How High?

Pete Ippel is a modern exponent of a long-standing tradition: the bro artist. Think of athlete-philosophers like Jack Kerouac, Richie Tenenbaum, both Jack Johnsons, or Muhammad Ali. (OK, one of those guys is fictional, but he's portrayed by a guy who also fits into this category, Luke Wilson.) Ippel surfs, plays basketball, and his video work explores issues such as hands-free noseblowing and how weird it is to have emotions about water. At "The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and Other Conundrums," the artist/dude shows near-abstract storytelling paintings and also includes some of his jumping work. Having been a track-and-field enthusiast in his undergraduate years, Ippel found himself a man without a team when he arrived at the San Francisco Art Institute. A good sport, he brought his two worlds together by photographing all those who engage in jumping, an act he calls "essentially human flight."
May 16-31, 2008