E-Mail This Article to a Friend New order ‘OCD’ at the Mills, and something Nu at Gallery 121 BY RANDI HOPKINS

I’m not sure when evidence of obsessive behavior became such a pervasive element of contemporary art. As I think back, Joseph Cornell filling box after precious box with hoarded mementos comes to mind, as does the much later Jonathan Borofsky methodically counting, on paper, for several hours each day, for years, then alluding to his counting in drawings, dream images, and installation work. But recently, I’d date my awareness of a new strain of compulsive artists to the emergence of toothpick collector Sarah Sze in the late ’90s. Sze’s sprawling installations of the most humble artifacts of daily life (in addition to toothpicks, she’s used disposable razors, clothespins, plastic cups, and much more) seem to have prefigured a new emphasis on work that requires great artistic exertion and focus without displacing this energy into the suspect arena of high craftsmanship. Such work also reinforces the idea of the artist as a singularly weird individual lavishing attention on nuances most of us don’t have time for, and pushing this attention to extremes.

In the smart new exhibition "OCD," which is opening at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Mills Gallery next Friday, artist/curator Matthew Nash brings together eight artists for whom, as he describes it, "obsession and compulsion are both the subject and the method of their work." The title of the show is unfortunate — "obsessive" and "compulsive" as these artists may be in their art production, likening their behavior to that of individuals suffering from a clinically diagnosed illness trivializes (and romanticizes) the disorder. That said, the show promises to survey important contemporary territory.

In "OCD," artist Nancy Havlick grapples with her own sense of cultural heritage — with things she wishes her Armenian mother had taught her — by creating thousands of molded sugar eggs, mixing American-style refined white sugar with traditional Armenian ingredients like mint and paprika, apricots and almonds. Havlick uses the repetitive egg-making process to bring a sense of order to her busy family life, and she uses the lovely, finished eggs in intricate floor installations that borrow patterns from Armenian rug motifs. Artist Jennifer Schmidt zeroes in on our relationship with standardized test forms, the ones with the long columns of pill-shaped blanks awaiting the carefully inscribed marks of #2 pencils. Decision making merges with early techno-pop graphics in her hypnotic prints. Works by Joseph Trupia, Luke Walker, Morgan Phalen, Chris Francione, Jason Dean, and Nash himself complete the mix. "OCD" sounds well worth a visit, though you may want to bring your worry beads.

Also this month, artist/architect John Sharratt and artist Anais Daly have teamed up to turn the lobby space of the Charles Street Meeting House (owned by Sharratt) at 121 Mount Vernon Street into Gallery 121. This Monday, their inaugural exhibition, "Nu-Nu: Visions of Space and Color," opens with work by the New York–based Shelby Hughes, who creates installations using materials including fabric, crystals, gems, and pine cones (her collaborative installation "Magnetic Living," created with artist Nick Mauss, was a big hit in New York’s Chelsea district last year); Kristina Killar, whose art involves wire, brass, copper, and lighting; and Daly herself, a painter concerned with the female figure. "All three of us are very excited about what’s going on in art right now," Daly explains. "We’re interested in the whole atmospheric nature of space. This building has been beautifully redone, so we wanted to set the show up together, to respond directly to this great space."

"OCD" is at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Mills Gallery, 539 Tremont Street in the South End, March 19 through May 7, with an opening reception March 19 from 6 to 8 p.m.; call (617) 426-8835. "Nu-Nu: Visions of Space and Color" is at Gallery 121, 121 Mount Vernon Street in Boston, March 15 through April 15, with an opening reception on March 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.; call (617) 367-7171.