A Meditation on Excess

It would be easy for you to walk into Cole’s show “snowing” and brush it off as some conceptual nonsense. In fact we have had many an argument/discussion over the perceived emptiness or overcompensation of such art; I on the offense and he on the defense. And though this kind of work is new territory to me, I never want to be so arrogant as to forget to use my own eyes. While immediacy in art or beauty can be wonderful, this unquestioned display of skill, it can just as easily have the opposite effect. Things which expose upfront all they are, can seem garish, contrived, or even one dimensional. We can forget the quiet things in the art world, things which exist on a different sensual plane than we are used to. Perhaps having him as a friend, and observing how he moves through the world, lends more context to this work than it’s worth. But when I tell you that I simply do not think that’s the case, know I mean it. This is actually a show I thoroughly enjoyed, and it didn’t require I bloviate or exaggerate Cole’s competence in order for the work to be a success.

The exhibition is called “snowing”—yeah, lowercase s. It’s on view at AFK Gallery’s downtown location. Cole’s full name is Cole Modell, and when I asked him what kind of artist he was, this is the message I received in return:

The gallery occupies the first floor of a derelict, emerald tile facade mid-rise from the 1900s known as the Sauer Building. As you walk in, the first thing you notice aside from the smell, are two Bausch and Lomb chart recorder paper rolls that descend from the ceiling like heavy streamers. “Regal” was the first word that came to mind. Cole would confirm a few minutes later that this word was not unfounded. He explained the show was about excess, and so far, this was the largest scale he’s ever worked at.