Michael Allen Engstrom probably didnt sell his soul to the devil in order to create the oil paintings featured in his CrossRoads BLUES exhibit at @Central Gallery. However, just in case, were going to place him on the dark-side watch, just because the works in this show are so good. A graduate from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Engstrom gives contemporary and colorful shout-outs to such early-1900s Piedmont and Delta blues musicians as John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, and one of the eras most infamous, Robert Johnson. (The exhibit title is a spin-off of Johnsons tune Cross Road Blues, which, according to some, chronicles the musicians venture of handing his soul to that dude down below.)
Jan. 17-March 28, 2010