The current show, "Momentary Dynamism," at Alchemy fits well with what is normally show in this Murphy Art Center gallery that doubles as a hair salon.

The show by Patrick Driscoll and Jean Dan, a thesis project by a pair of Herron seniors, is solid combination of seriousness and fun.

Dan supplies most of the serious half of things, painting stoic looking men in candid, everyday situations: a guy playing guitar on the bed (with the remote control next to him), another sitting in his painting space thinking about his work. These are interesting to me because they are subjects that wouldn't seem to scream "paint me." But left me wondering who these people were and looking at their places for clues. Dan did have a little fun with a couple of toy monkeys in the middle of his series.

Meanwhile, Driscoll offered eight paintings of walnuts. A couple are huge single walnuts in the middle of the canvas -- maybe 6 foot by 6 foot -- and then a series of eight smaller ones painted on shelves and such are grouped together in front of a projector. If you go during the day ask the nice people at Alchemy to turn the projector on so you can see Driscoll's animations atop the nuts.

These animations -- including a stripper -- connect with his wonderful artist statement, something else you shouldn't miss. In it, his nuts thank everything manly from grunts to trucks to industrialization, to chop saws, to AC/DC, to weight training in mirrored gyms.

Alchemy, unlike most other galleries in the city, is open a lot -- whenever the salon is open. So there's no excuse to not go to their shows if you like art.

You could also check it out Dec. 14 at 9 p.m. during the Dr. Sketchy breast cancer fundraiser event at Alchemy.

For details about Alchemy, follow this link: http://www.indy.com/events/view/55234