Radical Nautical, which opens this Thursday at Gallery Lombardi, introduces the question of whether more than one octopus in a room spells a troop of octupuses, or just a bunch of octopi. (You might prefer to dodge the issue altogether by referring to them as cephalopods).

The show's general nautical theme sprang forth from the collective consciousness of its jurors, all big machers on the Austin art scene: Ian Schultz, Michael Schliefke, Kevin Peake, Kev Tijerina, and Rachel Koper.

"Technically, water is difficult to paint, constantly moving and reflecting different colors," said Koper, explaining the creative appeal of the high seas. "Metaphorically, it is used to symbolize nature's vast, mysterious power over civilized, tiny, earthbound mankind."

Ships, squid, and the occasional message in a bottle all appear throughout Radical Nautical, which also features mermaids aplenty. Rachel noted one mermaid-studded work in particular:

In Chris Chappell's painting called, 'I Couldn't Paddle My Dinghy Fast Enough When I Saw Those Ocean Bitches,' it's totally unclear whether the man in the rowboat is going towards or away from the sexy mermaid island.

Michael Schliefke chimed in: "[The piece is] nautical, naughty, and a whole lot of fun, which is what the show really is about. There's nothing worse than the stuffy, vacuous pretension that tends to engulf the art world."

The group clearly kept nautical naughtiness in mind when they selected Radical's 70+ winning works (out of 350 entries). As Kev Tijerina cheekily iterated:

When we were choosing what would go up, one of our main concerns was trying to represent the full range of styles from abstract to pop realism, sculpture, installation work, and performance art. My personal approach was to limit my selection to pieces that kept with a 'radical' theme: Old Man and the Sea, no; Old Dirty Bastard and the Sea, hell yes.

Now that's the spirit.

[Opening night's full musical lineup feat. Super Sonic Soul Squad and DJ Big Face]

Radical Nautical at Gallery Lombardi
Thursday, August 2nd
7-10pm
602 West 7th #A
Open thru September 1st