When most people think of the word “retro,” they might envision shag carpeting, plastic furniture and platform boots.

At the NIU Art Museum Gallery in Chicago, the current show by the same title contains more subtle imagery. “Retro” will remain in the gallery through March 2.

The show is comprised of work by seven artists, all of whom are from Chicago with the exception of painter Miki Lee, who now resides in New York.

The concept of retro, as it is known in popular culture, is stretched beyond the imagery one might expect to see. Instead, one sees thrift store paintings, sculptures fit for a Dr. Seuss book, Op art paintings, photography of old-school living and a purse fight fit for Michigan Avenue.

In the thrift store paintings, artist Virginia Meredith paints on top of landscapes and portraits. Integrating the painting’s original colors into shadows, she creates the illusion that her unusual figures, such as naked plastic dolls, seem to be floating in front of the original work.

The paintings juxtapose the cheapness of the thrift store with the quality of fine art. This is especially notable in Meredith’s skillful handling of pop imagery such as M&M’s and the Pillsbury Dough Boy, superimposed over the cliche imagery of unskilled artists.

One such painting is titled “M&M Girl.” This somewhat disturbing, darkly humorous work portrays a shell-less, anatomically-correct female M&M placed beneath an arc of hovering eyeballs. These images were painted over a thrift store portrait of a little girl.

Aaron Baker’s brightly-colored, tactile sculptures instantly draw the eye with their contorted, organic shapes and kitschy style. Reminiscent of ’50s and ’60s collectibles, Baker’s sculpture, “Aren’t You Darling,” combines rubber grapes and metallic vintage ornaments with other candy-colored materials that beg to be touched.

Gallery Director Julie Charmelo, who curated the show, said “Retro” is one of the five or six shows held at the gallery each year.

“When I first started thinking about this, it was kind of due to the abundance of television shows, movies, musical pieces and fashion items that had been these really obvious revivals of things from the 1970s,” she said.

“It was interesting seeing how this translated to fine art,” Charmelo added. “I knew that it wasn’t going to be as generic as what we were seeing in popular culture. My hope in putting together the show was to gather a group of artists whose work somehow visually referenced these past eras, in a very unique and specific way.”

Karen Brown, assistant professor of art, recently visited the exhibit. She said the show explores the line separating high and low art.

“Those artists are thinking about pointing out the boundaries between what we think is art, and what we think is junk,” Brown said. “All of that work has a wonderful sense of humor, in a time when we all take ourselves too seriously.

“Art is so much about the present,” she said. “But there is no such thing as the present without the past from which it so seamlessly proceeds.”

Frank Trankina, also an assistant professor of art, said the show presents interesting juxtapositions and references about cultural changes over the past 30 years.

“‘Retro’ has a new meaning today,” Trankina said. “It actually is something kind of new, because modern art was always something not concerned with looking back in the modern period. Post-modern work has more of a feeling of looking back.”

The gallery is located at 215 W. Superior, 3rd floor, Chicago. For more information, call (312) 642-6010 or visit www.vpa.niu.edu/museum.