`MIDWEST MINIS '95' SPOTLIGHTS SMALL ART

"Midwest Minis '95," the new national juried show opening today at Gallery 100, proves what the "Mona Lisa" does: that bigger isn't necessarily more beautiful.

All the two- and three-dimensional works entered in the show are 14 inches or smaller.

Giving small works their own show is more than a gimmick, says Laura Brothers, administrative assistant for the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

It enables them to be displayed appropriately. "If you're dealing with small works you usually will have them in cases," she says. "When you have large works you expect things to be viewed from a distance."

The opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the gallery at 1707 Mount Auburn Road.

Forty-five artists from 22 states contributed 141 entries to the show. That compares to last year's 104 entries.

The 65-piece show was juried by Sarah Riley, chairwoman of the Department of Art at Southeast Missouri State University.

Riley bestowed juror's awards on five artists: Seung-Moon Choe of Hoboken, N.J.; Patricia McLoone of Iowa Falls, Iowa; M.H. Paik of Pasadena, Calif.; Dawn Pattison of Peoria, Ill.; and Brian Paulsen of Grand Forks, N.D.

Choe's unusual work consists of layers of onionskin paper with Chinese characters in one case and a poem called "Anyway" in another.

The poem begins, "People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway."

Pattison's etchings, by contrast, have a cartoon quality, as in "Muffy Gets Bored." Muffy is a dog.

Merit awards went to Judy Goulder of Ashland, Ore., and Greg Metzen of Columbia. Goulder creates delicate stoneware pieces that appear broken or half there.

A number of familiar local names are in the show. Aaron Horrell of Chaffee received one of two honorable mention awards given by Riley.

Also exhibited is work by Ann Schuchart, a watercolorist from Sikeston, Carolyn Rannels of Dexter, Lee Spalt of Cobden, Ill., and Eleanor Cooperman of Caruthersville.

Two of the more whimsical entries chosen for the show are by Richard Griswold of Boston. One, an assemblage that appears to be based on a Ken doll, is titled "Chickens on Man Watching Man on TV." That describes it.