Before we ask the question: "Do real men make rugs?", you should know that art for the sole(s) has arrived to LA in the form of rugs designed by Mark Mothersbaugh, probably better known as the lead singer for the alt rock band Devo that blasted into the 1980's with hits like ‘Whip It". And you should know that Mr. Mothersbaugh is not bent over a loom acquiring a humpback making his rugs; his designs are sent out-of-house to be made on computerized weaving machines both domestically and in far-away places like the scary toy-recall nation of China.

But why rugs? In the show's lavish 4-color, 36-page (with cover) brochure, Mr. Mothersbaugh states that Rugs During Wartime (RDW) can be effective propaganda mechanisms. After all "... in a world of troubles and turmoil, we all need something firm beneath our feet, a rug that reminds of us of who we are and what we must do." This call to action culminates with: "Yes! These rugs have a variety of messages tailored to help pull us through and keep us marching forward until de-volution can be reversed!" What's he selling here? It's a utopian vision of the home-centered home, a homier home, and the craftspeople that make us the things that make it such. This started back in the 1800s with craft-idealist William Morris who provided for us better wallpaper, bridged later by Ms. Martha Stewart whose relentlessly well-meaning fingers made sure we all knew how to make our own wood-grain wrapping paper.

So yes, oddly, Mr. Mothersbaugh and Ms. Stewart have this in common: good intentions for how better we can live through better looking functional objects. But what we have here with Mr. Mothersbaugh is art, and his expression of this blooms from what roams around in his highly active noodle. In addition to his Devo duties, Mr. Mothersbaugh has consistently made art, since his first show of work way back in 1975. And you may notice that his music and art seem to be baked from the same de-evolutionary pie. Yes, there is an underlying philosophy to all his work that sources back to his affiliation with the Church of the SubGenius, www.subgenius.com , one that urges you to engage in more sex, quit your cubicle job, and get to work at slacking off. Apparently, The SubGenius is lead by figurehead J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, a drilling equipment salesman "contacted through his TV by an alien space creature from a corporate sin galaxy." He is quoted as saying, "Don't just eat that hamburger, eat the HELL out of it!" Why I mention this is because Mr. Mothersbaugh exhibits this same nation-building gusto here in making his rug art: there are a whopping 88 separate rug designs in this show, plus filler stuff like ceramics, cards, and, I think, a clock.

So we've got a whole lot of rugs here. But what about the art? Mr. Mothersbaugh draws his imagery from old comic books, heyday advertising, robots, sci-fi, and guys in salesman shoes. His work shows an affinity with that of Robert Crumb (also a devotee of the Church of SubGenius) and artist KAZ known for his hypodermic needle-scapes traversed by bubble-nosed deviants. But whereas the Wartime rugs feature weirdo single-subjects in snapshot, the Peacetime series are explosively energetic if not lovely abstracts, symmetrical in a Rorschach kind of mirroring. Some show an Asian/kitschy bamboo/Tiki room influence, and one a return to idyllic calm of Arcadian contentment features knobby limbs and big pine cone-things.

But what of our original question, "Do manly men make rugs?" Devo's first album title states the question: "Are We Not Men?" The title refers to the 1933 horror film "Island of Lost Souls" based on the book of H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau." Here, a mad scientist creates a race of pseudo-men from jungle beasts and takes to smacking them when uppity with the question: "Are We Not Men?" In this show, Mr. Mothersbaugh exerts what we'll call the Post-Post Modern Man at Work: one secure enough to take on the most lowly, humble and most common of household things that most likely only knows the roar of the vacuum run by -- a woman. But does Mr. Mothersbaugh do his own vacuuming? Given that this is a man who wrote a song called "Itchy, Itchy, Goo", I'm sure he does.

In that the show is called "Rugs During War and Peacetime" pretty much covers every moment until the sun blinks its last blink and Earth shrivels up to the size of a hot dime. But don't wait until our entropic ends to see the oddball charm of this downright folksy show. It's up until only until December 1. And if someone on your Christmas list really, really wants a designer doormat, then get on down to Scion gallery with a wad in your wallet and mud on your shoes and wipe your feet to your heart's content. Rugs range in price from $275 for an artful doormat to about $13,000 for the really big ones.

Go here to see a history of his artwork and upcoming shows: www.mutatovisual.com

"The Rug Art of Mark Mothersbaugh" at The Scion Installation L.A. Space, 3521 Helms Avenue (at National), Culver City, CA. 90232. 310.815.8840. Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm, or by appointment. Through December 1, 2007.

By Robyn Ewing