Hollow Stone: The Life and Disappearance of Narek Grigoryan
Ongoing: Twin Cities artist David Sollie weaves stories and images into strange narratives in which fact and fiction mingle without clear boundaries. He took most of the photos for this haunting show in Armenia near a village called Gyumri, which was shattered by an earthquake not long ago. The hills there do bristle with strange cactus-like plants, and ancient people did attribute rejuvenatory power to a curiously eroded rock known simply as the "hollow stone." Beyond that lies the mystery. Printed on paper that's old and brittle, the images have an otherworldly cast, their soft blue-greens defining a minimalist mountain landscape punctuated only by scrub plants and scattered rock. There lived a reclusive chemist, Narek Grigoryan, and the woman, Aluna Urartu, who would become his lover and tragic wife. (Her eyes are seen here.) There is more poetry in Sollie's photos than in the rambling story he weaves about them, but there's an undercurrent of truth in his tale of KGB interrogation, earthquakes and dreams of ancient deities. (Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Free. Bockley Gallery, 2123 W. 21st St., west of Lake of the Isles near Franklin Av., Mpls. Ends March 15. 612-377-4669 or www.bockleygallery.com)
