Conrad Botes Satan's Choir at the Gates of Heaven (review)

CON R AD BOTES SAT AN'S CHOIR AT THE GATES OF HEAVEN Mi chae l St e ve nson Galle r y May 3 - June 2, 2007 Say "an gst " or "exi st ent i al " and you get a pict ure of a sunl ess per son of i ndet er mi nat e sex, l i vi ng somew her e on t he border bet ween t eenage w ast el and and r ui ned adul t hood, hol l ow cheeked , eyes ringed eit her w i t h kohl or t he l ast at t empt ed sui ci de, a f igur e sl i nki ng t hr ough t he shadow s of t i me and space, t hi n- l egged, ext r avagant l y shod in overl arge Doc Mar t ens as it st r i ves, apparent l y, t o mor ph i nt o a crow. This is a pit y. For one t hi ng, t he best of lat t er-day exist ent ial ist cult ural pr oduct ion i s much more r obust and less precious t han t hat . For anot her, t he part icular species of al ienat ion t hat ar i ses f rom Friedrich Ni et zsche's announcement on t he deat h of God, and it s el aborat ion in t he deni al of all essent ial t rut h or t r anscendent order, cont i nues t o address u s—i n it s charact er i st i cal l y hal f -vi scer al , hal f - phi l osophi cal m anner —a hundred years on. The i mmedi acy of t he exist ent ial ist vi si on st rikes me wit h some f orce l ooki ng at t he scul pt ures and t w o- di m ensi onal works t hat collect ively make up Sat an's Choir at t he Gat es of Heaven, Conrad Bot es's mixed-media show at Mi chael St evenson Gallery. Bot es himsel f is at pai ns t o poi nt out t hat , despit e t he preponderance of (debased) Christ ian i conogr ap hy—i n t he ref erences t o Sat an and Heaven in t he exhi bi t i on t it l e; t o The Passion of, point edly, The Whit e Rat as det ailed in f i f t y-ei ght st at i ons; t o t he Piet a i mage w i t h i t s gor i l l a Mad onna, ser i al l y repeat ed in t he t w o-di mensi onal version of t he Tree of Knowledge— the rel igious imagery t hat runs t hr ough t he exhi bi t i on is neit her sacred nor, t o put it mildly, redempt ive. Fans of t he sal ut ary prof anit y of Bit t erkomix can heave a si gh of relief here: Conr ad Bot es has not been saved, nor i s he about t o be. This work i s not in any way about gr appl i ng wi t h belief , l ooki ng for meani ng out si de of onesel f t o gi ve order t o everyday experience. Aut obiographer, 2007. Enamel on jelut ong, iroko, 31 x 31 x 140 cm including pedest al. Just t he opposi t e, really. . . . The spi r i t ual st rat um t hat Bot es mines i s an ar chaeol ogi cal and largely decomposed mut ch of broken i mages, hol y books, and shat t er ed vot i ve st a t u e s—t h e det rit us of t he i mager y of t he Christ ian rel igion, left over w hen God di ed. It s di scur si ve el em...