2007 Biennial FAU Art Faculty Exhibit

An FAU parking cop told me he'd save me the trip to "2007 Biennial Art Faculty Exhibit" with his own review: "It's a good reason not to send your kids to study art here." He harrumphed something about conceptual art as I walked toward the humanities building. I'd heard it before from people who just didn't "get it," who wanted their art to look like something — a bowl of fruit, a landscape. But that cop gave me new faith in law enforcement. Not only did he help me find a parking space in the ridiculously crowded FAU lots but his review was dead on and even echoed later by a woman with an advanced degree in art from one of the nation's best (and most expensive) liberal arts colleges. Maybe the show is a lesson in what not to do? Like "Hey, class, when creating a video installation, it's not enough to just juxtapose opposites — let's say opera and rock 'n' roll — on opposite walls in contrasting colors. It's gotta mean something — that's why it's called conceptual art." (Diana Shpungin, Rock Opera). Lots of works taught the same lesson. Stills from video games (Eric Freedman), photographs of words imposed on natural settings (Suzanne Scherer and Pavel Ouporov), strips of film hanging from the ceiling (Onajide Shabaka), a flock of sculpted birds flying through the plate glass walls of the gallery (Blane De St. Croix): OK, I'll give it this — the show is underwhelming in diverse ways. (Through October 27 at FAU's Schmidt and Ritter galleries, 777 Glades Rd., Boca Raton. Call 561-297-2661.)