A nearby wall is filled by colored handkerchiefs custom-printed with paisley patterns augmented with images of hammers, pens, pocket knifes, lamps, boots, underwear briefs, and sandwiches. With them, Cozzens displays tags filled out with responses he got when he asked friends how they use handkerchiefs to send signals. "I would wear a magenta bandana in my left pocket to signify gay identity in general." "I fly black right to signify that I am a pain pig." "Rear right butt pocket. Why: Queer identifying . . . highlights my ass, makes it look good. Burgundy deep color of blood color of love." It's art as community catharsis.

Other prints are Cozzens's own raw emotional outpourings of words. "Anger/Again/Yes." "Queer bodied." "Queers!/Dissonance." "Body/Anger/Trace." "Difficulty/Names/No." He prints them in varying colors that create new meanings and new tones as the words overlap and red is layered over pink is layered over blue. Cozzens's art has been about precision and control as he aimed to convey specific messages. The slight loosing here — of message, style, color — gives the prints a fresh, vivid energy.

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  Topics: Museum And Gallery , AS220, Craftland, Ian Cozzens
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ARTICLES BY GREG COOK
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