26 Sep 2017

Lilli Carré: Salves

Western Exhibitions

Reviewed by Tom Pekovitch

Lilli Carre's "Salves," a grotesquely sexy display of nauseating suffering, executed in confectionery palettes and wrapped in cute packages, decorates Western Exhibitions. The show includes body-invoking sculptures and paintings filled with corporeal, buttery brushstrokes of gouache.

Carre's recipes playfully dance around the subject of gut-wrenching angst, and pursuits of rectifying such distress. A lean number of elements allows focus within the works, and lets a centralized narrative unfold freely. Outstanding ingredients arise throughout the show, such as the stucco-backed frames on which the paintings are mounted, contrasting with the smooth paper, optically distancing the works from the wall. The ceramic vase filled with Pepto-Bismol points directly to the show's title.

The exhibition stands as a reminder that the tastiest of treats is not one that has overpowering zest, but one that accentuates its unpretentious flavors in harmony.