Weekend Art Crawl: Political Patchwork and Going Mental
Categories: Visual Arts  Corporate Nightmare Face Off  At East
End Studio Gallery Friday night, we mistakenly assumed that "The
Many Faces of Nico Whittaker," the artist's first solo show, was
a narcissistic grab for attention; to some, the mixed media
exhibit based largely on his varied personalities might be.
Instead, the work is a profound exploration of his psyche. My
Latest BloodTest, an acrylic-on-wood piece of red-blood-cell
faces with expressions from glee to misery, was explained by
Whittaker as not an artsy copy of his own blood test but a
rendition of his many mental sides.  "Everything I do comes from
inside my head," said Whittaker, who doubles as a graphic and
web designer.  Corporate Nightmare, a mixed-media masterpiece
involving a self-portrait of Whittaker, a huge dollar sign,
sketches of corporate giants and a pig, is another satisfyingly
serious piece, as is "The Witch Doctor," a monochromatic
painting of a Hispanic obeah woman.  All