Todd Bura's second solo show at Triple Base Gallery entitled Misfits is a tidy collection of minimalistic pieces that are both quiet and rebellious. Bura's honesty for his medium and style show with the cavalier and intentional formal quality of his work. Bura's work reflects an artist who takes himself and his work not at all seriously and very seriously at the same time.

View of gallery

When entering the gallery, the amount of white space could be concerning at first, but Bura's paintings, consisting demurely as shapes, smears and lines come to the surface amid the installation like a sparse constellation of 3-D elements. In addition to the paintings are actual sculptural elements discovered as you navigate the space. These few sculptural moments also seem to break the surface of the white room; the use of a raw canvas, a tiny shelf, a wooden shape lying on the floor lodged in the corner of the gallery, a shimmer of hardware, a tiny cleat barely viewed from the side of a painting on museum board. Bura's pieces work together as an installation in that they reference each other or pick up where the others leave off. But because each piece is so unique, it's easy to have a favorite, and each individual piece can hold on its own.

View of gallery

Bura definitely exploits his medium by pushing and framing his materials in such a way that reveals their luscious nature. A couple pieces, both untitled, keep standing out in my mind. The first of which is the painting on raw canvas. It is a simple stroke going across the canvas. Upon closer inspection, you see the blurred edges where the outer brush bristles only partially saturated the canvas, leaving a soft graduated trail on either side of the expected thicker mark. Another piece, on the back wall of the gallery, is a white on white painting hovering over a completely useless and diminutive perfect little white shelf.

Untitled

I am going to assume that the installation of the pieces in Misfits was carried out as intuitively as the works themselves. Misfits could be referencing a Suprematist composition; visually by way of geometric shapes, and conceptually, with deliberate decision-making in the composition of the installation of individual works. Bura does not, however, rely on the reference to the likes of Suprematist artist, Kasimir Malevich, but happens to share a similar rebellious attitude. When asked about Malevich as a possible influence, Bura replied (via e-mail), "...That dude is dope." And so are you, Todd.

Misfits runs through May 4, 2008. For more images of the show and more information about Triple Base visit: http://www.basebasebase.com/

Bura's timely show at Triple Base is accompanied by similar pieces featured in a group show, Form +, curated by Lawrence Rinder, (Dean of California College of the Arts) at Meridian Gallery through May 3, 2008.