May 15, 2007
"Slinger" at Boots
Okay, the one St. Louis culinary phenomenon I've not tried yet is the slinger. The first time I passed through town, I visited Irv's Good Foods, which is no longer around (it is now extra parking space for the Botanical Garden). While I found Irv's charming, because the waitress was named Ernie and the short-order cook was Bert, and it was as old school as you could get, it probably wasn't the place to be when first laying eyes on a slinger. If I remember correctly, it was called "Nightmare in Chili" or something like that. Not that Utah has high culinary standards - there are restaurants out there that serve fried Spam sandwiches for cryin' out loud, and our verson of T-Ravs is green Jell-o - but I was a bit taken aback when a customer ordered one. It was like someone had cleaned out a garbage disposal and thrown it on a plate. Since then, I have realized that this was not the high water mark for this particular dish, but I've still had some trouble getting over my initial horror. It has been my mission to love everything about St. Louis, and I have only been able to love the Slinger in theory, not in practice.
But, it's with some delight that I read this press release from Boots, down on Cherokee; they're having a Slinger-themed art show focusing on St. Louis art and St. Louis artists. I guess the brain sandwich isn't as ubiquitous as it used to be, so that won't function as metaphor anymore ... it's gotta be the Slinger.
Details:
boots contemporary art space presents
Slinger
The Slinger as a cultural metaphor.
In this exhibition Boots attempts to explore, analyze,and question what
it means to be an artist, critic, and/or curator living and working in
St. Louis. Is there a St. Louis aesthetic?What are the issues our
artists are dealing with? What mediums are conveying our themes and
ideas? Is there a collective movement, or are we a group of individuals?
Featuring work by:
Brandon Anschultz, Robin Assner, Sarah Colby, Andrea
Green, Ryan Hess, Jamie Kreher, Jason Wednesday Miller
Pranschke, Bryan Reckamp, Tim Ridlen, Mike Schuh
stripper:pilot, Matthew Strauss, Brett Williams &
Paul Zografakis
Opening reception: featuring DJ Cobra Commander
Saturday, May 19th, 2007
6:30 - 10pm
On view Saturdays 10-5 and Sundays 12-5 until June 23.
Boots Contemporary Art Space www.bootsart.com
2307 Cherokee St., 314.772.BOOT