Featured Review: Meth and Hot Dogs

Featured Review: Meth and Hot Dogs Dystopia's version of a salon-style exhibit of portraits, this absurdist collection of small framed drawings and paintings includes every outcast variety of imaginary cartoon character. Coordinated by Detroit-based graphic artist Kill Taupe (a pseudonym), the group of artists, culled from a national call for submissions, plumb the full range of the show title's cute-turned-horrible brand of eclecticism. Lots of large eyes, drawn in black outline, droop or leer from the be-fanged faces of what would otherwise be, say, a snow-white rabbit. There's a highly detailed sense of care taken in placing these pieces on dense but deliberate display — albeit on raw fiberboard in a cement-floor basement. That's the spirit of the show: For all the rendered creatures' apparent horribleness, they're handled with true fondness, if not a sense of inclusive pride in having found, for once, themselves among the like-minded. Also worth peering at is the store's meticulous window display, descriptively titled Crap Glued to Crap. Through August 28 at Cranky Yellow, 2847 Cherokee Street; 314-773-4499 or www.crankyyellow.com. Hours: noon-6 p.m. Tue.-Sun.

Jes Patterson

Cat With Tits.

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