Windshield Decal Semiotics and Doctrinaire Cultism in the Artwork of Brendan Donnelly

The title of Brendan Donnelly's first exhibition at Paul Loya Gallery, "How To Be A Magician In Your Spare Time," is something of a misnomer--the show has little to do with magic. However, the emptiness of the titular promise is itself an ironic trick in keeping with the artist's skepticism of magisterial charlatanry. Lining the gallery walls are several car windshields overlaid with amusing assortments of decals, many of them designed by Donnelly himself. The carefully curated arrangement on ea...