The Religion of the Number Two Pencil

Guerra de la Paz is a two-man artistic team in Miami’s Design District. Their specialty is fashioning dolls out of masses of old, colorful clothing and posing them in eerie family portraits. Their work is exhibiting alongside that of five other abstract artists in “Child’s Play,” a gallery at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood (1650 Harrison St., Hollywood). Vanessa Monokian, a local conceptual photographer, dedicates her art to understanding the education system. Her portfolio includes a slideshow of chewed-up Number 2 pencils, that famous tool that every student knows from standardized testing. John Zoller, another local artist, is likewise focused on the schooling of American children. His United States Color and Learn series is a splendidly illustrated parody of ’50s-style nationalist propaganda: happy coal miners on their lunch break, an Air Force fire-bombing, scenes from the Bible, the Alamo, and a candy-colored portrait of Abraham Lincoln. “Child’s Play” runs in tandem with “The Art of the Brick,” a touring gallery that shows off the megalithic LEGO sculptures of New York artist Nathan Sawaya. The Culture Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and finished on July 30th. Admission costs $7 or less. For more info, call 954-921-3274, or visit www.artandculturecenter.org.
June 18-Aug. 6, 2008