Is This It by Cincinnati artist Joey Versoza, curated by Justine Ludwig, has a helter-skelter approach.
I’d be hard put to explain why all the party balloons festoon the video clips in “This Is It,” or why the music that accompanies the images is what it is. The show’s title refers to the This Is It comeback concerts Michael Jackson was planning before he died in 2009.
And while “Fans of Kurt Cobain” seems a little easy and obvious — a phalanx of room fans and some flannel shirts hanging from a chandelier — it’s also touching when you think of how quickly time has passed since flannel-loving grunge (and Cobain) mattered to culture.
Versoza is on to something — how we remember pop culture highpoints after they pass — that feels meaningful but still is being shaped. That’s exciting.
Is This It is up through Feb. 2, 2014. More at contemporaryartscenter.org.
