This year’s ‘minUMENTAL’ show at Trifecta has a meaty twist

By Danielle Kelly

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 | 3:08 p.m.

Art is kind of like meat. Some like their morsels aged or cured, with a familiar depth of flavor that requires time to produce. But sometimes, only a tender, guileless cut of veal can satiate hunger.

This association forms the tantalizing curatorial curveball at the heart of the fifth annual minUMENTAL invitational at Trifecta Gallery. Gallery owner Marty Walsh and co-conspirator Jennifer Henry decided it was time to mix things up, by celebrating the mature work of past participants and introducing a brand new group of artists working on a Lilliputian scale.

The result: two shows wrapped into one, MEATumental: aged to perfection and minUMENTAL: freshMEAT.

JW Caldwell and Wendy Kveck are among those contributing meat-themed “aged” work to MEATumental. Sam Davis’ bittersweet robot paintings are a standout, as is Las Vegas Weekly staff writer Kristen Peterson’s pipe-cleaner hunting trip. The MEAT artists were then invited to recommend artists who haven’t previously shown at Trifecta.

What’s incredible is the pool of local talent that has never graced the gallery’s walls. It is a surprise to discover Brent Sommerhauser, Cristina Paulos, and RC Wonderly making their debut with beautiful small works. National artists filling out this freshMEAT portion of the show include Scott Waters, Amy Earles and Deb Karpman, the latter’s dynamic, tiny collages having recently shown at the Las Vegas CAC.

Putting a fun twist on this mixture of fresh and familiar, minUMENTAL pulls out all the stops to fill a much-loved seasonal favorite with some prime cuts.