Art colliding with politics

Depending on your point of view, the stories that sculptor Ted Sitting Crow Garner tells in lacquered wood and watercolor could be taken as wittily irreverent or downright disrespectful. At first glance, you notice the large bone through the nose of “Voodoo Economist” (lacquered wood). Then you realize that the figure is unsuccessfully hiding a large, stylized dollar sign behind its back while offering a one-cent symbol out front. The title of “Your Voice in Wash DC” (lacquered wood and watercolor) comes from a neon sign in front of former U.S. Congressman Dan Rostenkowski’s office in Garner’s Chicago neighborhood. A fat cigar extends from a disembodied mouth and punches through a lush green watercolor landscape, becoming a belching smokestack. Garner says that over his 30-year career, his challenge has been to create works that provide these kinds of thoughtful perspectives on icons of popular culture that many take for granted. “New Works by Ted Sitting Crow Garner” is showing at Gorman Museum, 1316 Hart Hall, UC Davis, through Mar. 30. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-5 p.m. or by appointment. (530) 752-6567.