Don't Call Me Fluffy! at arspace March 9, 2006

New work by Kerri Lee Johnson, Michael McConnell, and Jennie Ottinger

Arspace presents "Don't Call Me Fluffy!", an exhibition of new work by three Bay Area artists who share an affinity for animals. In drawings, paintings, and a site-specific wall piece, Kerri Lee Johnson, Michael McConnell, and Jennie Ottinger use lighthearted imagery to explore weightier issues of fear, power, and identity.

Jennie Ottinger reinterprets traditional butcher shop diagrams and considers what the animals might be thinking. Removed from their original instructional context, the figures are both gruesome and endearing.

Michael McConnell uses fairytale-like imagery to introduce more sophisticated thoughts. His characters exist in an ominous space somewhere between childhood and maturity.

Kerri Lee Johnson explores the dynamic of predator and prey in drawings that have a deceptive innocence. Children and animals play interchanging roles in strangely ambiguous settings.

Exhibition Dates: March 9-19, 2006
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 9, 7-10 pm
Closing Reception: Sunday, March 19, 3-7 pm
Gallery Hours: March 11, 12, 18, 1-4 pm and by appointment