Extraordinary Art, Everyday Artist

As I walked into The Mahan Gallery, this past Friday for some strange reason I had “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” streaming though my head. In fact, I was so entranced that I wasn’t sure if the strikingly tall man with the blue glass stud earring and the black nail polish was indeed Ric Ocasek. He was. My inner 8 year-old girl was totally geeked.

It’s kind of weird to see one of your childhood icons up-close and personal in a venue that’s different from any memory you have of them. The Mahan Gallery hosted the first solo art exhibition for Ric Ocasek lead singer/songwriter of The Cars. The title of the exhibition, Noise Colored Party, could not have been more appropriate.

Jacquie Mahan, the curator for the exhibit had over one hundred pieces of Mr. Ocasek’s artwork on display. His works vary from drawings with colored pencils and markers, black and white sketches, mixed media pieces, to color photography saturated with glimpses of the past. The messages his pieces convey also were highly varied and are encouraged to be interpreted by the viewing audience. Mr. Ocasek never intended to display his artwork to the public, so you see everything from a kitschy marker cock-n-balls to a mixed media piece with Barak Obama.

When I asked Mr. Ocasek when he had begun his career as an artist, he replied, “I can’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t working on something.” Ric would sketch while on flights or during down time at home.

Speaking of home, Mr. Ocasek’s wife, renowned model actress Paulina Porizkova, and their sons were also on hand at the opening. And what a friendly family they were. The leggy brunette in the red dress kindly entertained my questions about a photograph Ric had taken of her waistline. I recognized the swimsuit she was wearing in the photograph from a Sports Illustrated layout from years ago. I also had a quite enjoyable conversation with one of their sons, Jonathan, about his freshman year of high school and the pitfalls of being a busy teen.

If you have a chance to check out “Noise Colored Party” sometime during the next two months, I highly advice you make the trip down to Mahan Gallery. Not only was Mr. Ocasek’s show a diverse spectacle to view, but he was also as down to earth as many of the other local artists you meet on any given first Saturday in The Short North.

Story: Erica Hess