Deborah Boardman

A view of “Studio Practice.”

In “Studio Practice,”  Deborah Boardman’s show about her own studio practice, she shares the spotlight with 20-plus artist friends, inviting them to simultaneously go wild with their work. Boardman’s most charming studio rendition is Small Studio, a mini replica of the artist’s easel, palette, a painting-in-progress and a boat filled with painted heads propped up inside. Boardman’s “regulation-size” paintings of her studio incorporate graceful, delicate brushstrokes, but as we see similar pieces with that same artist easel, the already overused subject matter becomes tiring.

Even if we don’t jibe with mainstage star Deborah, we still like her friends—a lot. Ellen Rothenberg’s Window, a rectangular sheet of blue aluminum with the word window located in the middle, is cleverly paired with Boardman’s painting of the same name. It reminds us of conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs, where a physical chair, a picture of it and a “chair” dictionary entry are arranged side-by-side. We’re also wildly amused by Jason Dunda’s collage General Editors, where he takes the cover of a Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia and seamlessly replaces one of the editor’s pictures with that of a bear. And let’s not forget Kim Mitseff’s red-and-black islandlike chunk of poured sugar and dried mushrooms, in which a mini gold–spray-painted garden gnome faces off against a red apron–clad damsel covered in plastic goop. Mitseff’s creative use of food and the implied scenario keeps us wondering what will happen between the two figurines.

Though we hate to admit it, sometimes our friends steal the show.