Interpreting Cirque in low-brow style

By Kristen Peterson

Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011 | 1 p.m.

With seven Cirque du Soleil shows in town it only made sense that Las Vegas would be a stop in an international art tour of work inspired by Cirque productions.

Safewalls, opening tonight at Downtown’s Trifecta Gallery, features hand-pulled screen prints on cotton paper created by artists in the tradition of circus posters. In all, 16 artists were commissioned for the project, including locals Amy Sol and Casey Weldon (formerly of Las Vegas). The lineup also includes Shag, Frank Kozik and Chet Zar.

“This is probably the biggest name show we’ve ever had,” says Trifecta owner Marty Walsh, who’s been anxiously awaiting through unexpected delays.

Curated by Cirque, Safewalls was created by Andre Bathalon and Yan Cordeau to highlight street (and lowbrow) artists. Seeking a diverse collection, they selected artists with different backgrounds and styles, from illustrative representational to pop and abstract.

The term “safe walls,” used by street artists, refers to buildings and spaces that are legal and safe to paint. Commissioning street artists links the project to Cirque’s street performer beginnings.

“We wanted to use the spotlight of Cirque du Soleil to highlight these artists,” says Bathalon who was at Trifecta Wednesday while Sol signed her editions. “There were very few constraints, as long as they stayed within Cirque du Soleil values, no racism, no animals.”

Sol’s poster is a soft and dreamlike rendition of two Ka performers, one of whom is playing the flute. Weldon incorporated his traditional style of emotional, somewhat wistful, and in this case, someone angry, girls for a Zumanity poster, posing them in a small stage pool against an ethereal background. Kozik, who is known for bringing back the art of the rock poster, created a red, lecherous devil backed by ’60s-style psychedelic font.

The tour opened at the High Roller Society in London, featuring posters inspired by the touring production Totem, then went onto Madrid and Houston. From here it heads to the Montreal headquarters for its final exhibit. Other artists include El Mac, Jon Burgerman, Sweet Toof, Ron English, Tara McPherson, Jason Limon, Miss Van, Travis Louis, Jon Burgerman, Nuria Mora, Ricardo Cavolo and Glenn Anderson.

Safewalls: Contemporary reinterpretations of circus posters, Aug. 4-26, Trifecta Gallery 107 E. Charleston, 366-7001. Opening reception tonight (Aug. 4) from 6-9 p.m.