Category: Tatum Dooley

The centerpieces of Fin Simonetti’s solo show “Head Gusset,” at Cooper Cole, are two bear traps made of stained glass. I crept around the traps as if they were functional, circling them like an animal curious about a new addition to its territory. Intrigued, but wary. I fantasized about them snapping shut and the resulting havoc. I pictured a demolition video on YouTube: there one minute, gone the next. Intrusive thoughts suggested that an act of violence would be even more breathtaking than the two traps, in ethereal greys and earth tones, sitting serenely. 

Kim’s compositions have all the equations of a blockbuster: Cults! Perversion! Sex! Schoolgirls! One ticket, please! At Foxy Production, sculptural puzzles made of wood are built into the stretchers of two paintings hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room, like little easter eggs holding up the canvas. The subject matter of the two shows can be split into four categories: starlets, theatre sets, workers, and voyeurs. The starlets and voyeurs entertain, while theatre sets and workers elicit the feeling that we’re being granted a behind-the-scenes look at the world Kim has created—and implicated in it.