Napoleon is the tiny, but powerful gallery (see also: the Napoleon Complex) located on the second floor of the building housing Knight Arts grantee Vox Populi, Marginal Utility and Grizzly Grizzly, among others. The one-room gallery keeps the shows predictably concise and, as is the case with its current show, this is definitely a benefit of its size and not a hindrance. Instead of cluttering its walls, Napoleon keeps things refreshingly minimal in both the quantity and style of its art on display.

On exhibit right now are pieces by two artists: Jake Yeager and Ed Brady. The show appears to be untitled like all of the art, but it is loosely called “.dirtbag.dirtbag.dirtbag” after one of only three words in the show (the other two are “Fake Angst” and all of the text elements come courtesy of Brady). On one wall, written in round, black spray-painted letters are the words “Dirtbag Dirtbag Dirtbag.” It is unclear whether this is the name of the show or whether this is just another element, but it suffices to say that this graffiti could serve both purposes.

Brady’s works uses almost no color whatsoever; almost everything on his side of the Napoleon space is black and white. One large enamel and acrylic painting is overwhelmingly black with only the slightest hints of bright orange slashes across its surface. The black areas have a fair amount of variance, though, with a smooth, faceted center and a heavily textured border. It appears that the orange lines are some sort of light trying to escape through from the other side.

“Fake Angst” is stenciled in white on the back of a studded, black denim vest. This garment introduces the only other color in Brady’s part of the show and that is only due to the reflections in the metallic studs (unless you actually consider chrome a color). The vest is clearly a parody of punk, most likely its more recent, 21^st Century-teen-angst manifestations. Brady rounds out the show with a smaller circular canvas which itself holds three circles. Vertical black and white lines run across its surface, and the lines’ inconsistent match-up is the only betrayal of the inner circles. The layout is reminiscent of Mickey Mouse, except less cartoony and more retina-jarring.

Yeager’s side of the room is in steep contrast to Brady’s. The wall is covered in paper relief sculptures of bright, neon pyramids. There is one large mass of three-sided pyramids buffered on each side by a diamond-shaped form of four-sided pyramids. On the surfaces of the paper are pixels of darker colors, which add a gradient effect. Optically, the pyramids are fun to look at, and the gradients naturally blend when viewed at a distance. They also act as a mirror and reference the studs of Brady’s punk vest.

There is clearly still much to be said about untitled works in a small space, and Yeager and Brady prove this at Napoleon. When content is left to a minimum, the running imagination allows for even more to be said than if everything were laid out literally.

Napoleon is located at 319 N. 11th St., 2L on the second floor; [email protected].