Hugo Crosthwaite: The Rupture of the White Cube at Mesa College Art Gallery

 By Patricia Frischer

The idea of a white walled gallery space for modern art started only in the 20^th century. Smadar Samson, curator, had the great idea to build a white cube in the middle of a gallery and find an artist to do a performance inside the cube. But she was brilliantly inspired when she chose Hugo Crosthwaite to be that artist. 

We were told that building the cube was no small feat, especially with the giant opening through which you could see Crosthwaite ( A SD Art Prize recipient) creating for the first week of the exhibition. Look high and you will notice the strut attached to the ceiling so that a corner column could be avoided. This solution, rather improvised in nature, is part and parcel of the whole gestalt of the work.  Crosthwaite researched many famous and beautifully planned cities. Tijuana is not one of those. It never seems designed and is very much like Crosthwaite’s drawings of houses, that flow naturally, taking up space in an organic way. Crosthwaite has captured that not only in his stop motion animation video of his drawn works, but in the surfaces of the white cube. These images were caught only after one day,  but both inside and outside of the cube will be his canvas not to be completed until Sept 28^th. And yes, that surface has been ruptured. 

The entire space at Mesa College Gallery looks different with this cube set in the middle, but the artist realized that it was too empty. He told me that he always thought of Tijuana as a wave crashing against the border of the US. That is where the idea of a line of 16 images was born, and unusually for Crosthwaite, in color. Not just any color, but those from tourist brochures from the 30s, 40s, and 50s with their sharp pinks and turquoises, mid blues and deep greens. The flat acrylic images are made 3-D with the addition of colored pencil shading. I found them amazingly effective, joyful even, with lots of details and a mass of humor. Each of the works could stand on their own, but they make one glorious linear whole. 

Some of the best bits for me include the girl with the coke and the cock., the Mal – UMP reference, FIN at the end of the line, of course. 

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 We loved the following picture taken by Hugo Crothwaite looking out from the inside of the white cube:

Hugo Crosthwaite: The Rupture of the White Cube
Mesa College Gallery 
Curated and designed by Smadar Samson 
Exhibit on view August 19 – September 12, 2024
Painting sessions: Monday through Thursday, 12 to 5 pm until Aug 28.
Reception: Thursday, August 29, 4 – 7 PM, Art Gallery FA 103
Artist and curator talk: Monday, September 9, 5 – 7 PM