Cranbrook Academy of Art Grad Student Exhibition
Wayne State University Community Arts Gallery

Detroit, MI 48202
313-577-2423

www.art.wayne.edu
Tues-Fri 10am-6pm; Sat 11am-5pm.

Dec 7-Jan 19.


Wayne State University Grad Student Exhibition
Cranbrook Academy of Art Forum Gallery

39221 Woodward Ave
248-645-3300

www.cranbrookart.edu
Tues-Sun 11am-5pm.

Dec 10-Jan 19.


Cranbrook Academy of Art’s Forum Gallery and Wayne State University’s Community Arts Gallery present an opportunity for both of Michigan’s premiere graduate institutions to show off their house of ideas. Each institution hosts the other’s students in their respective galleries.


Both shows consist of the works of current art graduate students. This may be where the similarities end. While that statement is certainly an exaggeration it is important to note the philosophical differences about art making that separate the two schools.


Cranbrook students have the great opportunity to focus undivided attention on the making of their art. At their time in school they live with their work and their ideas all the time. This is a wonderful thing and it shows in the level of thought and care that goes into their pieces. An overly generalized description of the work might be this: art work about art work. Students become so tightly engaged in the process of art making that they fold it in upon itself and have turned their creativity on the ways of making art itself. Art becomes the expression of innovation through experimentation and process.


The Wayne students lack this singularly focused environment, as they juggle their art making time along with other classes, teaching and outside work. As such their works come less out of the place of investigating process and inventing techniques and more from internal expression. This is an art made from wax, wood, metal, and of all things, paint. The interaction with life feeds the work more than an interaction with art. Art becomes an experience of expression made possible by innovative techniques and process.


This is not to say that Wayne students do not invent new ways of creating art – they do. Nor to say that Cranbrook students aren’t expressing deep meaning – they do as well. These distinctions only refer to what seems to be the driving force behind the making of the artworks.


Upon entering the Cranbrook students’ exhibition, a viewer will be struck by the brightness of everything. There exists a glow of new color and new materials that infuses the entire show. The current design sensibilities that make things like IKEA a hit ring throughout. The vividness and multiplicity within the pieces demand to be looked at.





Allie Rex


It’s a vast body of work ranging from video to cake frosting. Some representative artists include: Allie Rex who created perhaps the simplest piece in either show. The two pieces on display here consist of colored sheets of paper with holes punched out from the center in a Rorschach-like pattern. The negative space, converged with the paper’s shadow, create a shimmering, inexplicably out of focus effect. Jana Stockwell’s small sculptures, capture moments in time and space with three-dimensional slices of nature. They appear as though one could freeze a rectangular box of space filled with a rushing wave or falling avalanche. Darren McManus creates a mandala of sorts juxtaposing an incredibly diverse source material to carry his meaning. Somewhere between drawing and sculpture, Ja-hyuk Yin’s “One Shiny Day” is an image of perhaps an elephant or fallopian tubes made from hundreds of M&M like colored beads. Nolan Baumgartner’s “Self-Help Group” is a sculptural piece consisting of two chairs, and three pairs of legs in a sitting position rendered from the knee down all arranged in a circular grouping. Viewers are invited to sit in one of the chairs and be a part of this therapy group.


The Wayne exhibition is quite reserved in contrast. The colors are subdued and the pieces are quiet asking for a closer look. Modified natural objects share space with paintings and sculptural pieces. Time spent contemplating these pieces reveals layers of depth and meaning that rise to the surface.





Mona Shahid “JS 5″


To mention but a few Wayne artists: sculptor Alice Smith in “Confessions of Nature” takes a striking y-shaped tree trunk and creates a statement about race by painting one half black and the other half white, and stenciling the word “only” on each branch. Brian Lehto modifies a piece of a hornet’s nest, and turns it into a clever, kinetic demonstration of the symmetry in nature and the nature of light. Shiva Ahmadi’s beautiful series of drawings/paintings of women’s faces gives a voice to the voiceless – the women in Mid-Eastern society. Mona Shahid combines oil and encaustic techniques to takes a haunting look at portraiture. Painter Luzhen Qui finds beauty in the composition of garbage. Refuse spills over her canvas, dividing up the space in a highly abstract way despite the very real subject matter. Annette Berenholz’s metal sculpture synthesizes the organic and the machine. Her sculpture possesses a body that resembles the earpiece to a telephone connected to a complex root structure.


Is one body of work better than the other? Is one school of thought better than the other? This is a subjective question and reliant upon one’s existing preferences. What seems important with the idea of this exchange show is that each party sees what goes on in another realm and can use the opportunity to learn from the other and grow from that encounter.

G.R. N’Namdi
66 E. Forest Ave.

Detroit, MI 48201
313-831-8700

www.grnnamdi.com
Tues-Sat 11am-5:30pm; Sun 11am-5pm

Dec 6-Jan 11


Nanette Carter brings a synthesis of the abstract composition and natural growth processes to the G.R. N’Namdi gallery. Working in her trademark style of oil on mylar Carter explores abstraction through paint while simultaneously exploring the dynamics of growth found in nature. Within the framework of the compositional structure she builds, Carter allows for the complexity of growth processes to unfold.





“Motion Cleansing #2”


The works are split-level compositions (though in some cases the different levels are not laid top on bottom, but inset upon one another.) While one section is an organic, living flow of blacks and color, the other is a neutral gray perhaps intended as the nearly still surface of water obscuring a sea of activity. Carter unifies the textured stillness and the dynamic movement, by overlaying swirls of mylar throughout the entire piece. These linkages appear as ripples in otherwise still waters.





Close up


While from a distance Carter’s works are aesthetically pleasing, these pieces also beckon viewers to get closer and examine deeper the complexity she has put forth. Like the fractal-depth that is nature, each layer within the organic area reveals another layer of complexity – compositions within compositions. Depth is thus created on many levels - in both the overall composition which presents the illusion of space, and on the surface, as an even closer examination reveals the branchlike tendrils of black paint appear to have grown in place – a result of the dynamic forces that shape the world. This has the potential to appear a science experiment turned art, but Carter has carefully manipulated the use of such processes to blend naturally and reinforce the narrative that unfolds within her abstractions. Each inch of the piece reveals unique formations, as diverse as the natural world they are patterned after.





“Motion Cleansing #3”
Through the process of building up layers of paint, iridescent color shines beneath the black smears of paint, like oil shimmering on a parking lot or the color revealed on a butterfly’s wings. These bright moments flit about in an otherwise black and white composition, captivating the eye. The color adds yet another dimension to an already engaging body of work.





“Motion Cleansing #14”


Carter provides a compelling examination of what we are drawn to in nature, without ever letting go of the fact that she is creating abstract paintings at the same time. In an increasingly devastated natural world, Carter’s works display the importance of our environment as a source of health, life and inspiration. It is a terrific accomplishment that will continue to engage viewers upon repeated viewings.

Tangent Gallery
715 Milwaukee

Detroit, MI 48202
313-873-2955

Thurs, Fri 12-7pm; Sat 11-5pm.
Nov 23 through Dec 21.


Tangent Gallery presents an exhibition of up and coming Detroit painters.





“Rebellious Silence”


Iranian born, Wayne State graduate student Shiva Ahmadi represents the women of her culture in two installations here. Silent women, beautifully rendered by Ahmadi stare out at viewers, sharing their inner expression through an outer blank gaze. In the installation “Rebellious Silence” various sized heads cascade down the wall like drops of rain. These women can only express themselves through their eyes, and Ahmadi’s assemblage thus becomes a cacophony of voices held together by silent protest.





Piece from “Public, Private, Nowhere.”


In the more recent “Public, Private, Nowhere” Ahmadi moves beyond two-dimensions and constructs same sized, head-shaped objects that allow for a greater depth of expression. While in some of these her emotive brushwork continues to convey meaning, Ahmadi also is displaying a great deal of skill in a wide range of mediums and methods that make up this new work. The forms run along the floor and up the wall like stepping stones on a river or a string of pearls, confronting viewers with both engaging imagery and a lasting dialogue with the culture Ahmadi has assembled. We learn in her native tongue that Shiva means “good speaker” and perhaps she is becoming that. Not through words, but through imagery, she has become the voice for a people who have had none.








“Ice Princess”


Peter Mallo shows off only a single piece here, but it is a strong offering. While his previous exhibition at Detroit Contemporary was quite interesting and inventive, he perhaps accomplishes something more meaningful through simplicity. “Ice Princess” is a white rectangular painting, inset with further white paintings. The outer region is perfectly smooth in contrast to the inner region’s rough, stormy finish which surrounds the final inset’s tiny depiction of an ice-encrusted field. Each region builds towards the central feeling of the piece. As in his other works Mallo continues to employ new media painting techniques. In “Ice Princess” none of this comes off as experiment, but as a means to facilitate a greater depth of meaning.





“Beets and Bread.”


Matt Huffman offers two delightfully simple paintings of food left behind at a table. As if the eater has suddenly left, the plates sit alone at an otherwise empty table. The perspective and lighting set the mood of a lone diner. With essentially the barest of still lifes, Huffman is able to portray a deepness of emotion. Long after leaving the gallery, viewers are likely to continue wondering about the diner’s absence.





“Repetitious”


Jennifer Maiseloff takes on interior architecture with her oil paintings on particle board. The roughness of the particle board speaks to the decrepitness of the urban interiors Maiseloff brings to life. A smooth, polished finish might betray the very essence of what she is portraying here. Her use of black cuts up the space creating for a series of strong, engaging compositions. In some strange way, this might be likened to Ahmadi’s work in that she gives a voice to the silent, in this case the spaces we as a society have abandoned and forgotten.





“Where You Park Your Rear.”


The colorful, whimsical little installations of Caryn Millard hung throughout the gallery, our best represented by her most engaging piece nestled behind the Tangent desk. This assemblage is a series of 8 little paintings entitled, “Where you park your rear.” Besides the humor, the pieces hold together well as a refreshing commentary. Given how much of our time we spend sitting, Millard presents a nice perspective on something otherwise taken for granted.


The Fall line is here – offering some voices you may not have heard yet, but are sure to hear more of in the future.

Wayne State University
Elaine L. Jacob Gallery

480 W. Hancock
Detroit, MI 48202

313-993-7813
www.art.wayne.eduTues-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 11am-5pm.

Nov 22-Jan 24.





Kim Cridler “Foil”


If your only experience with the art of metalsmithing consists of jewelry and functional objects, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery’s current show proves that metalsmithing is definitely not in Kansas anymore. Curator and WSU metals professor Evan Larson writes, “this exhibition focuses on the craftsperson’s role of making meaning through objects.” Modern sensibilities coupled with an age-old tradition create a vital look at the role of craftsmen today.


As the vessel played a major role in the functional work of metalsmiths in the past, the vessel as metaphor plays a significant role for these artists. The vessels these six women create outline a road towards discovery of meaning. The empty vessels come in many forms – from a cup to hold our courage, a hollow cavity to house our hearts, an empty head to fill with knowledge, or the vessels we call home.





Kim Cridler “Kept”





Kim Cridler Close up


Kim Cridler presents perhaps the most visually engaging pieces in the show. She deals with the vessel as vessel, creating ornate, decorative lattice works, that outline magnificent three-dimensional large vessels. She also operates on the opposite scale, installing a tiny lattice of a deer head inside an Ostrich egg. Her choice of the egg, nature’s first vessel, which appears throughout her pieces, reinforces the idea of a container and the emergence of new life from within.





Myra Mimlitch-Gray “Decanters”


Myra Mimlitch-Gray also works with the vessel as vessel. Her pieces are solid blocks cut open to reveal the negative space from which a vessel could be molded. The vessel’s presence is revealed with its absence.





Lin Stanionis


Lin Stanionis’ work deals with the body as vessel. The anthropomorphic forms she has created are vessels that echo what H.R. Giger might have created had he been female. Forms that are alien yet disturbingly human at the same time. In “Ascension” she creates a human heart – yet one shielded by cold, hard defensive scales. How we think of ourselves is reflected in the works we create as Stanionis demonstrates.





Heather White’s Retractable Crown Series





A visitor enjoys White’s work.


Heather White’s “Retractable Crown Series” are all vessels for the head – the crown or the hat, as a mobile stand-in for one’s home, a sign of culture and of rank. The inclusion of the retractable armature indicates a well-developed sense of humor, another intelligent trait housed in our heads.





Suzanna Spier


Suzanna Spier’s austere, weight and pulley contraptions, demonstrate the human intelligence to measure, balance and gain knowledge about the world outside our heads. Both these artist’s works contain elements of whimsical yet poetic moments, in their matter-of-fact, yet subtly beautiful forms.





Beverly Penn’s “The Border: Pas de Deux”


Beverly Penn’s “The Border: Pas de Deux” is an installation composed of music, a series of altars displaying tiny spinning mechanical ballerinas and recipes for a Mexican “mole” sauce. The installation is set up like the border between the United States and Mexico, with one row of altars faced off against its foreign neighbor. Visitors walk in between, disoriented by surreal music playing from the ballerina’s music boxes. Without the vessel to call a home, displaced people suffer in this no man’s land. Penn may go overboard with symbolism, but the piece creates a disturbing, thoughtful presence.


Together these artists, through deep thought and fine craftsmanship, have established the continued relevance of metalsmithing. It’s a meaningful look at the vessels we create to hold, to live in and the vessels that are ourselves – the next thousand years of metalsmithing look promising.

Susanne Hilberry Gallery
700 Livernois

Ferndale, MI 48220
248-541-4700

www.susannehilberrygallery.com
Nov 15 through Jan 11.


Susanne Hilberry continues to do a great service to the art community by putting on large-scale one-person shows. By doing so, patrons get a rich, in depth examination of the creativity and power of a single artist showcased in a space that allows the work to speak for itself.





“Peony Border”


Former Detroiter and Wayne State alum Ellen Phelan once again receives Hilberry’s spotlight. Phelan’s illustrious career has seen her make her first mark on the art scene with other Cass Corridor industrial experimentalists. Today she uses traditional media to convey images of beauty and feeling. She is certainly not an artist that found her niche and hid there, but has expanded her work as she herself has changed.





“Rose and Obelisk (Orange Room)”


The current body of work on display at Susanne Hilberry consists entirely of oil paintings depicting landscapes and flower still lifes. These are quiet, beautiful pieces, presented as dreams but forcibly real. The paintings are imbued with an ethereal quality – like vision out of focus, obscured by the fog or perhaps a frosted lens. Brief moments of the painting are allowed to come into focus, a moment of life in the stillness. Phelan’s skill with a brush is undeniable – these paintings feel effortless as beauty drips off her palette. She is able to convey a feeling of impenetrable atmosphere simultaneously with a luminosity and lightness that leaps off the canvas.





“Brilliant Water”


The painting “Brilliant – Water” stands out as a stunning accomplishment to hold the viewer’s gaze. The painting depicts in subdued colors heavy clouds looming over the horizon at sea. While much of the painting is grayed and genuinely feels damp, there are brief moments where sunlight has peeked through that burn brightly. She has captured a moment that we know, or have felt when looking at the vastness of the ocean. In “Spring: 1st Drawing” Phelan creates a powerful landscape composition through the simplicity of broad black and white brushstrokes that is eerily photographic despite its looseness.





“Spring:1st Drawing”


For all that is undeniably beautiful and breathtaking about this show, there is the lingering sense that something is missing. This may be due to the inevitable comparison to Gerhard Richter with her more recent works. Perhaps in finding the means and technique to create such extraordinary beauty, Phelan has left an essential element out – herself. Her extraordinary talent and success may actually serve to confine her means of expression. In some ways this restraint is analogous to her paintings – shrouded in atmosphere, the hidden depths are revealed but briefly. Perhaps too, the difficulty lies with an audience that is so accustomed to irony and social commentary that straight beauty presents confusion to our altered sensibilities.



Wherever your sensibilities about what makes art meaningful, Phelan has created an aesthetic symphony to behold. Hilberry provides a great framework for this show that Detroit area residents should be sure to check out.

Detroit Contemporary
5141 Rosa Parks Blvd.

Detroit, MI 48208
(313) 898-4ART

www.detroitcontemporary.com
Thurs-Sun 12-6pm.

Nov 9-Dec 22, 2002.


Detroit Contemporary hosts the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit’s return to the art scene. This non-profit organization formed 24 years ago to “promote the essential link between contemporary arts and contemporary society”, but has been silent for the last decade. As the name LINK suggests, this rebirth celebrates the interweaving of not-only visual art, but music and performance as well. The exhibition is part one of the four part LINK series (for more information including the December 20th event: www.caidonline.org).


CAID and the LINK project are a great and much needed idea. Fostering connections between the various and diverse art communities in Detroit is an essential task. As a concept this is fabulous, as an art offering it comes out a bit mixed. It may be its own strength that prevents an overall visual success. Rather than being unique perspectives on a singular theme, the show comes across more like a sampler plate leaving viewers hungry for a larger taste for the individual artists’ work.





Charles McGee “Black Echo”





Sandra Cardew “World Under the Woods”


There is truly a diverse group of artists represented here: from the rhythmic line work of Charles McGee’s “Black Echo” and three-dimensional constructions of Mathew Breneau, all the way to the skateboarding imagery of AWOL and beautiful sculpture by Sandra Cardew. A lot of strong moments abound throughout, and two in particular stand out to represent the range of ideas constituting this event.





Jeffrey Abt “On the Prohibition of Images”


Jeffrey Abt’s “On the Prohibition of Images” is surely the most thought-provoking image in the show. Abt has taken an incredibly sharp, crisp, hyper-real photo of the back of a painting and framed this digital image as a piece of art. That description may not sound like much, but the image is visually stunning, in a way that the actual back of a painting would not be. After the viewer has figured out what is being depicted, the mind begins to attempt to unravel the meaning of the reversal we are confronted with. Art made from the underside, the meant to be unseen space of other artwork, raises questions about the nature of what we find pleasing. Long after seeing it this viewer at least, is still left pondering the philosophical and visual questions Abt raises.





Ian Clark making “Sound Links”


Musician Ian Clark created a truly inclusive event for participants at the show’s opening, which unfortunately probably means little to visitors on later days. Clark may have been the only one to take the theme of LINK quite literally and created a piece/performance both visual and audio. He recorded a favorite word or phrase of participants on a short strip of tape. He then joined the tape to itself into a single link that would then be linked together with the next contributor’s recording. Together all these voices created a chain of links. Clark’s idea represents well the aims of the LINK show of bringing together the many voices of the Detroit art community. (Perhaps with an attendant on hand to facilitate play of the loops, later visitors could also appreciate the thought that went into this piece.)


Bringing together a community is no easy task, and CAID has set the stage for making such an event possible. Check out this first new offering and look for more from them in the future.

Museum for New Art (MONA)
1249 Washington Boulevard

Second Floor, Suite 200
Detroit, MI 48226

313-961-2845
www.detroitmona.com

Fri through Sun 1pm - 6pm
Nov 9-Dec 20.


Detroit’s museum devoted to the art of the new plays host to a group of architects and other creative people who call themselves [FLAK] intent upon creating dialogue to rejuvenate culture. It’s a wonderfully diverse show filled with architectural drawings, interactive video pieces, sculptures, designs, and related artwork strewn throughout. MONA truly lives up to its name as a museum in being able to effectively house such a show. The central theme holding the outpouring of work together is the future of the city of Detroit.





Visitors enjoy the sights at MONA


There are far too many works to attempt to go into significant detail here. It is really a show that needs to be experienced, and probably several times to really do it justice. The architectural and design presentations on hand, envision a city plan not just with the construction of buildings in mind, but a deep concern and understandings of the social concerns that creating a city entails. Architectural firm McIntosh Poris Assoc. quote sculptor Richard Serra to describe their own works, “How the work alters the site is the issue. … It’s not simply the thing, it’s the thing in context.” The minds behind this show understand deeply, that what they are designing is not just about buildings, but how the building becomes a part of the community.


Along with architectural plans, models and designs, which fill most of the walls and floor space of the museum, a diverse range of other concepts await the eyes and minds of visitors. An interactive video feedback display mixes images of the city and viewers who venture out onto the white floor panel. There are sculptures to walk through and over and even glimpse a view of the people mover in action as you do so.


The exhibition focuses not only on the potential future but the city’s present and past. Art works like Susan Goethel Campbell drawings of various smoke stacks dotting Detroit show the effects of industrialization on our living space. An installation of video from the riots chillingly documents how far things can go wrong in a city. In order to understand where we are going it is necessary to understand how we got where we are today.


The power of architecture as politics is championed by an installation all the way from Israel. The piece involves the censored work of two prize-winning architects, whose commentary on the architecture of occupation brought out the displeasure of the Israeli government.





Tracy Heneberger “Palm”


Nestled in the middle of the works about a city, are the intimate metal sculptures of Tracy Heneberger. In a museum filled with plans for living spaces, this provides a nice breather to interact with an object. Heneberger has breathed life into decidedly non-organic metal pieces to create intriguing organic forms. Her sculptures rise off the floor and grow out of the corners. As if in the industrial environment that is the city, life continues to find a way to thrive. It is a lively and spirited showing not to be overlooked while checking out the rest MONA has to offer.


The entire show is something to behold. If enough people can begin to think like the people involved here, Critical Mass can be achieved and Detroit’s future has never been brighter. (For more on [FLAK] check out: www.flakdetroit.com)

Art Exchange Gallery and Museum
2966 Woodward Ave

Detroit, MI 48201
313-831-1200

Mon-Tues, 11am-2pm; Wed-Sat 11am-5pm.
Nov 8-Dec 30





The Art Exchange Gallery and Museum opens its doors with a look at the cultural influence of Africa on Brazil. Curated by Marion Jackson and Barbara Cervenka, the exhibition displays how the influx of peoples from Africa influenced the Americas – in particular the region of Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. Here African people managed to avoid total assimilation by the European culture and maintain or at least adapt a great deal of their cultural identity.





“Capoeira Performance”


This exhibition focuses on the traditional African Brazilian folk art. Those lucky enough to have attended the opening were treated to a performance of capoeira Brazilian martial arts/dance. (For that matter there were many tasty authentic treats on hand that evening as well.) Carnival banners, woodcuts, sculptures and dolls constitute the work in the show. All of these represent some part of the candomblé religion, which retained in secret, traditions of their African heritage. The works represent the Orixás – the deity or energy shaping the world, and Exu – the male spirit who serves as the messenger to link Orixás and mankind.








These figures serves as a metaphor for the power of this show itself. Exu is said to reside at the crossroads – the location where people and ideas come together and an exchange between them occurs. This show is just such a crossroads and the works are the messengers. The Art Exchange becomes a place where cultures that came together long ago are shared and introduced to our culture today.





“Reception Attendee Maggie Farrow admires the work.”


By creating this meeting place, ideas are exchanged and new understanding arises from the encounter. Come be a part of the dialogue.

CPOP
4160 Woodward Ave.

Detroit, Mi 48201
313-833-9901

www.cpop.com
Nov 2 through Dec 29.


CPOP gallery space has taken on the atmosphere of a church. The exhibition within, “Milagros” (Spanish for Miracles) deals with the search to transcend our mortality and receive salvation. Milagros are traditionally little tokens to help aid in the healing of an injury or a sickness.





Christ Pantocrator (Lord Almighty)


Regular patrons of CPOP have a surprise in store for them, rather than images of superheroes, Marilyn or Madonna, or some combination of the three, viewers are confronted with images of Christ, St. Teresa and the Madonna on the walls of the lower gallery. These pieces are actually two bodies of work: “Miracles in Religion”, collected from Old World Masters, and “Treasures from Lithuania” which came from an exchange between CPOP and Lithuanian artists. The performance of miracles dominates the imagery on display.





“Blessed Mother”


The question of why this is on display at CPOP of all places, must be asked. What does centuries old religious imagery have to do with popular culture? Perhaps it was meant as a change, to shake things up at a gallery that might be becoming predictable. Perhaps there is a deeply personal need for CPOP’s curators to put these images on display. Or perhaps, this show gives recognition to pop culture of a previous time whose influence still persists today. Depictions of Jesus and the Madonna were a part of people’s homes as Elvis and Marilyn are today. The value of such works comes not in the brushwork or painterly innovation, but through the replication of the icon and the meaning such imagery brought for whoever found comfort in displaying it.





Daniel Martin Diaz “Sensus”


Upstairs things change again, as half of the gallery is devoted to the contemporary Latin art of Arizona artist Daniel Martin Diaz. Through woodcuts and paintings that look like they could have been done centuries ago rather than yesterday, Diaz furthers the replication of religious iconography from crucifixion to stigmata using it instead to shape his own personal exploration of death and religion. While very much working in a style reminiscent of the past, his modern sensibilities are unmistakable – it’s hard not to have thoughts of fractals when looking at the snaking root systems that weave through many of his pieces. Old table legs serve as frames, holding the pieces together on many levels of meaning. Through his artwork, Diaz continues to ask questions that his predecessors and ancestors have been asking for millennia - questions that still are lacking answers.





Diaz “Vena”


The most personal and powerful of the works on display in Milagros, is a collaborative installation between Vito Valdez and Mary Laredo created for those afflicted with breast cancer. The center of the installation is a shrine to the survivors and victims of the disease known as an ofrenda. The altar consists of candles, skulls, flowers, various images of the Virgin Mary among other things to create a feeling of celebration and hope even in the midst of loss.


Alongside the altar hangs an installation of cancer reports, breast x-rays, a lock of hair, rosethorns and Brussels sprouts. Together these elements serve as testimony to the trials of one’s body working against itself and the tribulations that constitute survival.


Also comprising the installation is a collection of Laredo’s metal sculptures – organic and often prickly vessels. These too display the internal conflict that cancer creates – as a bodies defenses work against its own survival. Valdez’s painting, “Primal Passage” is just that: a painting that really hits on the primal, the inexplicable, lower level response. It’s a moving experience - at once terrifically simple and abstract, yet filled with levels of depth and meaning. A video documents the daily vitamin and diet regimen of one afflicted with cancer – the ritual this woman undergoes to find health in sickness. The installation as a whole is a celebration of life in the midst of death. Valdez and Laredo have created an atmosphere that addresses what we find comfort in and where we find the strength to continue on in the face of loss and adversity.



The underlying source of our resilience in this installation runs throughout all the works in the show past and present. Milagros offers visitors the opportunity to get in touch with what others have found and explore their own source of hope in this unique offering.

Au Courant
23255 Woodward Ave.

Ferndale, MI 48220
248-548-3770

Wed – Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-4pm.
Oct 26-Nov 30


Au Courant presents the black and white photography of Donna Terek. Terek is an award-winning photojournalist for the Detroit News as well as a freelancer for magazines including The New York Times Magazine and Newsweek. In this exhibition her considerable skills as a photographer are on display not as a journalist, but as an artist creating her own landscapes and narrative.


The subject matter is the cemeteries of New Orleans. If your only exposure to a cemetery is grave markers surrounded by flowers in a grassy area, this is an entirely different experience. Cities of the Dead or Necropolises are built to resemble cities of the living, with individual mausoleums packed tightly together as houses. Streets divide up the city, complete with street signs so guests can find their destination.





Greenwood Cemetery #1





Terek shoots unique compositions to engage the viewer in the world she is displaying. The horizon line often slopes, keeping viewers a little off balance and adding to the unnerving qualities of the imagery. In black and white, clouds and sky create an atmosphere of somberness that bright blues would be hard pressed to convey. The sky takes on the quality of the marble found in a cemetery. Tomb markers glare bright white in the intense sun, in stark contrast to solid blacks looming in the foregrounds.





If the sight of a city of the dead weren’t surreal enough, the quality of light in her images infuses the city with an added dream-like quality. Soft focus mixes with hard edges in her compositions. Terek’s statement describes, “the manipulation of light my personal challenge.” But in New Orleans she found, “a quality of natural light that I didn’t want to alter.” Unaltered or not, she makes it work to transport not just the image of being there, but the feeling of what it was like to be there as well. She tells us very little about the actual layout of the cemeteries as a journalist might have to. Yet the impression the images make might be a more accurate description.


These elements combine to make hauntingly beautiful imagery. In that haunting regard, there is no sense of the fear of a Dracula movie, only the feeling of memory and respect we place with our ancestors. Throughout history, humans have gone to extensive lengths and exhibited much creativity in putting our deceased at rest. With great care and thought, Terek’s work illuminates an aspect of this that few of us have ever seen.

Lemberg Gallery
23241 Woodward Ave.

Ferndale, MI 48220-1361
www.lemberggallery.com

Tues-Sat 11am-5pm.
10/26 through 11/30.


Lemberg Gallery presents a retrospective of the work of artist Maurice Golubov. Born in Russia in 1905, Golubov arrived in America in 1915. As a teenager Golubov began supporting himself doing commercial art, which he would continue to do for nearly the rest of his life. This allowed him the freedom to paint while never being reliant on the influence of commercial saleability. He was later linked and exhibited with the Abstract Expressionist movement, but for the most part he remained removed from the art world. This tendency towards isolation nevertheless did not stop the successful exhibition of his work.





One of the nicest things about a show as comprehensive as this one, is that the audience gets a true education on the growth and development of the artist. Lemberg presents the work clockwise chronologically around the walls so that Golubov’s final pieces meet his first. This makes for a fascinating convergence. This earliest triplet of paintings contains all the information that the rest of his career was to have. The triplet includes a strikingly earnest self-portrait. It is a loosely painted piece that ties nicely into his later figurative work. An urban landscape fills the background – a template for later geometric works. The other two paintings of the triplet are geometric color design studies that also informed the later works. His growth in technique and complexity over time is obvious, yet the core of Golubov’s work stayed intact throughout his career.





Metropolis





Untitled done in Florida


The system of symbols comprising his geometric abstract compositions fills increasingly more space over time. It is as though his depth perception grew greater, like getting a stronger and stronger microscope to examine reality. The spaces in between forms in earlier pieces become filled with smaller, yet similar levels of complex symbols. To accomplish this, Golubov exchanged organic qualities present in earlier pieces for more precise and mechanical constructions as his symbol system becomes more refined. A significant shift in his palette occurred late in his life coinciding with a move from New York to Florida. The warm, raw tones of the New York City pieces are subsumed with a brighter, cooler palette brought about by the Florida environment.





While the exhibit is mostly geometric abstract pieces, it is a delight to see his figurative works. He persisted in working on these his entire career and Lemberg showcases one particular period of these paintings. Golubov painted these with thick, expressive loose strokes, often allowing the underpainting to show through. The figurative paintings provide insight into his other works, as the similarities between the seemingly dissimilar styles become evident in comparison.



This is a tremendous body of work that can be uniquely appreciated when viewed together. The opportunity to witness a career like Golubov’s develop, grow and come full circle is both interesting and informative and not to be missed.

Zeitgeist
2261 Michigan Ave.

Detroit, MI 48216
313-965-9192

Thurs 2-7pm, Fri 12-4pm, Sat 12-5pm, open during theater performances.
Oct 26 through Dec 7.

www.zeitgeistdetroit.org


Zeitgeist’s collective holiday show brings new meaning to the word “group show.” Works fill the walls, cover the floors and inhabit every inch of space available. This could be cause for distraction and confusion. It is to the credit of the curator Jim Puntigam that it is not. In fact given the nature of the work and the gallery, it is perhaps perfect that the pieces are crammed and jostled together like travelers on a subway, mingling and creating new dialogues. Puntigam even incorporates a face peering out from Zeitgeist’s brick walls in conjunction with a large grouping of portraits.





Faces


For the most part, individual’s pieces are distributed throughout the gallery, not kept all together. This gives viewers the chance to continually rediscover a person’s work in various contexts, which helps build a relationship between that viewer and the artist’s unique sensibilities.


If the theme of this show could be reduced to a single word, it would be passion – the passion for expressing ideas through art, with whatever means possible. This is pure expression, compulsion – the need to get ideas out into the world and let them speak. Materials are not privileged here – anything goes to make art. The work of Sean Hogan truly exemplifies “anything goes.” On wood panel, he creates imaginatively colorful, expressive pieces with marker, crayon and of all things – nail polish. According to Hogan, nail polish is cheap and provides an amazing array of colors. He incorporates elements of the wood grain in formulating his imagery, making pieces that are both expressive and decorative.





Sean Hogan “Sun in Thought.”


Long time Detroiter artist Erik Mesko’s “The Walleye That Sank The Edmund Fitzgerald” confronts visitors entering the gallery. From old wood, scrap metal and other found objects, Mesko brings to life this denizen of the deep, demonstrating art’s potential to breathe life into the decrepit. (An entire collection of Mesko’s powerful and political works can be seen currently at his solo show at the Meadow Brook Art Gallery (www.oakland.edu/mbag/))





Erik Mesko “The Walleye That Sank The Edmund Fitzgerald”


Bob Hansen’s “Dream Catcher” and Jayadeva Has’ “Por” are other examples of constructions that make new from old, while mixing sculpture and two-dimensional imagery. The expressive portraits and figure drawings of Roger Hayes are everywhere in the gallery. Portraiture has a strong presence in this showing. Sherry Hendrick presents two utterly simple, yet powerful portraits entitled “Skin”. Jeff Evarts brings the portrait off the walls, with sculptural line drawings reminiscent of Gahan Wilson cartoons. The raw, torturous portraiture of Dennis Jones continues to make its presence felt all over the Detroit art scene. DMC presents a striking piece, simply entitled “head.” Regardless of whether the piece, composed of many eyes and wings, refers to the all-seeing cherubim of the Old Testament, an unkindness of ravens, a drive of dragons, or the multiple aspects that make up ourselves, it is a compelling and worthy of many looks.





DMC “Head”


The entire lineup, whom all deserve a writeup of their own, (Too much art… not enough space) includes: Diana Alva, Walt Badgerow, Tim Burke, Jayadeva Das, DMC, Patrick Dodd, Jeff Evarts, Jerome Ferretti, George Graveldinger, Bob Hansen, Roger Hayes, Sherry Hendrick, Mary Herbeck, Sean Hogan, Robert Hyde, Jacques, Dennis Jones, Shaqe Kalaj,Maugre’, Math, Erik Mesko, Pete Palazzola, Ron Payne, Leif Ritchey, Karl Schneider, Cathy Saman-Schneider, Robert Sestok, Chris Turner, Vito Valdez.





Sherry Hendrick “Skin”





Jeff Evarts “Metalhead”


Raw ideas and passion pour forth from all the artists represented at Zeitgeist. They create an energy that is really worth getting connected to. -nick

Wayne State University: Community Arts Gallery
150 Community Arts Building

Detroit, MI 48202
313-577-2423

www.art.wayne.edu
Tues-Fri 10am-6pm; Sat 11am-5pm.

Oct 25-Nov 27.


In stories, the realms of fiction and fantasy are accessed through wardrobes, rabbit holes, looking glasses and tornadoes. Wayne State’s Community Arts Gallery provides a gateway to the fabled land of Zarna through the paintings of Tom Parish.





Parish in front of “Embarkation to Zarna”


On display are 13 of Parish’s paintings from the collections of local patrons. A painter’s painter, Parish creates these works to stand on their own as objects of art, possessing of an existence all their own after leaving his hands. In his words these are objects of beauty that either, “speak to you or they do not.” While of course they are imbued with the commentary, humor and sensibilities that make the artist who he is, the paintings are paintings first and foremost.


Parish is a master of manipulating far and near viewings of his works. From a distance one could fall into depths of these paintings. From inches away, the rough surface shows control of the particles of paint used to create this world of old architecture and waterways. Dots and pebbles create a textured close and an impossibly real image from afar. In the middle distance, elements of the paintings can appear rough, scumbled and even a bit cartoonish. This is perhaps an acknowledgment, a reminder to those caught in the painting’s spell, that these are in fact images sprung from one’s head and painted with one’s hand. The colors exceed the range of what we might actually experience, yet this only serves to make the illusion of space that much more intense.





Facade


All of the more recent paintings refer to his love for the city of Zarna a.k.a. Venice. As a young man he avoided Venice. Much later he was told that his paintings referred to a river in Philadelphia, which he denied. This led to his creation of the fictional Zarna, which he then based his paintings around. He finally went to Venice, and upon his arrival, was told that his work had been of Venice all along. Had his imagination been seeking this place all along? As Italo Calvino’s Marco Polo says in Invisible Cities: “Every time I describe a city I am saying something about Venice.”





Residence


These paintings (like all purchased works of art) are not on display much these days, unless you happen to live at the owner’s home. Tom’s wife Shirley commented that having them assembled together was like seeing old friends again. Together, in one room, feels like the proper place for these paintings, and it is a shame this happens so seldom. If you haven’t seen them, or not for some time, go and make your acquaintance – before they return to their owners, and fade into our memories.





Before Night

“Yellow Dancers (in the wings)


(The DIA presents a unique view of one of the world’s most beloved artists. Degas and the Dance assembles works from 97 collections, spanning eleven countries. The exhibition covers the artist’s entire career and the various media he employed. Displayed in conjunction with elements from the dance world, the show provides a context for a behind the scenes look at Degas’ creative process. From October 20, 2002 to January 12, 2003. The DIA is open for extended hours: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Sunday. Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, www.dia.org (313) 833 - 7900.)


Claudia Shepard special to thedetroiter.com.


For ten years, Edgar Degas - “the painter of dancers” - hung out at the Paris Opera – sometimes in the rehearsal rooms, sometimes at performances. It is said that he once saw the same opera 37 times. He observed the audience as well as the dancers, even waiting in the wings during intermissions to observe the dancers’ meetings with the abonnés (wealthy patrons) who sometimes propositioned them.


In his own words, Degas was an artist “looking through the keyhole” observing the hardworking dancers as they rigorously honed their craft, then depicting the fatigue and pain brought on by intense rehearsals and practice. He observed them as they relaxed and even as they adjusted their costumes, fluffing their skirts and tutus.


Degas saw in his own craft a parallel to the dancers’ hard work behind the scenes – their repetitions of movement were mirrored by his own repetitions of gesture. He once said, “Make a drawing. Begin it again. Trace it and begin it again, then retrace it.” In ballet, there is an intense study of form, shape and gesture that can be constantly assessed and changed in the mirror until the essence of the movement is perfected. In much the same way, the artist responds to the gesture of the figures with his own expressive tools of line, color, texture, volume, and shape. Degas was a brilliant draftsman very much influenced by the line work of Ingres. He drew rapidly and from memory, a process immediate yet carefully calculated.




“Green Dancers”


Each gallery in the current exhibition at the DIA is a reflection of some aspect of the world of the ballet. In one gallery the museum has reproduced the size and feel of the rehearsal room - including the arched windows that allowed daylight to flood in and heighten the form of the dancers in their positions. This unique light created a complex diagonal flow through space, which Degas employed in a revolutionary way to give viewers a greater sense of depth.


Another gallery replicates a performance environment – the stage, complete with heavy velvet curtains. Here the paintings became a play of reality and illusion. In these, Degas was not just interested in the audience, or the ballet, but in “the perceptual and psychological territory where they meet.” Again, Degas uses a pictorial device of “pushing and pulling” space. This is most dramatic in a painting which features the dark shapes of a musician and the curve of a double bass in the foreground, forcing the viewer to look just ahead to the stunning white dress and dramatic lighting on the ballerina on stage.



“Dancers at the Barre”


Another small, mirrored gallery, provides an introduction to the vocabulary of ballet. With barres provided for support, and with help from diagrams on the floor, visitors can go through the five basic ballet positions. The gallery also features a display of toe shoes that explain the mechanics of these essential props.





Another gallery features a sampling of Degas’ figurative gestural studies, juxtaposed with Greek vases from the DIA’s own collection. When asked why he studied the ballet, Degas, a student of classical antiquity, said that that was the only place where he could see the movement of the Greeks: “In all societies, the movement of the body is the essence of the dance.” The exhibition also presents visitors with an opportunity to electronically flip through Degas’ sketchbooks.




“The Dance Class”


The last gallery – for me, the most exciting – is “Orgies of Color". Degas considered himself “a colorist with line.” He was an original colorist using “superheated colors–fiercely stroked” and was strongly influenced by the passionate gestural paintstrokes of Delacroix. The pictures here are from the end of Degas’ life, when his eyesight was failing and he no longer had access to the same models. The artist became interested in reworking earlier gestures to create new, more spatially complex compositions.


New levels of emotion and energy entered his work. He was now redesigning gestures of figures he had used elsewhere and massing color as never before. He engaged in a pictorial play involving compositional problems and the visual potential of different moments in the dancer’s day. Melancholic at the end, the elderly Degas exclaimed to a friend, “The Gods are dead, poetry alone is left to us, the last star in the night of chaos.”


SOURCES CONSULTED:
DEGAS AND THE DANCE (catalog of the show), by Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall

DEGAS, BEYOND IMPRESSIONISM, by Richard Kendall
“Degas….", Vanity Fair, October, 2002



Claudia Shepard is a painter who exhibits in the Detroit area. She holds both a BFA and MFA from Wayne State University and has been on the faculty at Wayne State University for ten years. Also an instructor for the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Shepard does demonstrations and workshops for the DIA. She has done courtroom illustrations for Channel 7, Detroit, and CNN and illustrated a children’s book for Boyds Mills Press. She was a contributing writer for the late publication, GROUND-UP, which was a journal for and about Detroit artists.

G.R. N’Namdi
66 E. Forest Ave.

Detroit, MI 48201
313-831-8700

www.grnnamdi.com
Tues-Sat 11am-5:30pm; Sun 11am-5pm

Oct 18-Nov 23


Bob Dylan wrote, “You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Allie McGhee’s “Nu Kind of Science” may rely on telescopic views of the Earth as well as the microscopic views within us, but you don’t need to know that to appreciate the work.


They are invigoratingly fresh paintings, bright colors and energetic marks demanding attention. All the works are infused with an exploration of the color blue. As inhabitants of a blue planet, this feels right. The view from below looking up is one kind of blue. The view from above looking down at the planet reveals a mostly blue-colored globe. Surrounded by blue in life, McGhee’s paintings speak to all aspects of the sense of our home.





Story Cycle


McGhee fills many of the paintings with swirls, spirals representative of storms over the ocean. Or perhaps these spirals acknowledge the shape of galaxies, or even the spirals that exist within us at the molecular level. Whatever the case, these have the same familiarity as the color blue. Whether we are cognizant of them or not, spirals are around us and a part of us. There is a danger with the repeated use of these spiral shapes in them becoming formulaic in image making. Perhaps though, McGhee is making a deeper relationship – pointing out to the viewer the continual reoccurrence in nature of successful forms – the spiral being one of them.





Nu Blue






Clear Vue


The paintings fall on that border between abstraction and hyper-representation. With “Nu Blue” what appears from close to be an examination of color and experiment with materials, turns into a convincing seashore landscape from the right distance. In “Clear Vue” an exciting abstract composition of yellow mass, over an edge of blue, transforms into an aerial view of a spit of a sandbar jutting out into the ocean. By working in these realms, McGhee may be claiming a landscape all his own.





Spirit Door


McGhee also presents a few assemblages comprised of the paint sticks he used to mix and make his paintings. This is an interesting glimpse into his process, and composed as they are take on a multi-leveled, thoughtful existence in their own right.


In this body of work, McGhee taps into our internal and external landscapes of spirals and True Blue. It is a beautiful and powerful perspective on our environment, and the marks we create.

Tangent Gallery
715 Milwaukee

Detroit, MI 48202
313-873-2955

Thurs, Fri 12-7pm; Sat 11-5pm.
10/18 through 11/23


Tangent Gallery continues to make its impressive mark on the Detroit art scene with an exhibition of the works of Clinton Snider. Snider participated in last year’s “10 Artists Take On Detroit.” With Scott Hocking, he created the installation “Relics” turning derelict objects from Detroit into a temple to our past. The piece transformed these objects of decay into pieces capable of beauty and a sense of rebirth. The transformative power of art continues in the paintings and installation pieces in this new body of work.




“Ruins”


Snider’s paintings contain images of industrial landscapes wrought with decay. Through the use of light and the lingering sense of memory which landscape can produce, there is also a sense of brightness and a feeling that new life is on the horizon of this otherwise lifeless environment. The paintings suggest that perhaps decay of the city is as natural a cycle of life as a fire in the forest that makes way for new growth.


Snider does not simply stick to rendering these images, but constructs the whole piece to carry his idea. Instead of typical framing devices for the paintings, in many cases he has constructed industrial assemblages to contain the image surface. By concerning himself with all these layers of ideas, Snider creates a meta-level of imagery, where the piece is both about something and is that thing at the same time.



“Tree of Heaven.”


Snider makes a further innovation to carry his ideas. On some pieces, he has constructed irregularly shaped surfaces from old wood, allowing him to reach beyond the limitations of the traditional canvas. With this technique the lines of perspective can stretch outside the rectangle and allow his horizons to reach a greater depth than ordinarily possible. By looking deeper into space, we are given the sense of looking farther back in time as well.


In addition to the paintings, Snider’s installations continue the dialogue with found objects where “Relics” left off. These single pieces provide a discourse on what we throw out and let fall into disrepair. The piece, “Children’s Garden” is particularly powerful. Boxes of old, decrepit crayons line the top of the piece, sitting on an upright, burnt, cracking, tile floor. Looking downward crayons flow from their boxes, like logs floating down a river. Combining memories of childhood with urban decay makes this a haunting, evocative piece.


In an age where our past is disappearing, it is this ability to call it back up and make it palpable where his strength lies. Snider is a solid painter to be sure, but perhaps the titles of painter or installation artist need be replaced with that of a “Memory Artist.” By reminding people of where we have come from, he won’t let us forget where we are going. Snider’s art displayed on Tangent’s abandoned warehouse turned art gallery, leave a lasting impression and a sense of hope for tomorrow.

C-Pop!
4160 Woodward Ave.

Detroit, Mi 48201
313-833-9901

www.cpop.com
Oct 5 through Oct 27.


C-POP’s first floor gallery is devoted to the world created by Rock Concert Poster artist Derek Hess. His poster work is filled with tortured, angst-ridden anti-heroes, cherubs, skulls, reptilian creatures and other fantastical imagery. His figures ripple and flow off the page, reminiscent of his idol, silver-age comic legend Gil Kane, and the “Dynamic Anatomy” style developed by Burne Hogarth.


Hess relies on the power of a few lines and contrast between light and dark for impact. The color is quietly restrained, and he keeps a limited palette setting a dark mood. The work is clean and uncluttered, telling a story with a minimum amount of marks. The Chinese refer to this simplicity in painting, “Ideas present, brush may be spared performance.” As his anatomy becomes increasingly effortless in his work, Hess simultaneously seems to be able to say more with less and less.





Hess’ “Stress”


The highlight of the show is a series entitled “Stress.” It is a mature storytelling piece, chronicling a hero’s fall and slow process of recovery. It succeeds both on this general, mythic level, while at the same time clearly a deeply personal unveiling of a period in Hess’ own life before emerging at a healthier place. With a reserved number of brush strokes and a little color, Hess carries his viewers through a powerful tale. It’s a moving body of work, and the promise of more storytelling like “Stress” in the future is an exciting prospect.


Near “Stress” is an added treat: three cover illustrations Hess produced for a recent Captain America series, which can also serve as a segue to the work upstairs.


Gallery Two features an offbeat look at comic book superheroes that is often whimsical, satirical and occasionally neither. The gallery explodes with work and plenty of it is engaging. There are a few pieces, however, could have been in a different show, at a different time. Unsuccessful emulations of existing comic art, bring nothing new to a show that has a little bit to say about our heroes. That said, all in all the show is a lot of fun to take in.


Just to pick two highlights (for there are really more artists present here than an annual superhero crossover event!) Carl Lundgren depicts his own holy trinity: Elvis as Superman as Savior. “Everything He Did Was Something We Dared Him To Do.” It’s a nicely painted piece, that lets us reflect on the sacrifices we ask of our heroes, and the level of faith we place in them.


Artist Kymm! Somehow tracked down the splash page from Action Comics #428 from October of 1973 featuring a story entitled, “Whatever happened to Superman?” written by Cary Bates, drawn by Curt Swan and inked by Murphy Anderson. The page features Superman putting out a fire in the twin towers by melting water from an iceberg. A description of the piece reads, “How 9/11 should have happened.” We’d like to believe we have guardian angels, heroes watching over us, keeping us safe. Cub reporters, damsels-in-distress remember, as much as we might wish differently we are our own watchmen, our own heroes. This is ever a sobering realization.


With the resurgence of these icons on the large and small screen of later, this is a timely show that offers a look at why these heroes continue to endure as sources of entertainment, inspiration and even titillation.

Susanne Hilberry Gallery
700 Livernois

Ferndale, MI 48220
248-541-4700

www.susannehilberrygallery.com
Sept 25 through November 2.


Susanne Hilberry’s much anticipated gallery has arrived in Ferndale. It’s a fabulous space, capable of properly displaying a diverse range of work. The building maintains a unique feeling of openness made possible by full-length glass on the east and west ends, and a skylight. Artists will covet the opportunity to show here. New York artist Richard Artschwager receives the enviable position of the inaugural show.


The range and diversity of Artschwager’s work has the appearance of a group show. Throughout his career, this near octogenarian has never been content to stick to one venue or medium and continues to defy labels today. An introduction to Artschwager details his working as a furniture maker before focusing his energy solely on his art. His work is described as exploring the “relation between furniture and sculpture, sculpture and painting and furniture and photography.” This statement gives him a lot of latitude to explore, and he does. The central theme throughout the work is the idea of the convergence of one thing as another thing. Working strictly within a discipline can lead to great novelty, but Artschwager prefers to explore the space between the disciplines – a space full of potential discoveries.


In that space between photography and sculpture, Artschwager has invented a lot. For instance he makes a chair-like sculpture adorned with photos of the chair parts where these parts would be on a real chair. The piece ends up being something not quite sculpture nor is it photography exhibit. It is uniquely its own thing.


The exploration of juxtaposition of photographs and sculpture continues with a series of box-like sculptures decaled with images of people. A particularly engaging piece, “live in your head” has a child covering his ears sitting cross-legged in a cabinet of sorts. The piece is perhaps a sculptural model of a child sitting down, or perhaps a photographic x-ray view of the interior projected onto the outside of the child-shaped box. It’s a piece about confinement and always being on display at the same time.


Continuing to collapse the border between art and furniture, in “Splatter Chair”, Artschwager, creates an exploded or flattened chair onto the wall. Though still recognizable, it is certainly no longer furniture, but mounted on the wall it takes on the role usually given to painting.


He has created wall pieces that have the appearance of landscape paintings. They are also in fact tactile sculptural relief pieces. They are objects that demand to be felt like sculptures, yet have the appearance of paintings. On a similar vein, Artschwager has manufactured large silhouetted cut outs of artificial hair. They beg to be touched or rubbed up against, while remaining graceful visual pieces.


The piece “Location” epitomizes the overall theme of one thing existing as another. In the piece Artschwager repeats six times an ovoid shape in a multitude of ways. (The ovoid itself is two meanings in one, both a representation of the egg - a symbol of creation, and of zero – a symbol of emptiness. In the act of creation, something comes from nothing.) The ovoid is made, respectively, from a mirror, his trademark artificial hair, a black painted wooden 3-dimensional ovoid, a black framed piece of glass, a polished black ceramic and a box with a glass front stenciled with the outline of the ovoid. Perhaps this piece can sum up the show. One thing as another, repeated in as many variations as Artschwager can wrap his mind around.


Alongside what visual and philosophical impact the pieces may provide, the diversity and complexity of Artschwager’s career also offer this reminder for his audience: we are all unique human beings with unique sets of experiences and a distinct perspective on life, all of us have something to offer about that experience. We don’t fit neatly into one category or another, but are many things at once. Artschwager put his mind, his skills and his efforts towards expressing that which interested him, confounded him or amused him and shares that unique vantage point with his audience.


It’s a great space and an amazing display of a single person’s creativity not to be overlooked.

Wayne State University
Elaine L. Jacob Gallery

480 W. Hancock
Detroit, MI 48202

313-993-7813
www.art.wayne.edu

Tues-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 11am-5pm.
September 20 – November 9.


In another time the photographs on display in EXPOSURE! might have been shocking. In an age where images far more graphic are a click away on the internet, these images serve a different purpose. They prompt the question, “Why are we compelled to look?” Is it a longing for something else, a life not our own, or is it simple curiosity, like gawkers at an accident?


Whatever the case, by posing these questions in an art gallery, titillation ceases and a different conversation can unfold. More than that, these photographers are not merely peeking toms, but skilled, thoughtful artists. Their respect for their craft, raises the old question, can we value a picture solely for its composition aside from content, or does the content overwhelm the image’s artistic merit?


No stranger to controversy photographer Renee Cox was embroiled in a censorship dispute over her work in the Brooklyn museum. Her work seeks to construct a dialogue over notions of race, gender and religion. To do so she often uses her own body to challenge her viewers. This show is no exception. She displays an enormous view of her crotch on a yellow background, wearing a white “Fur” thong. She also juxtaposes old photos of her family looking and laughing in the direction of a newer photo of Cox in a revealing position. By photographing herself, it would seem this should be labeled exhibitionism rather than voyeurism. Cox is a ceaseless self-promoter and knowing that people are looking helps her get her message out.


Also on display is the work of Steven Barker. His photos reveal intimate moments between gay men at a New York sex club all the while being observed by a third party that the camera has captured. The unique, strong compositions draw us, the fourth viewer into the picture.


Bill Jacobson captures an ethereal moment with his subject. His photos are blurred, nearly abstract images of a person (the sex is impossible to tell) that convey the sense of memory of loss.


As far as being watched goes, Francesca Woodman photographed herself crouched, and trapped on display in a glass box. She wants to leap free, escape the viewers gaze but remains confined. (From the guide we learn that whatever Woodman was trying to escape, she finally did with an act of defenestration at merely 22.) Unlike Cox’s work, there is no sense of exhibitionism here, merely the practicality and necessity of using one’s own body to create the feeling that needs to be released.


A configuration of Merry Alpern’s “Dirty Windows” series provides views of a bathroom in a hotel used for prostitution on Wall Street. The work is framed starkly by the frame of the window she is shooting into. This is voyeurism in the fact that her subjects are completely unaware of her presence. Her interest though lies not in revealing the parties caught on film, but the actions and the motivations behind them.


Nichlas Barker presents stills from his movie “Unmade Beds” which reveals the intimate moments of couples in upper floor apartments. Perhaps this piece reveals something about the rest. It is true that we watch out of depravity. It is also true we watch to see how others live. We watch to see that we’re not alone in the frailty of our humanness. By revealing people in their most private moments, EXPOSURE! lays bare something we would rather keep hidden.

Still Time
ROAM Gallery

212 W. 11 Mile
Royal Oak, MI 49067

248-245-ROAM
Runs through Oct. 12. Wed-Sat 3-9pm.


If you are north of the city, check out the intimate gallery Roam. Hidden away next to a busy gas station, Roam’s bright space allows one to get up close and personal with the artwork on its walls.


On display are the photographs of Christine Stamas. Stamas uses the photographic image to conjure up emotions and contemplation. She invites the viewer to slow down and spend time with her work. The works are high contrast, blurred images of things we can almost recognize, but that is unimportant. What is important is the mood she conveys and the atmosphere Stamas imbues her work with. She titles her pieces only by month and number, allowing the viewer to read his or her own emotional response freely, not tied by words, or the specificity that representation brings.


In contrast to this stillness Julie Walsh’s ceramics leap off the wall illustrated with energetic, wordy comic book images. They exist certainly more as outlets for her writing than traditional ceramics, raising questions to slow down and engage the viewer. In one piece entitled “Thanks for the good times,” three cities are featured as if on a postcard. Denver’s image has a beautiful sunset, Seattle a computer and scooter, and Detroit a pointed gun. In “Inside the Factory”, comic book heroes race to action. The text reads that our problems can’t be solved by “science, technology, or politics.” Perhaps she suggests that our heroes or saviors must be artists.


Stop in, slow down, and devote a little time to contemplate the vision of these emerging artists. –ws

Claudia Shepard


Au Courant
23255 Woodward Ave.

Ferndale, MI 48220
248-548-3770

Wed – Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-4pm.
September 14-October 19.


In the small, intimate space that is Au Courant’s gallery, Claudia Shepard offers a great number of delights to feast our eyes upon and get to know better. The size of the gallery is a good thing as it allows the viewer to converse with the work as we might a room of old friends.





The show includes four small pieces from Shepard’s continuing series based on the work of photographer Edweard Muybridge. These gestural studies turned into carefully layered glazes of paint display the motion and emotions of her subjects. While the gesture and her excellent handling of the figure is essential to this work, in these and all her pieces, Shepard invests her energy in the feel, the play and the quality of paint itself. The relationship of colors beside one another makes the paintings exude intensity.





Two large paintings of dresses are also on display. (Several similar pieces are concurrently on display at Padzieski Art Gallery in Dearborn. http://www.dcacarts.org/ The show also features landscape painter Lucille Nawara.) There is the dress, shoes and lipstick, items for a night out, but the paintings are always devoid of a figure. The dress tells a story of its wearer and the occasions that it has been worn. Again, she displays a tight hold on the surface of the painting, something any painting student should take a close look. The image reveals her brushwork, while the surface glistens, glass smooth.





Finally there what she calls “Summer Musings.” A collection of twenty paintings arranged four high and five wide, including nudes, lipstick, arrangements of fruit, and other still lifes. They are not arranged or thought out to be any particular narrative, but in placing them together she allows the possibility of what she describes as a stream of consciousness to draw the images together. The connection between them then exists not through narrative but through the impressions of a mood of summertime that lingers. A particular piece depicts lemons and limes on a purple ground, which spring off the page. The piece is an invitation to cool off with the cold drink that this warm day requires.


Shepard says a lot about her experience with the world through the use of composition, color, craftsmanship and creativity. This show won’t shock or disturb you. It will however reaffirm your understanding of why people paint and why other people are captivated by their paintings.

It Goes Like This: Instructional Drawings from the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Collection.
College for Creative Studies: Center Galleries.

301 Frederick Douglass. Detroit MI 48202.
Runs through October 12, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm.


Ideas do not emerge fully formed from an artist’s brow. An idea may begin as an inkling, a hint, but the path from there to a completed art work is complex and convoluted. The creativity that goes into transforming a fleeting thought into a realized work is on display at the Center Galleries current show. And what we can learn from these glimpses at the inner workings of artist’s minds can be as revealing and exciting as the finished work itself.


The gallery is filled with the diagrams, layouts, typewritten concepts of sculptors, conceptual artists, painters, and installation artists. Some pieces are fairly straightforward like Vito Acconci’s drawings for “Boat Bed, St. Aubin Park, Detroit.” Here Acconci shows his conceptual drawings of what the outdoor sculpture might look like. We are also given a photo of what the final project looked like in order to compare with the artist’s vision.


On a more conceptual side, Adrian Piper’s typewritten “Concrete Space Time Infinity” contains both the description of the work and becomes the work itself. The typewritten piece is a meta-narrative, suggesting that a work can be made up of all the descriptions of the work.


A drawing for one of Sculptor Alexander Calder’s Mobiles is on display. On it he writes, “Try all the combinations possible.” With those words he sums up what this show is all about. The path of creativity is a twisted, forking one. Forgotten, wrong turns blend back into right ones. In the end, the public typically only gets to see one of these combinations, but the twists and turns along the way are fascinating to behold and learn from.


This show offers a rare opportunity to get a behind the scenes peek at the blueprints of creativity that should not be missed. -ws

FRESH! New Views by New Faculty
Wayne State University: Community Arts Gallery.

Detroit, MI 48202
(313)577-2423

www.art.wayne.edu
September 13 - October 18. Tuesday – Friday 10am-6pm, Sat 11am-5pm.


FRESH! showcases the talents of four young faculty members at Wayne State University. The level of professionalism and creativity they display points out how fortunate the Wayne State academic community is and thereby Detroit’s art community is to have these people here.


Graphic Designer Tammy Evans brings her creativity to bear on making information accessible. On display are brochures she designed for a hospital and a biotechnology firm. Through a pleasing design of images, typeface and composition, Evans invites the reader to be immersed in the content, and establishes the importance of the information. Also on view is a document she drafted concerning Legibility for People over 65. The designer’s work may receive less glamorous nods, but Evans’ efforts and thoughtfulness help to make the information age easier to maneuver through and a more enjoyable experience.


Industrial Designer Brian Kritzman shows off phenomenal craftsmanship with three cabinets entitled “Florentine Sideboard.” On the opposite side of the gallery, he lets loose with a completely different side to his work with large charcoal drawings of fantastic plows. It is evident that not only can the man draw but he relishes in it. As a reminder that he is a designer, these drawings are attached to the wall with a clasp system at once so simple and elegant, that many artists will no doubt copy it.


The work of metalsmith Evan Larson is a reminder that the greatest works of art combine the imagination and perspective of children with the mastery and knowledge of adults. His works are simultaneously the stuff of science fiction and children’s fantasy, and the seriousness of adulthood. In “Weeping Wheel” a ship’s sail is replaced with a water wheel drawing power from a reservoir attached above. The relationship of water and sky is reversed and Larson evokes images of perpetual motion machines. Larson’s imagination and genius is matched by his skill in metals, as he takes us into this world he has fabricated.


Out of cast aluminum painted flat white, Sculptor John Richardson creates objects/non-objects, forms/non-forms. The emptiness inside the forms brings to mind the role of positive and negative space in two-dimensional works. Richardson blurs that division. The shadows the work casts further adds to this blurring, and complicating the issue of a where a work ends and the outside world begins. With simple seeming forms, Richardson brings tangibility to the intangibility of a moment, raising philosophical questions of existence to engage the observer.


The show may be labeled FRESH!, but these artists are here to stay and the Detroit art community is better for it.

-ws

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery
66 E. Forest Ave.

Detroit, MI 48201
313-831-8700

www.grnnamdi.com
Tues-Sat 11-5:30pm; Sun 12-4pm.

Runs September 13-October 12.


As the extended title says, this exhibition covers “abstract works from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.” As a piece of history, the show chronicles a time when African American painters were becoming important figures on the New York art scene. It was at this time that these painters began moving away from traditional media and branching out into new avenues of discovery. This is an interesting point of history in painting, as the rules of the old order are being thrown out. The show also serves as the back-story for patrons familiar with more recent work of these artists, who want to see where it all started.





To this end there is work by such artists as Al Loving, known for his paper-spiral cutout collages, trying pieces woven out of painted strips of paper. The effect is much like that of making his brushstrokes from these strips. Here the paper serves as an analog to the traditional painting method. Loving overlays the paper “marks” with the spray paint to complete his composition.





Ed Clark is known for his innovative abstract work including the shaped canvas among other experimental techniques. On display here, is a piece entitled “Summer”, created with broad swatches of dry pigment. Bold color and innovative technique mark his continuing career.





We get a look at the drawings and sculptures of Richard Hunt. He draws tree like forms that he then brings to three dimensions in steel. He refers to his work as “drawing in space” and rightly so. The sculptures are made of marks in the air given permanence. The airiness of abstraction is made into a solid form. Natural formations are merged and blended with the manufactured.


Seeing where we have come from makes us better understand where we are going. By displaying the past, N’Namdi looks at a great future in art that these artists helped make possible and continue to shape today.

Detroit Artists Market
4719 Woodward Ave.

Detroit, MI 48201
313-832-8540

www.detroitartistsmarket.org
September 13-October 21.


Curator Aaron Timlin, executive director of the Detroit Artists Market has assembled a diverse group of artists in various disciplines to engage, challenge and entertain patrons.





Kate Clark offers her vision of a “Dinner Party”, where all the guests are roaster chickens molded into friendly human faces. The juxtaposition is priceless, not to mention completely surreal. If you are not already a vegetarian, but have been thinking about it, this might be the extra push you need. The faces Clark crafted are immersed in dinner conversation so natural seeming, one may feel inclined to join in. It is not until one remembers what these are made of, that the party stops. Like the best of conceptual art, Clark’s work makes viewers pause and reflect upon their own seat at the table.


Frank Pahl creates the automated sound installation Slumberland. This is one you want to experience for yourself. To talk about it would spoil the fun of it. What can be said however, is that Pahl captures the experience and pitfalls of modern living perfectly, if frustratingly so. The sounds he creates and the mechanical marvels that he brings to life are both imaginative and technically amazing.





Kamil Antos displays quiet small, blurry photographs of sunsets inlaid into wooden rectangular forms. The images and their installation recall memories whose details we have long forgotten but still retain the feelings. The images combined with the poems that serve as titles (an example “The day brings forth another conflagration from the east.”) are a comfort. Like a fading sunset, never to return precisely the same again, we may have lost something great, but the impression in memory remains to be treasured.





Renata Palubinskas presents very precisely painted, fantasy images. Her attention to glazing to create a glow from underneath harkens back to old master painters. In the way that they did, she creates a fictional, yet somehow consistently real and visitable world on her canvas. The recurring heroine of this series is a little girl in a paper doll blue conical dress. As in a dream the girl dances and plays with a menagerie of disturbing, yet apparently not frightening animals. Everyone is smiling blankly, but something is wrong with this picture. Why does this girl’s only playmates seem to be this menagerie of happy, yet devilish animals? One must enter this reality Palubinskas has created in order to find out.





Outside the gallery on the Woodward street front, James Stoia’s sculpture “Synopsis of a Synapse” stands tall, its red and orange paint sure to garner attention. To quote singer Thomas Dolby of “she blinded me with science” fame, the piece is “poetry in motion.” Tendrils of various lengths shoot out of the openings in the sculpture like flames out of the Batmobile. Stoia freezes time, and a thought about to be completed is captured and made solid.





Anything written about sculptor Sharon Que refers to her work as a violinmaker. That fact can certainly serve as an analogy to talk about her sculpture. A violin is a finely sculpted, beautiful instrument in appearance. Simultaneously great care goes into ensuring that the instrument is capable of producing beautiful sounds. Que’s sculptural work does these things. Through a combination of natural materials and her craftsmanship she creates beautiful objects whose presence stays with the viewer like a fading melody long after departing from the work.





Tom Phardel takes his audience on a spiritual voyage through his powerful sculptures. The “Blue Bindu” refers Hinduisms bindu, “the one invisible point of origin”, the final one of these is the Blue Bindu. This piece is a series of five stacked ceramic roundish objects. His other two pieces are steel-sculpted kayaks, pointing upward against the gallery wall. Each of these are quiet sculptures, which display a power and grace from within.





Carl Demeulenaere displays a temple or portico hung with exquisite drawings and paintings of images of men. Demeulenaere uses his drawings to discuss the nature of male-male relations in the context of religion. The male figures are in heroic, renaissance style figuration. The church has continued to offer a great deal of respect for a homosexual lifestyle. Through his work, Demeulenaere creates his own sanctum to provide these figures a place of pride and dignity they deserve.


Whether your taste in art involves beauty, spirituality, the conceptual or perhaps a bit of fun, the Detroit Artists’ Market Biennial offers up something for everyone. And by drawing in someone for one thing, inevitably they are lead to discovering another.

Susan Goethel Campbell


Lemberg Gallery
23241 Woodward Ave.

Ferndale, MI 48220
248-591-6623

www.lemberggallery.com
September 7-October 19.


Susan Goethel Campbell’s “New Work” is an impression of what humans have done to the environment and our landscape. Through words and images she shows the effect we have had on animals and the sky. To make engaging art of such ideas rather than illustration is a difficult task which she succeeds in beautifully.


The first piece is a book entitled “After the Deluge,” taking its title from the story of the Great Flood caused by humanity’s “wickedness”. The story she tells is ripped from the headlines of the Detroit Free Press and The New York Times. She takes fragments of the writing to construct her own tale of the plight of animals in these times. In one piece, she writes “Suburban Crows Research People,” an intimation that perhaps Crows are not only smarter than we think, but think smarter than we do. In another, “Doves Leave” suggests that not only is there no safe land to find shelter on, but the prospect of peace in out time is no longer in reach. A third proclaims that, “Cities Create Their Own Weather.” What exactly are factories and our lifestyle of consumption and convenience doing to our planet? Our effects on the clouds constitute the rest of her work.


The cloud formations she relates are UFO’s, heavy and distinct. Not formless and ethereal but solid formations. Whether she is drawing natural clouds or emanations from smoke stacks, they weigh ominously on the paper. These are beautifully drawn images that can captivate viewers to look at their landscape with a different eye. Can humans learn to fit in with the environment or are we our worst enemy, leaving a polluted mark even on the clouds?


Are we headed for another Deluge? Have we poisoned our planet beyond recovery? Perhaps not, if we take the time to observe what we are doing to the beauty around us. Campbell’s work provides the perspective to do just that.

Revolution Gallery
Rebecca Quaytman “The Sun.”

23257 Woodward Ave.
Ferndale, MI 48220-1361

248-541-3444
www.revolutn.com

Tues-Sat 11-6
Runs September 7 – October 19.





A human life is never a small thing. This can be forgotten as modern living reduces tragedy to an inconvenience for others. Overwhelmed with the pace of just keeping up, people become numb and overlook what goes on around them. Rebecca Quaytman challenges that notion in her solo exhibition “The Sun” at Revolution Gallery.


The work consists of a series of 54 golden rectangular paintings laid out on the walls in storyboard or comic book narrative fashion. Most are silk-screened hauntingly beautiful, ethereal photographs of train cars and yards. There are a few abstract images that represent a sort of painted guidebook to the painting and construction process itself. They help lead the viewer through the narrative Quaytman has constructed, which is where the true beauty of her work lies.


The show takes its title from the masthead of a 1940 issue of “The Sun” newspaper whose headline reads, “Two Killed at Crossing. Traffic Delayed Two Hours.” The narrative unfolds as Quaytman expands a moment of tragedy from the past into a piece of learning for the present. Yet this is by no means a simple linear story. Quaytman’s work shows that a life is not a linear path, but a complex branching structure, weaving in and out of various stories. Each image leads to the next in some fashion, while at the same time containing the depth to allow for greater exploration with each one. In fragments Quaytman explores the incident with pictures of the newspaper headline, images of railroad tracks.


We learn that the two men killed were her grandfather and great-grandfather, returning home from the 1939 World’s Fair which touted the promise of the automobile. The accident with the train, a symbol of the past colliding with the symbol of the future is treated as no more than slowed traffic as such accidents are today. Yet, by turning it into art, Quaytman makes this story resonate now.


As she moves through time she has modern images of her Grandfather’s roots of Lodz, Poland. At the time that her ancestors were driving in the promise of the future, their town of origin was being turned into a Jewish Ghetto. The population including their relatives were confined to an enclosed area, forced into labor and many were taken by rail to concentration and extermination camps. By the time the war ended the Jewish population of Lodz dwindled from 180,000 to 800 survivors.


By conflating past and present, personal and societal, tragedy and holocaust, Quaytman’s art makes us slow down to look at where we have come from and where we are headed. In a world where human lives are brushed aside with words like “delayed”, “inconvenience”, and “cleansing” can we slow down long enough to take note of what is happening to us?

Revolution Gallery
23257 Woodward Ave.

Ferndale, MI 48220-1361
248-541-3444

www.revolutn.com
Tues-Sat 11-6

Runs September 7 – October 19.


Beyond “The Sun", Revolution’s other gallery space is occupied by a group exhibition. Selected to go with composer Bright Sheng’s “Wish You Were Here.” The press release describes Mr. Sheng’s piece as “quiet work, like the closure on a postcard, is filled with sentiments of longing.” It goes on to say that he combines contemporary Western technique with traditional Chinese music. That said, one is prepared to see quiet, solitary works created with modern techniques. And to this end the show delivers as promised.





Marsha Cottrell


The works include Marsha Cottrell’s computer generated drawings that could be mistaken for microscope images of cellular structures. Simultaneously the work appears to be the schematic of micro-circuitry which is becoming a ubiquitous part of our environment. The images might also be construed as a dense urban landscape, teeming with life and machines, an organism unto itself. Cottrell’s imagery and process of drawing through computers narrows the barrier between the mechanical and organic.





Jae Won Lee Jim Melchert


Jae Won Lee’s ceramic pieces resonate with a quietude and harmony of made and natural forms. The surfaces of her small curved, rectangular forms reveal traditional Korean patterns or frost, growth paths and honeycomb patterns. Jim Melchert intentionally allows his ceramic blocks to be fractured, and then works with the splits to compose his piece. In this work, within each of the now smaller pieces, a circle is etched into that space. His technique develops a composition derived from both chance and planning. Robert Turner offers up ceramics evoking geological formations. Maya Lin provides a simple, solitary bench or stone for sitting. Anne Wilson offers up a photo of a chignon, an item that covers the coil of hair at the back of a woman’s head. David Shaw’s object of wood and holographic film sits quietly, changing with the light and one’s view of it.


The problem sometimes with group shows, is that the viewer is left with no connection to the artist’s body of work. On the flip side of this dilemma, like receiving a postcard from an exotic locale, it may not tell the whole story, but it intrigues the recipient to go visit and take it all in.

Zeitgeist
2261 Michigan Ave.

Detroit, MI 48216
313-965-9192

www.zeitgeistdetroit.org
Thurs 2-7pm, Fri 12-4pm, Sat 12-5pm, open during theater performances.

Runs Sept 6 - Oct 19.





In Zeitgeist’s main gallery, visual artist and co-owner of Alley Culture gallery, Sherry Hendrick has created quiet, intimate sculptures, almost more poetry than physical objects. Mostly of boats, the simple wood constructions are attached to wood whose grain and color she has painted reminiscent of the sea. She casts a sense of longing or loss. The one non-boat image, has a similar wood backing, but is of a basketball, plastered in American flags, above a hoop. Frozen, never making the score. It is as if there is a sense of America, above the rim, unable to find its proper course.





Cass corridor veteran Robert Sestok, sculptor, and painter, continues to create new life through art. In this series he turns to painting in the abstract. The square canvases burst with an explosion of color and mark making. Sestok captures the energy and movement of life unfolding, changing, becoming. Layers of broad color swatches, curvilinear drips energize the central area of the paintings. Each type of mark and drip weave in and out of one another creating a feeling of space on the flat canvas. Named after Detroit streets, one might picture the flurry of activity captured in a day on that location.





By the bar, Bryant Tillman displays “Trane” referring to John Coltrane. The works are abstract movements of energy, like painted music staffs, obscuring industrial, mechanical remains on the canvas below. Like looking from an airplane through a hole in the clouds at the land below, Tillman creates an illusion of depth dividing the abstract and machine.


To quote Coltrane himself, “My goal… is to uplift people as much as I can, to inspire them to realize more and more of their capacities for living meaningful lives, because there certainly is meaning to life.” These artworks echo that sentiment, as passionate explorations into uncovering meaning.