Internal Guidance Systems- Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, Oregon May 2006 by Eliza Murphy

By turns exuberant and disturbing,the many faces peering from ressurected trash attest to the power of raw emotion when filtered through the imagination. Curated by painter Anne Grgich of Seattle, Wasgington and British author and art historian Colin Rhodes, Internal Guidance Systems (IGS) draws together visionary artists who share a self-propelled, inner imperative to fashion their own worlds. Grgich has gathered work that demonstrates a highly idiosyncratic approach to making wondorous things from mundane materials. Each artisyexpresses either unabashed outrage at the state of the world or celebrates its magic, as do the talisman-like bottle cap snakes of Mr. Imagination.



Both commentary and prophecy leap from an assemblage of paintings on scrap wood by Swedish artist, Marcus Mårtenson, whose deceptively simple imagery conveys a disturbing glimpse of America as seen by an outsider:near a bucolic scene of horses in a meadow, an arched panel with a man wearing a turban and camouflage holds an automatic weapon, the wood riddled with holes. Innocence and menace also reside uncomfortably close to one another in the textile works by British artist Delaine Le Bas. Below a skeleton standing on the edge of a pastoral scene comlete withpastel rabbit,and glittering sequins, polka dot fawns lep across a field of blue cloth near floating skulls, and disembodied faces, hinting at dangers lurking beneath placid surfaces.



Equally taut with tension are the child-like figures surrounded by cryptic marks, theri wide eyes wrought with fevered energy painted on rough wood by Salt Lake City artist Lyle Carbajal.



Paintings on fabric by Washington state artist Paul Gasoi vibrate with electrical intensity. Heavy black lines and vibrant colors form intricate patterns that enclose, fram or form human and animal faces with sombre or perplexed expressions.



Obsessively tidy, repetitive mandala-like patterns of faces and erotic images are drawn with ink on layers of tissue by Pennsylvanian artist Houston Ripley. Arts redemptive power ois evident in this show currently touring the United States.