Two Heads are Better than One at The Hole

Two heads are better than one. And three heads are definitely better than two (see the sculpture Cerberus to the left). So goes the reasoning behind Theo A. Rosenblum and Chelsea Seltzer’s new collaborative show at The Hole, in which the partners harness the power of uncensored and irrational dialogue to make pieces more bizarrely funny than what could come from a single twisted brain. The exhibition, which consists of drawings, sculptures, and paintings, reaches deep into the recesses of two artistic minds and displays their contents for all, fashioning stock paintings (think the quaint landscapes that deck out cheap hotels) and familiar, kitschy objects (think Disney figurines) into the artists’ own warped image.

But that makes the pieces sound much more drearily psychological or dark than they feel. There are certainly unsettling, morbid scenes to be found throughout the works but the rupture generated by Rosenblum and Seltzer’s stream-of-consciousness creations is more that of laughter than of shock. Take, for instance, Relaxin’ (2011) in which (is that a croissant, or, ahem, a turd?) lounges by the sea: overwhelmingly hilarious. However, to call the show humorous is not to say that it lacks that kind of unthinking insight that comes from letting our more primitive side loose. The works reveal rather than impose a weirdness inherent in our cultural tropes, of which Rosenblum and Seltzer are here to liberate us.

Two Heads are Better than One is on view through March 17, 2012.

The Hole
312 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
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