Confections (adorned) #14 by Amy Stevens

Losing our faith in art is, in a secular culture, what losing our faith in God was to a religious one; God only knows what losing our faith in desserts must be.
— Adam Gopnik, in last week's New Yorker

I nodded in recognition as I read that line in Gopnik's article about feats of molecular gastronomy that have come to define the modern dessert. You're likely familiar with the culprit, something that might be "three upright cylinders—small towers of something wrapped in something—with the tops sliced at an angle," basically the antithesis of everything that's wonderful about Cake Week here at 20x200. Foam of this and essence of that, sheesh! No wonder poor Adam's facing a crisis of belief. With good old-fashioned cupcakes, ice cream and other tried-and-true treats in abundant supply here on the isle of Manhattan, my faith in dessert remains unshaken. I can't help but look askance at how nostalgia-laden these offerings are though, so delicious, and yet so ripe for parody!

As Confections (adorned #14) so ably illustrates, Amy Stevens dishes up exactly that with her madcap creations. One of our most recent crop of 2010 Hot Shots, Amy's submission created quite a stir among our panelists. Her self-described "exuberantly imperfect" results lit up our screens, their irregular, lumpen profiles showcased against equally garish and disorienting backdrops.

While Martha's paintings seem barely contained, their imperfections chipping away at the ideal objects she's depicting, Amy's just thrown in the towel completely, surrendering to chaos—embracing it, in fact—her charmingly grotesque results serving as a sharp and inspiring commentary on perfection as achievement's measure.*

Not content to constrain her parody to the limited range of her viewfinder, Amy extends the excess to the in-person experience, presenting her photographs in overwrought rococo frames, lacquered bright and white. You'll have the chance to indulge in them yourself in just a few short weeks when we open the 2010 Hey, Hot Shot! Showcase at the JBG. The details:

Hey, Hot Shot! 2010 Edition
Opening: Friday, February 4th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
On View: February 5–March 6, 2011
Where: Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street, New York, NY

See you there?!

* They're also a lavish counterpoint to the snickering schadenfreude evoked by Cake Wrecks.