Fleisher/Ollman Gallery is happy to invite you to the opening, tonight, of Rip Rig & Panic.

The title Rip, Rig and Panic appeared from space while we were throwing ideas around Isaac Resnikoff’s Port Richmond studio last month. It is the name of a 1965 album by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Kirk could, and would, adopt any style from jazz history with great sensitivity and invention, often on multiple horns that, using circular breathing, he could play simultaneously and for a very long time without stopping. I find myself hard pressed at this instance to cite a Twentieth-Century artist who has done more with their gifts. Having said that, this show has nothing much to do with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. We mostly loved seeing the words rip, rig and panic together in a line, and these days such a reason is a legitimate, if completely goofy, curatorial signature. Beyond that, ripping, rigging and panicking are three unusual activities that people seem to be enjoying in America today.

Jun 21, 2006