CITY PAGES A-List - August 25, 2005

Philip Guston Standing On His Head Standing Philip Guston On His Head

One of the great American painters of the 20th century, Philip Guston was at various times an abstract expressionist, a romantic expressionist, a surrealist, a primitivist, a minimalist, and a gadfly. By the '70s, he was painting darkly comic cartoonlike figures--a cyclopean, reclining smoker, a Klansman painting a childlike self-portrait. This odd and heartfelt show from Off-Leash Area's Paul Herwig and Jennifer Ilse is a mostly visual tribute to the artist and a survey of his tortured life. It's full of legerdemain, wit, and simple, lovely images--all on a shoestring budget and performed in Herwig and Ilse's 2.5-car garage in south Minneapolis. D.I.Y. theater at its best. Call for directions and reservations (seating is very limited). $5 suggested donation. 8:00 p.m. 612.724.7372. Through August 27 --Dylan Hicks