>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Joseph Robbins, 33, is showing his art at Nightingale Gallery through March 11. (The Observer/LAURA MACKIE-HANCOCK).

By Jeff Petersen

Observer Staff Writer

MAN-ifest destiny is the theme of Joseph Robbins' bulls and briefs series.

It's about the notion of male entitlement, that if you follow steps A, B and C — for example, go to school, get married, start a career — you will be a great success. And it's about layoffs at large corporations and small businesses alike

that have shattered the male

mystique and ushered in a new era of uncertainty.

Robbins, 33, is showing his art at Nightingale Gallery, Loso Hall, Eastern Oregon University campus through March 11.

Robbins lives in Los Angeles with his partner of 11 years and three cats. He works as an interior designer to keep the lights on. This allows him to pursue art in his spare time.

A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Robbins has also created mobiles and towers to complement the traditional on-the-wall bulls and briefs series.

One piece, called "Imagined Lifestyles," features a mishmash of architectural drawings of dreamhouses done in a handcrafty sort of way. The piece symbolizes all the McMansions Robbins won't live in.

"A lot of us fantasize that someday we will be rich and a lot of us vote that way," Robbins said. "We even treat rich people as if they should have a lot of special privileges and rights. We might as well face that we aren't going to get rich anytime soon."

His other piece, called Hunting and Pecking, involves briefs made of fiberglass attached to motion detectors and lights.

"After I moved to Los Angeles, my work moved more into the subjects of sexuality and gender politics," he said.

Robbins' show is coupled with that of Nancy Hathaway. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Hathaway's artist reception will be from 7 to 8 p.m. March 11.