Art with something to say

We live in a turbulent time where the world is embroiled in political upheaval, wars and economic challenges. In the information age where news from around the planet is available at a moment’s notice, today’s artists are increasingly reflecting what they see occurring.

The themes and subjects of art have evolved along with the technology and the information explosion. It’s a phenomenon the Orange County Museum of Art brings to local audiences with its latest exhibit, “Disorderly Conduct: Recent Art in Tumultuous Times.”

It’s often said art is a mirror that reflects culture. After all, the first cave drawings documented the big hunts and migrations of early societies.

Archaeologists use art to interpret the religious beliefs and values of past civilizations. Art records the events and people of history. It’s a link to the achievements and failures of our ancestors through their own eyes.

Yet sometimes art is less a mirror and more a finger that points and laughs at human behavior. Who’s to say some of those cave paintings aren’t making fun of a failed hunter?

“Disorderly Conduct” brings together pieces that combine those elements of ingenuity, social commentary, and humor.

“It shows a broad stretch of different mediums, but it still reflects the rocky times of the post-9/11 era,” says OCMA Marketing Assistant David Carlson.

The museum’s show incorporates traditional mediums like painting and photography with other more unconventional canvases — some of which push people buttons as well as boundaries. The show was curated by OCMA’s Karen Moss, who aimed to pull together a show with quality work that’s timely and has something to say.

“The House that America Built” is a full life-sized replica of the infamous unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s shack-like house. The Daniel Joseph Martinez piece is painted in squares of Martha Stewart Signature Paint colors. It’s a humorous nod to two second-generation Polish-Americans who ended up in prison.

The house was built to Martinez’s specifications inside the gallery. Because it’s so big, a new house is built at each gallery the work is shown at.

Another example art with ingenuity in the show is Martin Kersels’ “Tumble Room.” The aptly named work is a room built within a rotating wheel. The inside had been decorated and furnished as a teenage girl’s room. The wheel spun the room while the furniture inside flew and crashed until it was reduced to splinters and rubble at the show’s Saturday opening.

“There was dust flying out all over the room,” says Chivan Wang, the museum’s Public Relations Associate. “It was a living art piece.”

The room and its debris will be spun at different times throughout the exhibit.

Kersels also produced a short film using “Tumble Room,” which plays in the gallery exhibit along with an example of his photography.

But he’s not the only artist of the show to use video as a medium. Rodney McMillian has a video piece in the show as well as South African artist Robin Rhode. A video by Pearl C. Hsiung is featured along with her paintings. The paintings carry a theme of environmental catastrophe.

Mike Kelley’s “Gospel Rocket” project also incorporates video. Projectors depict a group wearing gospel choir robes around a large missile — also draped in the robes.

The commentary on war and religion may be blasphemous to some, so pieces like “Gospel Rocket” and political works like Karen Finley’s study of Condoleezza Rice may be a bit controversial. But shows like “Disorderly Conduct” are important to the museum’s mission of bringing Orange County audiences new work with something to say.

“Disorderly conduct has been part of this nation from its very birth,” Carlson said.

IF YOU GO

What: “Disorderly Conduct: Recent Art in Tumultuous Times”

When: Through May 25

Where: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach

Cost: Free

Information: Call (949) 759-1122 or visit www.ocma.net.