Quick CAM notes

I'll be back at Blue Star tomorrow afternoon, taking a more detailed look at Blue Star 23: Playing With Time, the annual CAM show, this year curated by SAMA's David Rubin.

Rubin, the curator of contemporary and modern art at SAMA, has put together an ambitiously conceived, and densely populated, group show. Known for attending more openings and art events than even the artists themselves, Rubin, who moved here in 2006, said he began to notice that many local artists addressed or manipuated concepts of time in their work -- more on that in the Current's full-on review this coming Wednesday.

In the meantime, head out there and admire Rubin's signature gallery notes -- he includes a quote from the artist plus a pithy observation of his own -- and take special note of the selections, such as Nate Cassie's set of four abstract paintings, that use art as a way to contemplate human puzzles that approach the spiritual.

While you're there, commune for a while with Alex Rubio's neighboring one-man show, which builds on his outstanding Artists Looking at Art "Four Horsemen" installation in the McNay's medieval galleries during CAM 2006. Looking at his "Locust" diptych, you can see a golden thread running from the Middle Ages through war, pestilence, famine, and death to our contemporary West and South Sides. His use of reds and oranges is virally transcendent on its own.