Sight Scene: 'Sass' Is Anything But

Express contributor Kriston Capps assesses "Sass" at the Transformer Gallery.

A SHOW'S TITLE usually signals a theme, a concept, some organizing principle or umbrella structure governing the artists' work on display. Rarely will a title tell you exactly what's lacking in the work on the walls. But "Sass" — a group show of women artists on display at Transformer Gallery — is anything but sassy.

Danniel Swatosh, for example, plays on cliches in her photographic collages, but she lacks the subtle touch or the fidelity with puns that this writer, at least, associates with sass. Hers are blatant, almost bragging images. A train going into a tunnel that's being spread by two hands suggests frank, unvarnished intercourse. And so on — each of the images is a similarly coded sex act. There's nothing in the collages that signals irony or commentary, however. And the source of the images is lost in the context of Swatosh's collages. The print quality of the images is dreadful, to boot.

Los Angeles-based painter Natalia Fabia is a jarring selection for the show. Her work belongs to the soi-disant Low Brow movement, a cartoonishly exaggerated portraiture, primarily based on the West Coast, that incorporates both twee and goth iconography. (Her oil-and-collage "Series of Steps" is pictured at right.) Fabia's work carries with it a host of arguments related to the movement that don't figure into the show. Her art isn't feminist work — which is arguably the subtext of a show of art by women about women and identity — so it doesn't really contribute to the whole. But even taking the theme merely as a guide, her paintings are a not particularly distinguished example of an exhausted style.

The show is not without its merits. Lisa Marie Thalhammer's "lot lizard" drawings emphasize the role of women in American mythology, recasting truck-stop prostitutes in a more sympathetic light. Her use of religious iconography highlights the centrality of this narrative, one that ignores or subjugates women. In fact, the West ain't so lonesome for those who live a life on the open road, but the stories of the prostitutes are skipped over in favor of the stories of the drivers who enjoy their company. Thalhammer's Mary Magdalene-identified collaged drawings are strong. But similar works have seen a lot of play in recent group shows — not to mention Thalhammer's solo at G Fine Art.

Holly Bass's b-girl performance, drawn from her "(Uppity Negroes on) Parade" series, is sassy as all hell — a stand-out performance combining modern dance, music and narrative. That piece is fresh and topical, skirting the boundaries distinguishing visual art and other artistic practices. Would that it weren't weighed down by association with Amanda Douglas's sorta-futuristic beauty product–related contraptions; they make for totally boring sculptures. Furthermore, Douglas is asking the wrong questions about the beauty industry. The framework for beauty and fashion is essentially viral communication. What's there left to say about a beauty salon dryer hood (pictured at left)?

The word "sass" connotes, to this writer at least, not merely attitude but also insight. Work by the D.C.-based artists Bass and Thalhammer offer plenty of both, but not enough to make up for the larger group's timidity and confusion. "Sass" isn't the right word for this show — "awkward" is more like it.

» Transformer Gallery, 1404 P St. NW; Wed.-Sat., 1-7 p.m. through Oct. 20; 202-483-1102.

Images courtesy Transformer Gallery