What does it take to be happy? It’s the sort of question that changes depending on who you ask. For Aaron LaShomb a series of whimsical acrylic paintings explore possible answers in The Things We Need. In some, like “Higher Learning,” where a turtle sits atop a tower of burning books or “Prizes,” which features balloons and a stag, I’m pretty sure I get the joke, whereas in others, like “Washed Out,” in which a sad whale carries a city on its back, or “Lost and Found” as an elephant clings to a dingy next to a ship, things are less clear. That’s the crux of this exhibit, though—the things we desire aren’t always tangible and often don’t make sense, objects, like LaShomb’s work, speak to us in different ways. And sometimes, like in “Lovely” which features a rabbit that seems to be channelling Daisy Buchanan, maybe what we can read into it is a burning need for something sparkly. But that could just be me.
To June 4, Argyle Fine Art, 1559 Barrington Street, 425-9456
This article appears in May 23-29, 2013.