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You have to train your eyes to explore a Mark Jenkins/Tim Conlon show. If you’re not prepared to look high, low, and sideways for the art, you very well may miss some. At their Blaster, a full-sized person with an anteater-shaped head that spits pink paint across the wall. Seemingly natural collaborators, Jenkins and Conlon are like the Merry Pranksters, working together on art in which cleverness is its primary attribute—hence their abundance of visual puns, like “Cauthon Death a Head,” a black skull atop a black traffic cone. Part of the reason Mark Jenkins has become so well-known is the subversive, unexpected placement of his works on street corners, on top of buildings, and even in puddles on the sidewalk. That’s why his presence feels slightly diminished in a gallery setting—Day in the Park, a painted-black tableau of a headless man slumped against the wall surrounded by ducks eating popcorn, would work better outside of a Metro station. Jenkins seems to know this, though, and has installed one of his Blaster works atop the roof of the Fridge, visible from the alley. There, it drips paint down the side of the wall courtesy of Conlon. It’s easily one of the most enjoyable parts of the show, because it harnesses what we love the most about street art: the feeling that we’ve stumbled upon something secret, clever, and fleeting.
THE EXHIBITION IS ON VIEW 11 A.M. to 7 P.M. TUESDAY TO SATURDAY AND NOON TO 8 P.M. FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TO MAY 9 AT THE FRIDGE, 516 8TH ST. SE, REAR ALLEY. FREE. (202) 664-4151.