Since the early '90s, New York conceptual-art virtuoso Cary Leibowitz, a/k/a Candy Ass, has worked his outsider credentials as a "Jew fag" (to quote Kiki & Herb's Kenny Mellman about his own stage persona) to great effect, creating delightfully tacky, acerbic artifacts that use purposely banal language and forms to address social anomie and witless consumerism: souvenir cups that rally against disappointing offspring; signs that ask "Do these pants make me look Jewish?" or demand "Stop copying me!"; and garish knit caps that champion schleppy icon Fran Drescher. Designy, whiny, witty, and wonderfully deadpan, Leibowitz's creations have a subtle intellectual weight that seldom burdens their giddy, self-conscious kitschiness. Now if only Leibowitz had an Edie Sedgwick of his own to swan around town, modelling his stylish, brand-conscious "I WARHOL PISS PAINTINGS" scarves ($135), recently shown at Alexander Gray Associates gallery.

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