Space and the Human Condition...the invitation said, free alcohol and a live band.
The first thing that caught my attention was a fish portrait.
The fish was facing down and its body made an arrow like shape that pointed to a pile of glass. The glass looked like it had been swept and put there purposely. This piece caught my attention for a couple of reasons. My brother Victor was nick-named fish, or "Pescado," in Spanish. (All four of us got animal nick-names.) Seeing the glass and the fish instantly made me think about Vic and feel extremely vulnerable to myself. There was also a small crowd gathered around in silence.
My favorite part of the show was Buddy and his surroundings. Buddy is an older Caucasian man on a poster with green background. He was wearing a three-piece suit and he looked over the entire presentation. He also had a Mona Lisa like look to him, as in his eyes followed you around the room. Buddy commanded attention.
There were a small number of antique transistor radios piled at Buddy's feet. On top of the radios was a pair of Levi's. The Levi’s jeans were not vintage, they were antique. Vic taught me a lot about denim and what to look for. The Levi's at Buddy's feet were exactly what Vic would have described as quality denim.
But my favorite part of the evening was when I looked deep into a portrait of a woman sitting on the floor of a vacant hall way. The word "Useless" was printed above. I felt sad for her. I don't know why but I felt sad for her. So I took a few steps toward the portrait. I got closer and closer until my face was almost pressed up against the glass.
That's when I saw it. That's when I saw Buddy take his true form. Buddy's reflection off the "Useless" glass made him into another spectator at Vaughn's art show. Except he was not looking at the art with the rest of the people, he was looking at the people with the rest of the art.
Bravo Mr. Vaughn!
You can contact the artist at jason@umusic.com or by visiting his website, www.jasonvaughnart.com |
