-2263, www.soovac.org, and Ox-Op Arts Gallery, 1111 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, (612) 259-0085, www.ox-op.com. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, www.walkerart.com.