Overvalued/Undervalued: On Offer in Chelsea

Llyn Foulkes: Undervalued?
Foulkes, who had his first solo show at the legendary Ferus Gallery in L.A. in 1961 and was included in Paul Schimmel’s acclaimed “Helter Skelter” exhibition at L.A. MOCA in 1992, is still very much around, but woefully underappreciated and hence a bargain.

In “Mr. President,” the bizarrely arresting image of Mickey Mouse’s early cartoon face is implanted on a found portrait of George Washington, forming a whimsical yet venomously accurate critique of our contemporary culture as it evokes the mass-media circus that defines and drives our once-hallowed political process.

Foulkes’s edgy, Pop-flavored mix of found objects and images brings to mind Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari, but his price tags are several digits smaller. Llyn Foulkes, "Mr. President" (2006), at Kent Gallery (closed October 20)

Courtesy Kent Gallery