There’s a wooden plank in the Karnak Gallery off of First Ave., hanging above ancient, ornate, astrological-looking tapestries. You have to enter the gallery through a tiny walkway first before turning around to see it and the multicolored chaos of smaller boards hanging perpendicular like wind chimes underneath the plank. By itself, it doesn’t look all that impressive. Dingy, faded looking, with browns, oranges, reds, blues, yellows, even light greens, it looks as though it spent time at the bottom of the sea, rotting for ages before being nailed to an art gallery wall. The plank reads “Virtual Warrior Ink” in sharp lines and paint splotches. It’s made to look as though it were an anachronistic paradigm, an ironic statement made with the knowledge that it is, indeed, ironic.
That’s Jacob Alexander’s operating method. Alexander, the owner of Karnak Gallery, the creator of the Virtual Warrior Ink modeling and artist agency and a mixed media artist, is perhaps best known in the Twin Cities for his VWInk Girls, a cadre of models he takes to nightclubs, galleries, even houseboats on Lake Minnetonka, and paints their nude skin to make abstract, erotic living statuettes. But his art goes far beyond the sexual. Instead, Alexander loves to challenge the constructs and codified meanings of the world that everyone else takes for granted. At its core, Alexander’s art does away with modernistic definitions, instead symbolizing ancient, primeval, incredibly romanticized views of the world. By making his audience turn around and view art on his own terms, Alexander breaks the signals and codes we use to define our surroundings, instead forcing us to view the world through his inspirational, uplifting, slightly megalomaniacal visions.
Alexander opened the Karnak April 1, after several months of negotiating for the space. In the span of a couple of weeks, he’s formed a den of small-time artists in all sorts of forms, ranging from photography to paintings to mixed media art (3-D), all coalescing together under a theme of no theme. To Alexander, it’s more important that art exist, free of the definitions he finds constricting. Moreover, he wants art to be open to everyone, regardless of background. He applies this to his mixed media especially, keeping blind people in mind.
“When I design my mixed media pieces, I always think, ‘Can I make art for people who don’t have eyes?’” Alexander says. “Everything is very colorful in dimension, but everything parallels…for even someone without their sight.”
His inclusive nature is infectious, as he’s collaborated with many different artists, models, photographers, musicians and filmmakers.
Karnak Gallery hosts parties on weekends where people can look at the art, dance to the DJ’s beats, or watch Alexander paint one of the Ink Girls. Last weekend’s party included a chair massage and three dollar drinks. His work as well as his parties has been videotaped for the last five months by the Blue Bridge Media Group for an upcoming documentary, “AntiCoast,” which, while covering the Minneapolis art scene, primarily focuses on Alexander’s efforts in making Minneapolis an art hub similar to New York or Los Angeles. Karnak plans to show the trailer on April 29. That’s just the beginning of where Alexander wants to be, however.
Alexander’s charismatic character has attracted all sorts of people who help out with multiple jobs. His models help put makeup on each other and watch the door. The documentary crew helps with the guest list while catching all of the drama, meltdowns, personas and action behind the scenes of the business and pleasure of Karnak Gallery. It’s all a part of his overarching dream to connect these people in a variety of ways, helping them to come together and create more artistic opportunities outside of the boundaries of conventionally taught art or lauded contemporary pieces the same as he connects the artists in his gallery with each other, the way he connects art, music, lighting, dancing and emotion at the Karnak parties, even the way he connects the mediums within his own artwork.
In the meantime, Alexander, Virtual Warrior Ink and Karnak have a busy year ahead of them. Aside from the weekend parties and the upcoming trailer premier of “AntiCoast,” the next big project for Alexander, titled the “Xander Collection,” is scheduled to take place in August. Described as “cutting away the excess,” the runway show will feature local fashion designers with VW models painted in such a way to represent their ancient heritages, in effect reinforcing Alexander’s search for the primeval core of the art he loves. It’s the core of things that Alexander believes will bring out the art and the positivity in us all.
“I like to go backwards and basically remind people that humanity…will come through,” Alexander says. “I have a lot of faith.”
Visit www.virtualwarriorink.com for more information on upcoming events at the Karnak Gallery.