Artist's new take on old photographs

Lupus Garrett's works evolve in his 'funny little brain.'

By John Gehringer

Published Feb. 16, 2010

Bingham Art Gallery was packed Friday with an eclectic mix of art admirers gathered to view an even more eclectic exhibition. Missouri artist Lupus Garrett debuted his most recent gallery showing, inviting viewers to enter a wonderfully weird world created by his colorful, offbeat works.

Housing more than 150 individual works, Garrett's exhibit is primarily composed of vintage photographs, altered in a bizarre fashion with everything from embroidered butterflies and old war medals to clothing tags and cereal box tops.

"Each piece has its own direction," Garrett said. "They work together as a whole because of their similar materials and execution."

Garrett draws his inspiration from many sources, including the writings of famous beat generation author William S. Burroughs and the art of Pablo Picasso, Keith Haring and Louise Nevelson. Haring's signature figures and motion lines make an appearance in Garrett's work. Most of his art, Garrett said, comes from life experience on a large scale.

"I'm pretty hip to culture, what's going on in the world, music and culture, so a lot of it is based on all that crap," Garret said.

The exhibit's content was created over the course of the last three years, though most of the pieces were made in 2009, Garrett said. As for the time it takes him to complete a single piece, Garrett was less specific.

"I just work on it until it's finished," he said. "I work day and night because I can and because I want to."

Garrett's works are myriad in design and subject matter, addressing broad issues including sexuality, war and family.

One work in particular, "Dead Ralph," holds a certain importance for the artist. A multicolored repetition of a single image, à la Andy Warhol's "Four Marilyns," the work's basis is a photograph Garrett took of his uncle, as he lay dead in his casket. The piece juxtaposes the somber nature of death with the color and whimsical nature characteristic of Garrett's work.

"He'd probably think it was amusing," Garrett said of his late uncle.

Almost all Garrett's works are focused around vintage photographs, many of them portraits of gentlemen with amusing and odd facial hair. After he reproduces these photos with his computer and prints them onto plain canvas, Garrett goes to work. Adding wild colors and various adornments, he transforms simple family photos and portraits into bizarre, lightheartedly twisted works of art.

"I get them on eBay,” Garrett said of his photographs. “I'm constantly looking in antique shops. I'm always looking for that stuff."

When asked to describe his direction and intended impact, Garrett is nonchalant and modest.

"As a rule, I don't start out to make a big statement," Garrett said.

Indeed, his pieces tend to poke fun at the cultures and eras they represent, straying away from any serious social commentary. Although many of his works are somewhat dark and macabre, the predominant feeling in Garrett's body of work is playfully whimsical.

Senior Justin Rodier was at the exhibit's reception. He described Garrett's artistic themes as "a full embracing of silliness."

Many of Garrett's works, particularly his portraits, are inscribed with short, witty quotes from a variety of sources. Slogans, such as "He's almost as cute as he thinks he is," "I can resist everything but temptation” (the words of famously quotable author and socialite Oscar Wilde) and "Ok fuck art, let's dance," adorn images of well-to-do gentlemen, some with enormous insects embroidered on them.

"When I find a fun quote, I'll stick it up on my wall, use it in a piece," Garrett said. "It's all stored in my funny little brain."