This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 2, 2011 - For "Time Wounds All Heels," White Flag Projects delivers a host of good artist jokes -- some pithy, some raunchy, some maddeningly obscure, all entertaining.
John Baldessri's series of "Nose/Silhouettes" (2010) are irresistible, as is Erwin Wurm's "13 Pullis" (1991), a video in which "layering" is taken to absurd lengths. Robert Lazarinni's "Hammers" (2000) are actual tools rendered in perspective.
Jaime Pitarch demonstrates the "Theory of Evolution" (2009) using cleaning products, placing Big Bang detergent at the center of the cosmos.
Next to one of Richard Prince's silkscreen jokes hangs Adam McEwen's "Untitled (Richard)" (2007), an obituary of Richard Prince (who is not dead).
Donelle Woolford has a sculpture in the show, and she even spoke at the show's opening (never mind that Woolford doesn't actually exist, that she's the invention of another artist by the name of Joe Scanlan, or that she's portrayed by actresses whenever she appears). Funny, funny stuff.
Ivy Cooper, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is the Beacon art critic.