The Fringe Connection

Thanks to WindUp Gallery, the Mormon-rich city of Mesa, of all places, has gained a chokehold on lowbrow art.

Since May 2007, gallery owners Anthony and Lindsay Cresta have regularly exhibited titillating, somewhat grotesque, pop-culture-heavy art, a medium that has its roots in the 1970s L.A. surf/punk/hot-rod subcultures. That these fringe-y icons have jumped from inked arms and skateboards to framed oil paintings suggests that the art form is not as underground as it used to be. Not so, according to artist Patrick Fatica, whose “New Work” exhibit opens with a reception. Lowbrow works, he says, have yet to receive the blessing of the faceless gatekeepers of the formidable East Coast art world. “It still gets a mixed response,” says Fatica. “Some people are like, ‘That's too creepy. It will never go over the couch.’”

There is some salacious imagery by Fatica in the show, but that's what makes the work so cool. Plus, we can’t think of anything more delightful than indulging in meticulously rendered prurient fantasies. This stuff is so sweet it’s almost rotten.