From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art.

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A sprawling surrealist exhibit

Twin Cities painter David Amdur recommends seeing "The Internal Affairs of Mr. Invincible," an exhibition of more than 100 mixed-media drawings by Lou Ferreri at Hopkins Center for the Arts, on view through August 1.

Amdur says: “To get some sense of it, imagine a collaboration between Salvador Dalí and R. Crumb. They are entire editorial pages from the New York Times that have been painted on with acrylic pens, so they're very colorful, and most of the images are quite complex and very surreal, very strange. Also in the exhibition are monumental charcoal drawings that are more than four feet across. It's not a show to rush through. There's really a lot to take in. I would give myself time to linger with the drawings. You'll find unexpected and surprising connections emerge.”

Sculpture walking tours

Tony Austinson of Fridley got interested in public sculpture during the pandemic, when viewing art indoors wasn’t an option. Visiting the sculpture walks created by various Minnesota cities has turned into a hobby, and he likes to go with his literal art hound, Tillie, at his side.

Over time, he’s come to recognize and appreciate the work of individual artists, such as Tim Nelson of Bemidji, who makes sculptures from scrap metal.

Austinson recommends checking out the sculpture walks in a city near you. Here are links to self-guided walking tours in Mankato, Bemidji, Park Rapids, Fergus Falls, Hutchinson, Red Wing, and Delano, as well as Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Performance art meets political theater

Sarra Beckham-Chasnoff is a theater superfan in the Twin Cities. One standout theatrical performance from last fall—which she is excited to see return this weekend—is “In the Backroom,” created and performed by Michael Torsch. The show is 70 minutes without intermission and runs July 2-5 at 7 p.m. at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

Beckham-Chasnoff says this play-within-a-play surprised her at every turn, and its themes feel timely for the Fourth of July.

“Michael Torsch is just a local treasure, so he does a type of performance art that is very smart and funny, and simultaneously very accessible. He introduces some controversial 21st-century American figures. I think it just kind of has a more complicated view of what America is, and so with the 250th anniversary, I just think it will be a poignant piece to see.

“The [theater] is just a few blocks away from where the fireworks will be in Minneapolis, and so for folks going to the July Fourth show, they'll be able to walk over and watch the fireworks afterwards.”

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Brandy Hicks