The Plain Dealer | Steven Litt  |  February 07, 2013

Jimmy Kuehnle Cushion Labyrinth and Justin Braun Wreckage Take Over the Sculpture Center

Any grown-up who feels a pang of wistful envy upon seeing one of those bouncy-house play zones for kids would enjoy artist Jimmy Kuehnle's "Inflatable Wonderland Labyrinth of Joy" at the Sculpture Center in Cleveland.

To experience the work, which fills a gallery from wall to wall with giant rectangular nylon balloons inflated by a blower, you have to push your way into the tight seams between the colorful, puffy lobes.

Inside are several smallish cavities that provide momentary respite from the sensation of being squeezed on every side. At the far end, you pop out like a watermelon seed squeezed between fingers. To leave the installation and return the way you came, you have to repeat the process in reverse.

Playful and ever-so-slightly aggressive, Kuehnle's installation takes over your senses of sight and touch completely.

Inside, all you can see are the bright, neon colors of the inflatables, and all you can feel is the pressure that yields only in the seams between their smooth surfaces. By following those seams, you navigate this adventure in claustrophobia.

Kuehnle, who teaches the foundation class as an assistant professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art, is working this season at Spaces Gallery in its Spaces World Artist Program, or SWAP.

That gallery is his home base this month for several outdoor rides on an oversized tricycle fitted with a brambly-looking exoskeleton festooned with holiday lights. Information on two upcoming rides (on Saturday, Feb. 16, and Friday, Feb. 22), plus a terrific image of Kuehnle on the trike by photographer Rob Muller, are on the Spaces website.

Kuehnle's performances have taken him to the streets of cities across the United States, Europe and Asia. He uses humor and playfulness to break down barriers between art and unsuspecting passers-by. In doing so, he reveals not only the potential for surreal and bizarre experiences to intrude on everyday life, but the necessity of seeking out such experiences to escape deadening routines.

Also on view at the Sculpture Center is a room-size installation by Columbus artist Justin Braun in which a mountain of junk appears to have been washed into a gallery, as if by a giant wave.

The big pileup includes a canoe, several ladders, some mattresses, the legs of a female mannequin, plastic animal toys, phony false teeth and other assorted bric-a-brac. All of it is painted black or gray, which conveys an overall sense of gloom.

The work, "This Is All I Need," brings to mind news reports of recent disasters including Hurricane Sandy, along with a general anxiety about climate change and extreme weather. The surreal darkness of Braun's junk might actually refer to the rising levels of carbon in the atmosphere and the attendant increase in global temperatures.

Though less playful and more earnest than Kuehnle's installation, Braun's strives for a similar sensory overload. It conveys a sense of disgust over materialism and a desire to disgorge and purify. If this is what hell would look like for Braun, it would be interesting to see his vision of heaven.

Original Article