Eclectic exhibition highlights edgy venue

By David C. Farmer
Special to The Advertiser

•	'Creativity Surrounds Us Like the Light Surrounds the Sun' An installation about creativity and community Works by Ken Dahl, Alonzo Davis, Ken Lincoln, Steven Rosenthal, Holger Schramm and the Lung Kong Physical Culture Club Through Feb. 28 The ARTS at Marks Garage 1159 Nu'uanu Ave. 521-2903 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays

Ken Dahl's original drawings from his King Street Babylon cartoon series — some of which appeared in the Honolulu Weekly in 1998 and 1999 — are skillful examples of the art of a political cartoonist, balanced somewhere between the mainstream and the surreal and psychedelic realms of an R. Crumb.

Courtesy of the East-West Center's artist-in-residence program, Washington, D.C.-based artist Alonzo Davis displays "Power Poles," mixed-media paintings in the round, acrylics and burn marks applied to bamboo poles.

Photographer Ken Lincoln shows jazz-influenced Honolulu cityscapes to coincide with a performance in the space by The Honolulu Jazz Quartet, for whom he shot the cover of a recent album.

Steven Rosenthal's "Please Play" is a clever interactive sculpture. In this display, viewers can build their own abstract sculptures with smaller elements crafted in bamboo.

"Sustain," an installation piece by Holger Schramm, features a video monitor showing a Hawaiian flower, the koki'o ke'o-ke'o, or white hibiscus; a Christmas tree, alluding to consumer frenzy; and a pile of fish nets removed from the purportedly pristine Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Finally, the exhibition includes several traditional Chinese dragon-dance costumes, including a rare, especially fine one that is 120 feet long.

This isn't a show that can be evaluated through a fine-arts lens. Its mission is broader than that.

In the words of Kim Coffee-Isaak, managing director of The ARTS at Marks Garage, "We've attracted an entirely new audience to this exhibition, and we intend to keep building on our outreach efforts with our partners."

The exhibition has included performing-arts events as part of its run, including Chinese New Year festivities and the jazz concert.

On Feb. 6, the Marks Partners of 10 like-minded organizations will host other local community representatives to hear a presentation on community development using culture and arts resources.

It will be presented by Miguel Garcia, a program officer with the Ford Foundation.

Following his talk, participants are encouraged to stay for the First Friday Gallery Walk from 5 to 9 p.m.

Thanks to these organizations and their inspired leadership, the dream of transforming communities through culture and arts is becoming a reality downtown.