Strauss Bourque-LaFrance's 'No Aloha' exhibition at Rachel Uffner Gallery marks shift to fabricated works

Strauss Bourque-LaFrance's exhibition 'No Aloha' at Rachel Uffner Gallery in 2014 represents a significant departure from his earlier handmade aesthetic. The show features geometric fireplace mantels fabricated from lacquered MDF and laminate, materials that mimic expensive surfaces like marble while being inexpensive. These mantels, including works like Split Vision: Pattern and Split Vision: Marble, are installed on a black-and-white striped carpet and resemble minimalist totems with a suburban, tacky quality. A bronze cast of a TV remote titled Showpiece provides ironic contrast as the only expensive object. The exhibition includes 'vacation paintings' made from plastic mesh with spray-painted abstract forms, and a sushi bar installation called Sushi for Scene Six that references Pop art and Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice. The press release connects the work to the Memphis Group, an Italian design collective from the 1980s, and suggests the mantels serve as portals to alternate realities. This marks Bourque-LaFrance's first exhibition at Rachel Uffner Gallery, following his 2010 two-person show at Bodega titled Like Flex / Like Flex, which featured handmade clay and plaster objects. The artist's shift from handmade to fabricated elements reflects a playful engagement with material value and minimalist traditions.