At a certain point, the mirror left paintings and literally entered into exhibition spaces. This change in mirrors roughly coincided with a change in how people view art work – instead of art being a set, contained object that acted on and inspired a viewer, it became a collaboration between the viewer and what they are viewing.  The two - the art and the viewer - work together for the work’s meaning. Gradually mirrors moved from being devices used in paintings to produce painterly effects and greater illusions of space to be what they always were:  A surface to literally show the person looking at it.

Davis Rhodes uses these ideas and mirrors in his joint show(s) at Acme and Sister Gallery.  Lining the gallery walls with mirrored diamond-shaped planes, Rhodes offers the viewer a different look at themselves in different colors and effects. The rigidity of the shapes places the work more in lineage of European conceptualism and Minimalism rather than Jeff Koons’ Easy Fun/Ethereal series but the results of the show are still delightful rather than critical, fun rather than austere. These works look simple and like potential objects of ridicule, but Rhodes’ approach seems canny and intellectually rigorous. Don’t be too quick in the gallery, let these mirrors work on you and in turn, work on the mirrors. You might be surprised.

-Ed Schad

(All images courtesy of the Artist and ACME/Sister galleries Los Angeles.)