Void 1 (Wrestling) by Kara Hearn

Saturday night’s opening of Protagonist at the And/Or Gallery was a lesson in how to exhibit video in a gallery setting. Curator Keri Oldham isolates each video on its own abridged wall using large silver-framed screens that blend unobtrusively with the white walls. The gallerygoer sees only the high-definition artwork and can flow easily from piece to piece without distraction from other works or technology’s standard ugliness (wires, cables, black plastic screen frames with massive brand names).

Desire to Fly series by Susan O’Malley and Alex Clausen

Oldham makes one exception to the isolating of video pieces – the series Desire to Fly by Susan O’Malley and Alex Clausen is given And/Or’s tight hallway for its two archival prints and one video. It works beautifully, since the prints are film stills (or are designed to look like film stills).

A screening of Burt Sugarman’s Midnight Special was supposed to be shown in the gallery’s backyard, drive-in movie style. It was a cold night, and I encountered this sign when I reached the back door:

Stevie Nicks looks great in the House of Dang, but the screening was opening night only.

Protagonist runs through February 28th.