http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/arts/design/jason-rhoades-pearoefoam.html 2014-10-03 01:25:51 Jason Rhoades: ‘PeaRoeFoam’ This show at the David Zwirner gallery goes into great detail about PeaRoeFoam, a material Mr. Rhoades created in 2002. === You might think of PeaRoeFoam, an unlikely concoction of green peas, salmon eggs and white polystyrene beads, as the glue holding together the messy, anarchic oeuvre of Jason Rhoades (1965-2006). Known for sprawling installations that give simple assembly-line processes a kind of byzantine intrigue, Rhoades came up with this strange product in 2002 and marketed it in a series of exhibitions that year (one of which was at the David Zwirner gallery in SoHo). Now reinstated at Zwirner in Chelsea, in the midst of a touring Visitors see various installations that correspond to stages in PeaRoeFoam production, including a room of packaged foam (in Ivory Snow boxes) and a factory setup that doubles as a karaoke studio. Also here are products that incorporate the foam in unexpected ways, like the minimalist light wall that’s veiled by a watered-down solution of the stuff (which is elsewhere dense enough to be molded into a ramp for a small motorcycle). The videos, in a side gallery, should be required viewing; they show Rhoades directing assistants as they mix huge batches of the foam, stomping around an inflatable liver-shaped pool in rubber boots. Another highlight is an interview with the artist Paul McCarthy, who mentored Rhoades at the University of California, Los Angeles, and whose influence, along with Warhol’s and Dieter Roth’s, can be felt throughout the show.