At first glance, “Randy Regier: Play in Reverse”—Boxx Gallery’s first retrospective—looks like a collection of vintage toys and games from the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Look closer and some of the objects and their packaging reveal that arch humor is at play here. Study them a little longer and notice deeper references to popular culture from those decades. Regier’s work demands to be taken as authentically vintage. Part warm nostalgia, part homage to cheap and kitsch, part commentary on cultural naivety, his work is deeply layered; it could keep good company with both “Mad Men” and “Mad Magazine.”Regier has worked in Tieton for the past year, while storing some of his artworks in the Horticultural Union Building, a vast and rambling maze filled with surplus furniture and neglected debris. There he made an astonishing discovery, and has since researched the bizarre history of a long forgotten Cold War redoubt, and an intact artifact known as G 403. Boxx Gallery is proud to unveil this unknown piece of American history with this exhibition.

“Randy Regier: Play in Reverse” opens at Boxx Gallery, 616 Maple Street, Tieton, WA, this Friday, February 24. Hours are Friday and Saturday, noon — 7. The exhibition closes Saturday, March 11. Reception for the artist this Friday, February 24 from 5 — 7, with tours to the Hort Union Building starting at 5:30. Regier will speak about his work on Saturday, March 11 at 5:30 at Boxx.