Umberto Crenca

Umberto Crenca, the founder and artistic director of Providence’s landmark community arts center AS220, winds up his month-long exhibit with the Basque artist Detritus at Firehouse No. 13 by camping out at the gallery all this week (stop by to chat around lunchtime) and a performance at the closing party beginning at 8 p.m. March 31. Here's a bunch of video of the action.

As the Phoenix’s Bill Rodriguez notes, Crenca has long been one of the great benevolent spirits of artistic inspiration and generosity in Providence. So it feels like sacrilege to admit that his stuff here didn't float my boat. (Above, selection of Crenca works. Below, installation with Detritus paintings in right background.) It’s mostly old school surrealist images – breasts becoming the eyes of a face, melting heads, that sort of thing – with a dash of graffiti styling.

“Umberto Crenca & Detritus: Just and Artist/Not an Artist,” Firehouse No. 13, 41 Central St., Providence, March 3 to 31, 2007.