Sir Dr. Admiral Rupert Xavier’s Paper Plane Flight to Exotic Mind Destinations – Cultural Review

20140203_1033Lately, the big news in the art world over here in Florida, recently opened at the Bluelucy Art Gallery in St. Petersburg. A visual art show forged from the quirky, and extraordinary mind of local artist, Daniel Mrgan. Honestly, I had no clue what to expect from a show titled, Sir Dr. Admiral Rupert Xavier’s Paper Plane Flight to Exotic Mind Destinations. My imagination couldn’t even wrap itself around the possibilities of a show with such an elaborate, and intriguing, title. Turns out, no imagination could have conjured up what Daniel Mrgan had in store for the gallery’s visitors.

Think about if a story book and a silent movie had a baby. Two things which you would never dream of combining, right? But Daniel Mrgan did, and what he created was something truly original.   You begin with an introduction, and walk your way through the character’s childhood, love  life, and even his most personal thoughts. In the background, peppy ragtime music fills the room, automatically setting the scene of unconventionality.

As you peruse the drawings, and move form chapter to chapter, you are suddenly met with a piece filled with cartoonish words. It is here that you get the feel of being in a silent movie. You watch a few frames, and then the words pop up to explain what has happened, and allude to the next few scenes. These seem essential to the exhibition as a whole. Without them, it would lose meaning because the writing explains and gives facts about the character which you would not gather, otherwise. It gives Rupert and the story a certain charm, and fills in all of the blank spaces.

Now, for the big question which I am sure you all are dying to know: Just who is Sir Dr. Admiral Rupert Xavier? To answer this question, you have only to turn to the art.

Take one look at him, and you can easily see the man Mrgan wanted him to be. He seems middle-aged, and constantly plagued with gloom and tidbits of happiness. He is constantly smoking a pipe, and has always boasted that bushy, green moustache. Under his eyes, you can see the wear and tear of life in the form of saggy, red bags drooping low down his face.  He is a sad man with many false realities dressing his imagination. He seems lonely, and even though he loved a ballerina once, she died and he never loved again. We know he enjoyed his days as a Google car driver,  and that he spends most of his free time creating paper planes, studying viruses, and exploring worlds that don’t exist. In fact, he has a constant look of boredom and disapproval on his face when he is living in the real world. It is only in his made up “mind destinations” that he seems truly happy.  Of course, Rupert is not all together lonely. We find out that he does have a pet snail, Chekov, and one other friend named Rooster Bronson. Basically, he enjoys the simple things, and lives an exotic life inside that big head of his.

The artist behind this awesome exhibition resides right in the area of St. Petersburg, Florida. However, his true home is back in Croatia. Mrgan experiments with all kinds of artistic mediums, and, through his trials, has earned the right to call himself  a graphic designer, illustrator, and woodburner. When asked  how to describe his work and influences the best answer he can come up with is:

One small, weathered building on the edge of town with creaky wood floors and a broken elevator, occupied by tenants such as silent cinema, Eastern-European stop motion animation, folk art, melancholy, and music-all sitting around drinking tea, eating soft boiled eggs, and watching Olympic games, nature documentaries, and vintage cartoons all night long.

Daniel Mrgan’s style is hard to pinpoint. It is cartoonish, yet it is also very surreal. He uses only warm colors, his favorites being yellow and red, and he rarely adds to the background behind Rupert. By minimalizing the picture, he makes it easier for the viewer to connect with the story, and focus solely on the scene at hand.

In order to really make the viewer feel the melancholia of the exhibit, all of the emotions and themes are fantastically characterized in Rupert’s appearance.  Studying the frames, one can’t help but notice Rupert’s very round, very bulbous head. In fact, in most of his drawings the main focus seems to be just that. Whether it be Rupert’s head detached from his body (which is usually the case), or growing multiple eyes, the head is the central point because the main theme of the exhibition is daydreaming. Rupert’s head is never quite there, because it is always somewhere else.

This little fact is best exemplified in the scenes showing some of Rupert’s favorite musings: the woodburnings. In these expertly crafted, and delicate, pieces we see Rupert’s head take the shape of the sail of a boat, a rocket ship, and, most iconically, a hot air balloon. The woodburnings are one of the most astounding sections of the exhibit. As you look them over, you can smell the varnish and glue wafting from them, a sign of true handmade craftsmanship. The borders are charred to just the right amount, and the sepia tones give the sense of watching an old time slideshow.

What is even more interesting- what I found to give the drawings their true life-was the characteristic squiggles dappling the space inside the lines of Rupert’s head and body. These little lines almost look like viruses under a microscope, and give the entire exhibition the feeling of constant movement. Honestly, picturing the drawings without those lines, it would come off as bland. There is something about them- something about what they do to the picture- that causes the scenes to pop off the page, and which breaths individuality into Mrgan’s work.

As you close up the story, you are left with the taste of melancholy on your tongue. The rest of the day will surely be spent in wonderment over the exhibit, and the true genius and originality of Mrgan’s work. He makes you feel very bad for Rupert. His life is not a happy one, and you see that he has a high amount of distaste for reality, and would rather spend his days elsewhere.

In a way, Rupert is us.  Perhaps this is why the connection is so strongly felt between the viewer and the art. Although there is not a lot which is known about him, you still get the sense that you have connected with the character on a personal level. As if he is a real person you just had coffee and chatted with for an hour. Rupert encompasses all human existence. Most of us spend our days dreaming of situations and places we would rather be instead of where we actually are. We are all daydreamers, just like Rupert, with our big heads up in the clouds.

Daniel Mrgan’s Sir Dr. Admiral Rupert Xavier’s Paper Plane Flight to Exotic Mind Destinations runs through February 8th at the Blue Lucy Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida. And if you check it out, and are as blown away by the exhibit as I was, here’s a bit of good news! Mrgan is selling his pieces, and not for very much. I might even snag one for myself!

Hand lettered drawings: $100

Drawings: $180

Woodburnings: $230