Time is almost running out to see the “Dam the Torpedoes” art show down at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center department. Gregory Elliott, professor and department chair of the Art and Art History Department. “Dam the Torpedos,” is his first show in San Antonio. The show opened its doors on March 3, in accordance with contemporary art month, and has been a great success.

Elliott has been making and creating sculptures for the past thirty years. He has three degrees with concentrations in commercial art, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture. He has taught at the University of Texas in El Paso, Brookhaven College in Dallas and Louisiana State University in Baton Rogue. His passion for art and the effort that he puts into each piece present itself through his work. Any one of Elliott’s pieces could take six months to two years to complete, and it’s it obvious through the complexity of his work.

The show is definitely worth checking out. As you walk into Blue Star intricate sculptures decorate the interior of the showroom. Elliott’s sculptures are so elaborate that they can be examined over and over again, each time catching something new.

A giant strand of metal bombs titled “Pull Toy for the New Millennium” stages itself in the middle of the showroom’s gallery. The center Bomb is the largest, possibly depicting Little Boy, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Attached by linked cables to the center bomb are four other smaller bombs. Strung together they have the reminiscence of a children’s animal pull toy, as if a child might pick them up and drag them behind him. This piece like many of Elliot’s pieces brings attention to ideas that seems taboo.

Many of Elliott’s sculptures have child like qualities but seem to play with larger more serious ideas. In reacting this way with the bright colors and large idea there is a lot of information to grab from his pieces. Elliott seems to have a lot to say. And the audience or the viewer could learn a lot from the sculptures.

Many of the pieces that are hung in the wall have a completely different feel to them. Made out of wood, instead of metal, these pieces are bright and very ornate. His sculptures have playful titles like “Working in an abusive Environment,” “Passion Play” or even “We Killed Whales when Wrong was Right.” All these titles play off of their sculpture counterpart to create a larger statement.

Gregory Elliot’s exhibit ends May 14. Be sure to check it out while there is still time!

The Blue Star Contemporary Art Center is downtown off of South Alamo St, and is open Tuesday through Saturday 12 to 6, and on Thursdays the Center stays open until 8 pm. Its found in the same complex as the Blue Star Brewery and many other galleries filled with up and coming art.