the BOSTON globe
February 3, 2007

Art group's collaboration shows superhero tendencies
By Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent

Forget the Justice League and the Fantastic Four. Here come theMiracle5

They walk the streets as a ragtag bunch of mild-mannered artists. But when evil is on the prowl, they become superhero art stars, able to mount an installation in just three days!

Or maybe four. Which is what happened when they hit some snags installing "theMiracle5 !ATTACK!" at the Rhys Gallery earlier this week.
Getting the art to the South End gallery was the first stumbling block.
"We had to strap the large paintings to the roofs of cars with duct tape," admits OrtegaO , whose alias is the wily robot of the future, Ortegacy.

OrtegaO, PRINCESSdie , B.Lobster Claw , CEREBOT, and La Cobra Verde comprise theMiracle5. They embody several art world trends: They work as a collective; they use personae to represent themselves in their art; and they deploy the graphic punch and storytelling of comic books.
"TheMiracle5 takes collaboration to a different level," says dealer Colin Rhys , who is developing a reputation for introducing underground artists to a larger audience. "It's not just five artists showing together. They're creating a complete story. . . . They convert the space. This is what is happening in Boston now."

All the work has the bright tones, strong lines, and pop sensibility of comics, from B.Lobster Claw's abstractions to La Cob.V's giant wrestling masks. The sculptural elements in the middle of the gallery, such as a gaudy purple Christmas tree, don't sustain the strength of works on the walls; they look extraneous. It's not easy to flesh out a graphic novel aesthetic into 3D.

But the walls pulse with big, bold, comic-style paintings, assemblages, and animation cels depicting OrtegaO, Princess Die , Boutet Lobsterclaw , Cerebot, and La Cobra Verde. Each hero has unique powers. Boutet Lobsterclaw, for instance, springs from his day job as a chef; he resembles Popeye with a claw for an arm.

"I grew up summering in Maine, catching and killing and cooking lobsters and fish," says B.Lobster Claw, an abstract painter who says he feels he's cutting loose by getting more graphic and narrative in his work. "Twice I've had to cook enormous amounts of lobster at once."

They prefer working as a group to the isolation of many working artists.
"It's a way for us to create events we want to be a part of," observes Cerebot. In addition to art, theMiracle5 has staged performance and musical events in costume. La Cobra Verde has been dubbed "a mermaid of the earth," wears something green and slithery.
La Cobra Verde, the spawn of a radioactive snake that ate a zombie, has neurotoxic venom and, La Cob says, "likes to eat brains."

"She's what I aspire to be," she continues. "This slick, cutting, cunning character who can speak to the dead." She shrugs off her jacket and exposes her left arm, which sports a tattoo of La Cobra Verde coiling up toward her shoulder.

TheMiracle5 battle villains such as "The Bill," an evil pyramid with a single eye, taken from the one seen on paper currency.OrtegaO's archenemy is Dick Cheney.

Like most superheroes, these have foibles and neuroses. Look at Cerebot, a factory-made service robot with an inferiority complex.

"He's not the most secure individual," Cerebot acknowledges.
As for PRINCESSdie . . .

"I'm a princess by nature," P.die admits.

"I'll say," groans OrtegaO.

The artists make their work separately, but when it comes to putting up the installation, the process is collaborative.

"We come up with a theme to base our work on and we talk about what we're doing," says P.die. "Then when we get to the space, it's like Christmas. We're all unwrapping our packages. It's amazing how everything goes together. Then, if we need to add more, we will."

*

*   *

**  *

*