Motor City Brewing Works
4701 W. Canfield, Detroit
(Between Cass and 2nd)
313-832-2700
Every Wednesday Night, 7-11 pm
(December 27, 2006)

This week, check out Christina Gibbs as she takes the center stage on the brewery’s one night showcase.

And one more thing from curator extraordinaire Graem Whyte: Jan 3rd marks the two-year anniversary of twia, and we will be having a group show to celebrate, with an open
call for submissions due to space, no piece can be larger than 4" x 4" x 4", and only one piece per artist. drop off will be anytime during open hours the week prior to jan 3
(include title & price info). feel free to contact me with any questions.

Week in and week out, Wednesday nights have proven to be educational and a valuable experience. For artists this has meant a chance to try out work in mini-shows and given up and comers a shot to be seen. Perhaps just as importantly the atmosphere has been such as to provoke conversations on art and more that have gone on long past closing time. So come check it out, sample (in moderation!) what the owner John Linardos and the good folks at Motor City brew up each day (an undeniable artistry in its own right) and enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you there. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

(For more on the man who makes this all possible - bartender/curator Graem Whyte, see our four question feature here.)
(Also check out Rebecca Mazzei’s excellent profile of Motor City and This Week In Art in Metro Times.)

An Exhibition of Soft Sculpture Installations
CAID
Through December 30, 2006

While for many art students the end of the semester means a group critique limited to one’s classmates, professor, and maybe a guest or two, Denise Fanning’s CCS soft sculpture class took the work out of the isolation of the classroom and into the field for an exhibition of soft sculpture installation at CAID. It’s a great experience for the students and a visually engaging treat for visitors. Like the Detroit Industrial Project’s recent installation show at the Russell Industrial Center, it’s great to see work of this nature, not just for the individual pieces inside but for the way in which it allows the viewer to examine the space itself from a transformed perspective. As much time as I’ve spent at CAID, Gary Elson’s “Cloud Formations” composed of hundreds of hand sewn together dust masks got me to look at the rafters of this storied old building in a whole new light.

Each student chose a section of the gallery to build their work around. The aforementioned ceiling piece is a good example of this, as, in a strange way, is Carlton Potts’ outdoor (keep in mind it’s December!) installation of fictional “Walking Trees”. It’s a quirky piece, featuring these squirrel-sized creatures he fashioned, cordoned off in their “natural” habitat, complete with a placard providing detailed information about their existence. The theme of squirrelly animals was picked up as well by Megan Harris with her stop motion animation “Tripes,” that appear to have something in common with “Tribbles,” (for all you Trek fans out there), and Korin Sanderson presented a wriggle of wormlike cloth critters, electrically animated on the floor.

Renay Masters’ oversized “mold” appeared to grow out of the building (all too disconcerting for a frequenter of the space), and Ashley Wightman’s anthropomorphic cushion-like shapes sat vigilantly in their corners.

Crystal Lupo took it so far as to inject herself into the installation, putting on a performance piece throughout the night in which she wore a nurse’s outfit made from paper sheets of candy buttons, which she dispensed in plastic cups to willing participants. In addition to the interaction, the piece brings up issues of medication and consuming another’s, umm, exfoliation. And exfoliation is something Lupo picks up in her second piece on exhibit, “Renew Overload Bedset,” a bed covered with spreads all made from a myriad of brightly colored scrubbing pads. This quilt of many colors is beautiful in color and sparkle, relating to the candy “pills” in color, and perhaps the bed as a symbol for restoring health, while its components speaking to cleanliness. Ambitious projects both, and quite successful.

As with Lupo’s use of scrub pads, Nate Morgan weaves together toilet paper to create a very sturdy looking rope, “To Cross the River,” and Leigh Ann Foshee knitted together plastic bags (the use of such materials seems to be a growing trend) to create an upside down funnel shape stretching floor to ceiling. Zachary Barozzini’s wall of soft plastic, air-filled “cinder” blocks suspended from the ceiling speak strongly to the tradition of soft sculpture as championed by Claus Oldenburg and others. All in all, these pieces worked together well, providing the viewer with a variety of approaches, though all linked enough to feel related. The installation nature of the work asks us to look not just straight ahead, but up, down, to explore the corners, thus making the entire space truly come to life.

This was a very whole concept, thoroughly explored. In her excellent statement about the show, teach and curator Fanning graciously acknowledges what her students taught her in this process. Fanning too, must be credited for creating the environment to enable such an expression of care and creativity. It’s great that CCS offers such a class, and we certainly hope that the community encourages and enables more such efforts. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Notice of full disclosure, Sousanis is the board chairperson of CAID.

A group exhibition depicting Patron Saints of Christianity.
CPOP
Through the end of 2006.

An exhibition of artworks depicting recognized as well as newly imagined patron saints seems perfectly appropriate for the artists of CPop to put their own stamp upon. That is, these are the recognizable icons of the past, now supplanted by Marilyn Monroe, Godzilla, superheroes, and impossibly long, finned cars. As people once paid respect and asked guidance from their patron saints, today pop icons have similar cult status, and there is certainly a form of worship towards these figures.

The Saints were chosen or invented by each artist, who then created the imagery in whatever manner with which he or she works. It does make for a bit of a disparate show. There’s plenty of strong work, taken individually, but despite the overarching theme there’s nothing to unify the assorted artworks. Perhaps writing from the artists about their saint, something to clue viewers in as to why Saint such and such was depicted thus, or perhaps establishing tighter guidelines on the work – not necessarily of materials or methods, but as far as a more specific conceptual focus.

That said, it’s cool to see Tyree Guyton’s “Patron Saints of Urban Art,” Saints Polka-Dot the lesser, the middle, and the greater, not far from Niagara’s Patroness of Pharmacists. Both artists are giants in the Detroit art scene, yet not so frequently viewable side by side. Guyton’s ubiquitous polka-dot is an icon in Detroit, and his broad, grinning, raw drawn maws speak to our power to create and the common bond between us that the circle represents. Niagara’s Patroness is, as to be expected, glamorous and dangerous, encircled by pills of all colors, all within an ornate frame hung against a red velvet backdrop. This is an artificial world, enhanced or perhaps better described as obscured by makeup, clothing, and drugs. The image is everything.

The surrealists get in the game here too. Mark Dancey offers an appropriately disturbing patron saint of attorneys, while Renata Palubinskas and Matt Gordon offer views into their own imagined worlds, not so differently bizarre than long past depiction of such saints. The new kids on the block of Detroit pop art continue to make a big splash. Chris Dean’s large lenticular piece has parts leaping out at the viewer, while other pieces spin quickly as the viewer moves. The imagery is well chosen, a papal figure as part praying mantis, it works on multiple levels, and it’s exciting to see more from Dean. Meanwhile Topher Crowder (who interviews CPop artist Glenn Barr this week for thedetroiter.com right here) offers up two separate visions of saints, interpreted through his expansively imaginative vision. A description will be inadequate, the works are literal explosions of figures, bodies flying apart into machine parts which then coalesce into cars other bodies. Figure, landscape, and object weave into one insanely dense image. If you haven’t seen what Crowder dreams up and renders with obsessive and detailed linework, each image of his alone is worth spending time with, remembering to be careful and not get completely lost in what’s going on in the composition.

This is a fun show, no doubt an interesting exercise for the artists, and definitely will offer everyone something to check out. And perhaps, to start thinking of our own personal patron saint – and how we too envision he or she to be. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Interview by
Topher Crowder

Seedy comfortability. Kind of like having a tender medium rare porterhouse at Carl’s Chop House on a late rainy Thursday night. Or, if you prefer, how sweet the dollar fifty Pabst was at that greasy little bar on Michigan Ave, you know the one that had that jukebox that only had about ten songs in it; dancing with that one ex-girlfriend who always smelled like cigarettes and Aqua-Net, but looked so damned hot in fishnets and leather. Glenn Barr’s collection of works are so well executed and feel so comfortable, so familiar, that one can’t help but to become enveloped within them. Using layer upon layer of thin acrylic glazes, Barr creates an ambiance and communicates a mood that invites the viewer to step closer and simply enjoy.

While it is probably true that most artists are born with a certain amount of talent, most in their lifetime never experience that right mix of influential ingredients to allow their mash of experiences to ferment and distill into a rare and intoxicating vintage. As a child, thanks to older brothers and their friends, Glenn Barr had ample exposure to wide array of influences and experiences that he would later use as part of a broad artistic foundation. Exposure at a very young age to Mad Magazine’s Jack Davis and Harvey Kurtzman, breathing in the intoxicating aroma of Testors plastic cement while building the latest miniature plastic automotive offering from Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, and of course the scheduled Saturday morning appointments with Mr. Hanna and Mr. Barbera and their mini-skirt and pink tight clad animated dolls, all sparked a wild imagination within him and a drive to create.

Today Glenn Barr is involved with almost every facet of artistic creation, from painting and printing, to design and publication. From his Detroit studio, Barr took a break from his daunting schedule and set aside an afternoon to talk about his art and the release of his third book in as many years, Glenn Barr’s Haunted Paradise. Upon entry, his studio overflows with a lifetime of influences, from an army of vintage toys, samples of pulp art, to antique furniture and shelves of literature; all used in some assistance as reminders or mile markers to what has past and what still may lie ahead. The first impression one receives is that Barr doesn’t rest, he must always be working, there just appears to be too much for one person to do. In one corner an almost finished 4 x 5 foot commissioned work rests on an easel while a pallet of wet acrylic paint dries in the warm air, a small just completed painting rests on a table next to a small painted wooden character that is begging for attention. Barr offers, “My contemporaries are getting into toys, Baseman, Tim Biscup, and I even have my toys in the works right now. The toy I’m having made right now is a very primitive toy, I was really influenced by really crude wood toys.” If you know Barr’s work, you are sure that you know the small bug-like wooden character and it will seem familiar and friendly. That is how Barr likes to work, getting into your psyche via subliminal imagery; using things that you are sure you have seen before, but just can’t finger when and where. For this reason, Barr’s abilities as a commercial artist are still at a premium, “I’m still involved in commercial illustration because I have a lot of friends in business and music and whenever they call me to do rock posters, CD covers or t-shirt designs, I love doing that stuff. While there is no money in it, I like the medium a lot.”

An alumnus of the Center for Creative Studies, Barr was fortunate enough to study under the legendary Russell Keeter, but also found himself lured into the realm of the school’s strong design departments. Barr admits, “Yeah, I used to like going into those classes and learn their tricks they use to make their drawings look cool. I liked it because there is a certain beauty in them, the shiny curvy lines… I really love design and I love composition. Anytime I’m asked to design something, I really get off on that. I have even been asked to design furniture by gallery patrons.” Fresh out of college, Barr began a journey upon roads less traveled by young artists, “I was really into comics and loved the medium. So, I got into it and did some work for Marvel and DC. But I found that after a couple years I grew to hate it because I wasn’t into the stories they were giving me… I was simply a ‘hired wrist’ and I didn’t like that aspect of the job. It’s one thing to do a story you really like; you want to make it really cool. But if it’s like a bunch of talking heads and you don’t really want to do it, you realize that you are just a hired hand just to do it and not put anything into it.”

Barr appreciates these early experiences though, “I tell people not to go out there thinking you are going to be a painter. Go and get a job in the field and see how it all runs. That’s how I got most of my chops… Russell Keeter once said to me ‘Glenn, you have them all fooled. You took all those fine art classes but you are in advertising.’” Barr took the advice to heart and seriously began to consider exhibiting his work. Barr remembers, “I was just beginning to try out this gallery thing. Initially I had absolutely no ambition to do anything like that, because I never really liked anything I’d seen in the galleries around town. Also, I had thought that none of the galleries around town would want to put my crap on the walls… At the time I didn’t know of anything that was around town. But, I was beginning to watch California though and beginning to notice the newer art magazines, like Juxtapoz. The artists I started to notice were from California and I felt comfortable in wanting to put my spin on it. It was about this time that the car culture was at its height and I was really looking at the iconography of the culture, the flames, the skulls and all that stuff. No one was really capitalizing on that and I thought I could have something to say with my Car Crash themes. I did my share of those paintings and then I decided to move on and I am now, pretty much beginning to edit the car out of my current works altogether and went onto other story telling motifs. My newer works have become more internal. I have tried to catch the mood and tone with color, because that is the most important part to me.”

Every aspect of Barr’s work has been successful. In fact completing commissioned works are occupying more and more of his efforts, “At the moment I would much rather work on a commission because there are a lot of them and I can work at my own pace. In contrast, the gallery stuff you have to kick out X amount of pieces for a body of work to show. Sometimes that can be a little stressful.”

But, while his work is popular from California and New York to Australia and Europe, Glenn still works hard to maintain local roots. Glenn states, “People here have this idea that I’m so successful that they wouldn’t even consider call me to get involved in any local shows. A lot of people don’t even think I live here… I like the Detroit culture, the music culture. There is a certain enthusiastic passion for being creative, especially for music. Of course, Detroit also has a certain texture or grit to it that I like. I know that if I were to have moved out to LA earlier on in my career that my paintings would look completely different because you are influenced by your surroundings. I may even still be working in animation.”

L.A. will never have a Carl’s Chop House, New York will never have a Bill’s Blue Star Disco Lounge and neither city will ever have Glenn Barr as a residing artist. Those cities are nice to visit but Barr sees Metro-Detroit as home for him and his family. For Barr, Detroit has a certain comfortability that you can’t find anywhere else.

Glenn Barr’s new book, Glenn Barr’s Haunted Paradise is a compilation of drawings, sketches and photographs and is available through numerous retail outlets, including CPop Gallery. Check him out on the web at www.glbarr.com.

ChrisTopher Crowder is a local artist whose work is most recently seen in “Saints Preserve Us” at CPop. He was profiled in these pages here, and has also contributed an earlier interview with Chris Dean here. He can be reached at www.myspace.com/tophercrowder.

by Gary Eleinko

It numbers over 600 galleries, 5 museums, 2 private collections, 2 garden installations, art spaces and studios, from 4 continents, plus performances, parties, and more. All in all, it’s an art endurance test for the stalwart, physically, and impossible to see it all time wise. What the North American Auto Show is to Detroit, Art/Basel is to Miami Beach. Now in its 5th season it has become the premier art event in North America, its scope encompassing convention centers, neighborhoods, museums, temporary tent exhibition halls, hotels, and the beach front. With a crowd numbering 36,000, it is a nonstop gluttonous feast on art for 4-6 days.

Detroit Connections include: Dana Schutz’s canvas of a large naked man ; Several small Ray Johnson collages - $10,000 to $20,000: Barcelona’s Galerie Senda showed Bernado Jordi’s photo of a crumbling brick home, titled “Detroit series 01”; In London’s Trent Gallery, Chunie Reed’s photo blowup of a rock article “ Detroit Grand Pubahs” duct taped to the wall,; numerous works by Mike Kelly; Michele Oka Doner’s works in Fairchild Gardens, and Detroit’s only official representation, paulkotulaprojects at the Bridge Art Fair, showing Heather McGill, object orange photos, and Christian Tedeschi’s foot high, 90 lb. egg shaped, luminescent object made entirely of saran wrap. Socially, print collector Mark Schwartz’ cocktail reception at the Sagamore hotel for all visiting Detroit collectors, artists, and gallerists was a respite. The Sagamore, an official Art Bar/hotel, sponsored a video lounge featuring Yoko Ono, and art hung extensively through its white marble lobby, halls, restaurants, and video screens at the outdoor tables leading to pool area and beach front.

Some observations, thoughts, and images, all colliding together in a kaleidoscopic bombardment of culture, money, egos, images, senses, business, fashion, and status:

~The Miami Herald featured front page articles on Basel, alternative papers had 15 to 20 pages devoted to it, tv and radio coverage daily - while in Detroit our major daily papers barely acknowledge the existence of the visual arts
~ Traffic jams of art destined charter buses, yellow cabs, limos, autos, and bicycle rickshaws, clogging the Wynwood art district
~ differences between mediums and style are all blurring, whether it be photography and computers, computers and painting, realism and surrealism / fantasy
~ Stylistic differences between artists from the different nations here, likewise, are minimal
~ Art made from every conceivable material from toilet brushes to toilet fixtures, diamond dust and glitter to astro turf, and shopping carts, found objects to the technologically sleek and slick - (so far no MWD’s , e -coli or polonium art)

~Eyes – Eyes on video, eye videos as components of pieces, eyes and mouths projected on sculptural pieces
~ Disembodied limbs, floating arms and legs or limbless torsos
~ Video and film was pervasive, from Ipod screens to 20 feet – in DIVA, a train container show on the Beach, digital and video art was the focus. One container’s interior was swathed in gauzy fabric, plaster buttocks mounted on the wall, with one viewing the video through an appropriately placed hole - Miguel Angel Rios’s stunning video of tops was going for $26,000
~ Celebrity sighting - Eva and Adele, two bald performance artists, of some gender, dressed in pink patterned frocks , from Germany, but known as the hermaphrodite twins from the future
~ “LoBrow art” using imagery from x-box games, comics, hello kitty, Japanese anime, stuffed toys, lots of kids with big eyes, (time for a Margaret Keane revival?)
~ Overheard conversations between dealers and clients. Generally private, deals were quite open, with prices quoted freely, from the $1000 dollar range to the 5.5 million Basquiat sold on the first evening - Some prices baffled logic, a 16 x 20 photo $1500 unframed, $3000 framed
~ Gallerist is the au current term for gallery owner, dealer, art monger
~ Martha Rosler’s photo collages contrasting American live style and the Vietnam War are as pertinent today
~ Lots of Warhols and other dead guys
~An extravagant installation by Richard Jackson “Ducks in the Mens Room” consisted of 4 full size and equipped lavatory stalls, occupied by 7 foot plastic duck with breasts for eye, and metal tubing inserted and extruding from their lower regions that then sprayed the site with vivid coats of paint
~ And the list goes on.

Of particular note, day long excursions in themselves, were two private collections in warehouses. The Rubell collection- featured “Red Eye L.A. Artists”, Baldesarri, Mike Kelly, Sterling Ruby, and others, with ample nudity, soft porn, and art pushing the envelope, such as Paul McCarthy, a cause celebre, with his videos and life size installation, “Cultural Gothic”, of a proud wasp father, watching his young prepubescent son bugger a goat. The Margulies collection, at 45,000 sq. feet, emphasizes sculpture and their extensive holdings in photography, often political or environmental, from 1910 to contemporary video from around the world.

If only Miami Beach could be an inspiration to the money, the collectors, and the media here. With added support for our local galleries, artists, and museums, perhaps a healthier and more interactive scene could exist in Detroit.

After a long career in education, Gary Eleinko is now enjoying a life solely devoted to hedonistic pleasures and art. He is currently serving on the exhibition committee for the Detroit Artists Market, and also volunteers on the "Art for Life" artists committee for MAPP. He maintains his studio at the Alternative Worksite, 2000 Brooklyn, Detroit. He has his B.F.A. and M. A. in painting from Wayne State.

by Tom Carbone

From December 8th to the 10th this year’s Fashion Party Weekend spread style and parties across the city. I was lucky enough to attend and participate in Sunday’s Grand Finale runway show at Orchestra Hall. Held in a first class venue and organized by a team of seasoned professionals, this event showcased much of the best fashion that Detroit has to offer, and offered a great opportunity to network, support several worthy charities, and party in the “D,” all in style to be sure.

Fashion Party Weekend started on Friday night with the kickoff event hosted by the Independent Retailers Association. Saturday night was entitled the "Dramatic Effect, Celebrity Designers' Party," a meet and network for the fashion designers and those who just love strutting their own fashion.

Sunday’s runway show entitled, "The Climax," consisted of 15 different designers and design oriented retailers was hosted by Next Vision Foundation & rbi experience. For the gracious and charitable guests the lobby of Orchestra Hall contained all the best food and drinks. And to top it off Azzure & Indigo Red hosted the after party at Elysium.

The Runway Show

There were lots of outstanding colors, crisp shirts, and jeans at every level of distress for both men and women. Fashion from casual, to club, to evening, up to and including furs from Silver Fox. Lots of really great stuff I especially liked the jeans and shirt combos; jeans of every conceivable style, shade, and finish, and shirts with the very popular 70’s color schemes.

Local designer and director of the newly opened Detroit Fashion Incubator Michael Delon participated as well. Delon created more than a dozen new looks for the show, which coupled with my own newest footwear creations, came together for what I felt was a great team. Delon is developing his own line of high fashion women’s wear as well as helping to promote local fashion talent through the DFI. I am beginning my career as a designer and maker of shoes. In this show I placed ten pair representing the best of my 2006 works.

Delon and I were able to watch the first half of the show with the audience and then darted off to the back stage area during intermission for the second half, when our work was to be shown. We staked out a place for Delon’s outfits and my shoes amid the frenzied mayhem of models and helpers just behind the giant Orchestra Hall stage curtain. As on the fly changes were made regarding the models and the runway timing, we helped the girls assigned to Delon’s collection on and off with clothes and shoes. It was great to experience the show from both sides of the curtain.

The very capable young men and women of the modeling staff were a mix of experienced folks and those new to runway work. One sign of professional models is that they make their clothing changes quickly while still strutting the runway confidently and patiently. The difficulty comes in calming down and posing at the beginning and end of the runway for the photographers. This seems obvious but in the heat of the moment (all that mayhem) a model can easily rush the catwalk part and lose what it’s all about: the audience’s attention and the photographer’s shot. With 36 models the event takes on a life of its own and can only be tamed with experience and organization.

I’ll give credits to several of the organizers that I worked with directly: Kim Harris of Maxxim Development was responsible for the great modeling talent. Alysyn Curd of Art Impact Marketing thanks for the hand holding. Ambros photographed much of the show and did a fine job. Latice Delgado, Lead Stylist Coordinator, and president of Fashions Off the Runway, was cool under fire and sensitive to both Michael’s and my unique needs. The ever sweet, La Keyla McCaskey, knew everything that was happening all the time. And a special thanks to everyone else that made this event possible and to those who donated time and funding.

I have complained about the quality of Detroit fashion shows in the past; they are often too “street” or too sleazy but Fashion Party Weekend showed us how it can be done correctly. So if you have been disappointed in the past please look, listen, and come to the next Detroit fashion event soon.

Tom Carbone is the Arts Calendar Editor of thedetroiter.com and an avid supporter and contributor to the worlds of fashion and design.

by
Maria Carolina Baulo

Buenos Aires, Argentina: a big city that never sleeps, not even for a little while; a blend of local culture with European cosmopolitan centers such as Paris or Rome. Buenos Aires is seducing people from all around the world; tourists love the never ending possibilities that its art and culture have to offer. There are hundreds of exhibitions in art galleries presenting retrospectives as well as brand new contemporary artists; first class lyric shows such as Turandot, Carmen, Don Giovanni; movies in every neighborhood; theatres presenting all types of comedy, drama, music hall, cabarets, tango; several of the most important museums of the Americas opening their gates and presenting master pieces by Rodin, Manet, Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo… the list is overwhelming.

Buenos Aires’ reputation is increasing in popularity. But what is popularity anyway? Popularity, popular, pop…is it the same thing? Certainly not. We cannot deny this beautiful city is getting used to these new friends from overseas that come and mix with the local population, and is starting to enjoy this “popularity” thing. But even though art and culture could be popular, they aren’t necessarily part of some marketing strategy that connects them to such concepts as popularity. Pop art denounced that back in the 60´s.

On the other hand, Buenos Aires also participates in the scary story where insecurity and poverty take the leading roles. No big city is excluded from this, but for sure, the “Third World Countries” are sadly far ahead in this category. Tourism is also interested in these kind of pathetic shows and, believe it or not, popularity associated with snobbism makes “popular attractions” out of social strikes downtown or city tours to the poorest sites as if visiting the zoo. Buenos Aires is capable of presenting such a contradiction, denouncing that popularity sometimes highlights situations that people should be ashamed of, not only for creating them to make some money out of it, but for consuming them. When artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein showed the world the consequences of serial activities, the absolute lack of personality and sense of loss growing in the 20th century where individuals vanished and mass media capture the attention, they introduced the terrifying idea that originality no longer existed; we became replaceable.

I love Buenos Aires, its smell and variety. It’s amazing how such different stories could arise from the same place. Art is sometimes elitist and sometimes popular, compromised with the social suffering as well as with the aesthetic demands of the Beaux Arts. The message art carries is sometimes more powerful than words, and certainly more subtle than creating a Roman circus for the audience to applaud. For those willing to capture the “popular” in the middle of the “elitist”, for those who love the shinning lights of “popularity” but still believe there are other ways to see, art offers different points of view, and some of them never turn their backs to the awful truth no matter how hard it is. Buenos Aires is an example of that.

I guess only art could make the beauty and the beast participate in the same dance, and even yet, behind the glam, the conflicting essence resists.

Argentinian writer Maria Carolina Baulo is versed in Art History, Cinematography, Photography and Theatre. You can contact her the author at: macabaulo@hotmail.com

Pics by Nick Sousanis, ws@thedetroiter.com

Motor City Brewing Works
4701 W. Canfield, Detroit
(Between Cass and 2nd)
313-832-2700
Every Wednesday Night, 7-11 pm
(December 20, 2006)

This week, check out the fabulous Faina Lerman as she takes the center stage on the brewery’s one night showcase.

Last week saw Brad and Vaughn Taormina in the spotlight, for a really different Wednesday night approach. They transformed the makeshift gallery space into a fanciful, raw scene, with mountainous backdrop of torn cardboard, simple tree forms, and a comical, gangster meeting in the woods. It was different, and it worked. Sorry, I don’t have images, for those of you who missed it.

And one more thing from curator extraordinaire Graem Whyte: Jan 3rd marks the two-year anniversary of twia, and we will be having a group show to celebrate, with an open
call for submissions due to space, no piece can be larger than 4" x 4" x 4", and only one piece per artist. drop off will be anytime during open hours the week prior to jan 3
(include title & price info). feel free to contact me with any questions.

Week in and week out, Wednesday nights have proven to be educational and a valuable experience. For artists this has meant a chance to try out work in mini-shows and given up and comers a shot to be seen. Perhaps just as importantly the atmosphere has been such as to provoke conversations on art and more that have gone on long past closing time. So come check it out, sample (in moderation!) what the owner John Linardos and the good folks at Motor City brew up each day (an undeniable artistry in its own right) and enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you there. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

dec 27 christina gibbs

Silent Auction Fundraiser
Paint Creek Center for the Arts

“I don’t have time for this.”

That’s the first thought I have when I get the request to be in the “Tick Tock” fundraiser exhibition at Paint Creek Center for the Arts, right on the heels of requests to participate in similar fundraisers – a block, a box, and now a clock. Oye vey! As with the other two, I’d like to help out, they’re good causes, and I like the idea of forcing myself to make work, instead of never finding time to do so. So having received the invitation, I think about it from time to time, and it really goes no further until exhibition director Mary Fortuna calls me to confirm my involvement. (I’m a fan of Mary’s for a lot of reasons, including the fact that she ran “Ground Up” back in the late 90s, with which I feel thedetroiter shares a certain kinship.)

It’s only in mulling this over at length, that I’m finally struck by the irony of my utter lack of time to work on a time piece. An idea starts to emerge for an illustrated essay about Time, or the lack thereof, of which I’ll integrate the clock parts into it. It should be fun, right up my alley, and a good exercise. Finally, with only the tiniest bit of hesitation, I say, “I’m in.”

Now that I’ve agreed to do this, ideas start flowing like mad. My process for making comic books (illustrated essays) is akin to visual DJing, I weave together disparate elements to riff on a single theme. So I’m compiling song quotes, sayings, all related to time. When I get a minute, attending a lecture or something, I work double time – on one page of my notebook I’m taking notes, while on another I’m jotting down ideas – flipping back and forth all the way.

Tick Tock. Time passes.

As ideas start to percolate, I get really excited, I don’t quite know how it’s all going to come together, but I can imagine that it’s going to be really cool. It’s growing into a manifesto of sorts, and I’m really pleased with how it might take shape. Now, I really, really want to do it.

But as the idea grows, the time I have left to do it shrinks, and now I absolutely don’t have time to make this even larger project happen.

Tick Tock. Running out of time.

Summer has turned to Autumn, daylight is dwindling. Time is quickly shrinking here. At this point in time, I still haven’t opened up the package with my clock in it yet. I don’t even know what it looks like.

My thoughts keep expanding, I still keep thinking I can do this, I’m going to find time to get to all of it. But it never happens. Each day, I’m running around like the white rabbit, sans watch (I never wear one); repeating, “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late,” and I never seem to catch up.

Tick Tock. Crunch time.

I have an idea to save some face that can be done in no time flat. Conceptual art – not really the way I work (though I appreciate it.) I think of turning in my still unopened envelope with the clock parts in it, and write on it, “Sorry, No Time.” Well, I think it’s clever, though I can’t imagine it will help raise much money at all. Besides, I’m compelled to make work that I have spent a lot of time on, it’s hard to let that go. So I’m still convinced that I can piece together a minute here and a part of an hour there to start drawing, to cull together pictures of sundials, gears, hourglasses, the lengthening of shadows, and integrate these images with my clever quotes about saving time in a bottle and the days of our lives to create something interesting. I may have to shorten the scope of it considerably, but there’s still plenty of time.

“Time is on my side.” Maybe that’s true for the ageless Rolling Stones, but it seems it’s fighting me at every turn. As the countdown ticks ever closer, I think of just turning in my conceptual sketches and notes, with the promise to transform these fragments into a complete, fully realized story at some later date.

Tick Tock. Time’s up.

I get an email from Mary. I’m out of time. “Tick Tock” reads the subject line. (I’d forgotten this was the name of the exhibition, and just assumed this was a not so subtle way of reminding me that I’m on the clock, so to speak.) I can almost hear Captain Hook’s Crocodile hunting me. (“In a while crocodile.”) I imagine the clock inside it ticking like the theme from “Jaws.” I dread opening the email, but I have to face up to it. It’s a request for the finished object in order to get images for the catalogue. Catalogue? Images? Right. I don’t even know where the envelope is that I haven’t opened with the clock in it. The only images I have are basically back of napkin sketches. The clock’s struck midnight and my ride’s turned into a pumpkin.

But fortunately Mary is more than understanding and together we hatch a solution, which more or less lets me off the, umm, hook. I write an essay, run it in these here pages, and send in a picture of the unopened envelope. All of which is pretty much what I wanted to do in the first place – except with a lot more drawing and planning behind it.

Tick tock. Time Flies.

“Where did the time go? Can you tell me where did my life go?” (Johnny Clegg and Juluka.) Really though, where does all our time go? It seems to me that being busy has become a badge of honor. We ask one another what’s going on, and it ends up becoming a comparison of who’s busier. But just what are we doing with all our time?

While Einstein may have showed that time is relative, here on Earth, time waits for no one. Seasons change, the sun and moon rise and set, our hearts beat – time passes. These things are true whether we’ve clocks to record them or not. With the invention of the first mechanical clocks we could mark off precise amounts of time independent of nature, entirely dependent on the movement of a series of gears. Our lives have then in some ways been structured to fit around that Tick Tock of the mechanical clock. We eat and sleep when it’s time, not necessarily because we’re hungry or tired. For many of us, we punch into work as the sun comes up and punch out after it’s set.

Tick Tock. Starved for time.

All of us need to make time to create. We all have our ideas, our dreams, the expression of which keeps us healthy. Trapped inside, those ideas eat at us, try to fight their way to freedom, as we keep them at bay by saying things like, “soon”, or “if I only had a little more time.” If we started thinking of creating as important as we do eating or sleeping (which, yes we neglect as well) would we then find more time?

I think Jim Croce spoke for all of us with, “But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do.” The demands on our time are many, and yet in our all too brief lives, do we take the time to linger on what’s really important? Do we hold a kiss long enough? Stay wrapped in an embrace ignoring the world racing all around us? If time has become money, but money can’t buy you love, maybe time is better spent on other pursuits.

It’s high time we stopped thinking about ways we’d like to spend our time, and started doing them. Life’s short and time is a precious commodity.

Tick Tock. Times a’ wasting.

So take a few minutes of your time to check out the Clock Show. A lot of folks have put their time to good use, to help other folks keep track of time in style, all in support of a good cause. I hope these words and their works serve as an inspiration and a reminder to find time to get going on our own projects, our own dreams.

And when I say get going, I mean let’s get going on these things right now. After all, there’s no time like the present.

Tick Tock.

– Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Sousanis wrote about the DAM’s Box Show here, which borrowed text from his block project about being “in the box, and stepping outside of the box.”

Tick Tock
Silent Auction Fundraiser
Friday, December 15, 2006
7:00 – 10:00 pm

Paint Creek Center for the Arts (PCCA) presents Tick Tock, a fundraiser to benefit our exhibition program. PCCA staff and exhibition committee members have worked with artists from all over the Metropolitan Detroit area to secure donations of fabulous artist-made clocks. We’ve invited over 100 artists, working in all media, to show their support by creating unique and beautiful clocks for every taste. We’re only beginning to see these creations come through the door, but we can promise there will be something for everyone!

These artful clocks will be auctioned off at a festive reception on Friday, December 15, 2006, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Lucky bidders may pick up their clocks the night of the auction, just in time for Holiday gift giving. Any clocks that have not been picked up will remain on display through Friday, December 29.

Please be our guests at this exciting fundraiser. In addition to the silent auction, you’ll indulge in wine and soft drinks, a bountiful spread of delicious hors d’oeuvres and desserts, and live music. Come ready to enjoy the art and take home something special, for your own collection or for someone you love.

Paint Creek Center for the Arts is located at 407 Pine Street in Downtown Rochester, at the corner of Fourth and Pine. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 9:00 pm, and Saturday, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Note that we will be closed for the Holidays December 25 and 26. For additional information, contact Mary Fortuna at 248-651-4110, or check our web site at www.pccart.org.

Arts Calendar editor Tom Carbone was in New York again reconnecting with friends, trying to make business connections, buying materials, and mostly continuing his quest to keep learning new things.

Fly in over lower Manhattan.

Saturday night I managed to get to some gallery openings. One “big block O’ galleries” is located on the 500 block of W 25th this is just a few; there are hundreds of galleries in this neighborhood.

“PEEPERS, NOGGINS & KISSERS” opened at the New York Studio Gallery, artist Kristen Copham used a Neiman-esque color scheme to create hundreds of portraits. Big deal, right? But wait, there is a little more to the story. These 10” x 10” straight on head shots were done in one hour each over a period of a few weeks through a process that I’ll call, “a reverse call for entries.” The word was put out for people that wanted to have their portraits painted. With 150 or so completed the portraits were tiled into tight groups on the walls of the 6th floor gallery. Gazing at the paintings from close and afar one similarity became apparent: almost all of these people were smiling. There was a distinct air of optimism emanating from them. But let’s think… what kind of person would want their portrait painted, what kind of person would call, make an appointment, and sit for an hour? Fifteen minutes of fame, Leroy was here, friend of the artists? Doesn’t matter, I came away with the great feeling of optimism, and it turns out I could use shot of that on a daily basis.

The other great show “Pale and blue at 14” was at the 10 foot wide (typical NY) Giant Robot Gallery on 9th near 1st Ave, in an area called Little India. A very cool & trendy neighborhood with shops and boutiques everywhere you look. Jeana Sohn displayed a series that draws you in like a sitting cat, with eyes blinking slowly. Every image is painted with a very delicate touch on a sheet of unfinished veneer. She brings to life a world occupied by a few solemn characters; a man with a mustache, a woman often wearing a peasant dress, a wolf, and other forest dwellers too. In every instance the characters interact with each other or nature, as we all do, in good, bad, and indifferent ways. Sohn’s language is that of floating and flying, characters, objects, and even mustaches. This series had a calming effect for me. I have seen the paintings in print and on the web but the tactile nature of the real thing is breathtaking; the paint is often so thin it barely covers the grain of the veneer. The quietness and delicateness of craft is so fitting to the dialog of Sohn’s works.

Comparing the two shows is a case of opposites; the brightness of Copham’s work came off the wall to the viewer as each portrait tried to tell their story, like a room full of people at an opening. While Sohn’s work draws the onlooker in to a fine mystical little world, one I wish to visit again.

Other cool NY sightings:

On Second Avenue one especially outstanding graffiti laced door caught my eye.

Macy’s all dressed up for the Holidays; the legendary street level windows lived up to their reputation too.

Apple’s 5th Avenue underground store.

Pinkberry on W 32nd cool 70’s style décor and great yogurt.

Fashion

For my fashion friends in the D, I scoped out the FFANY at pier 94, but the most interesting find of the week was Te Casan. Located on in SOHO in a beautiful, and truly first class building Te Casan has invented a completely unique approach to shoe marketing, and the development of emerging designers. For the lucky seven that are prominently featured in the tri-level venue it’s the chance of a lifetime. These however are no lottery winners they are experienced designers striking out on their own. Another unique aspect to the beautiful dream is that all of the shoes are limited editions; I would guess that if and when some of these superstars really take off they would leave the nest and strike out alone. Sadly the web site does not show the shoes, but I saw some stunning really well designed and creative works of art. These are only for the serious aficionado’s, well worth a visit to this museum of modern shoes when in the Apple.

After a sight-filled trip, Tom’s back in town, and we’re glad to have him keeping track of all, and we mean ALL, the art-goings on about town each and every week in the pages of our arts calendar.

Unpublished Poems: New Drawings and Paintings
11 November 2007 – 27 January 2007
Sherry Washington Gallery

by Dolores Slowinski

In “Unpublished Poems: New Drawings and Paintings,” Shirley Woodson’s exhibition at the Sherry Washington Gallery, the artist displays an overall increased complexity in the work that makes for a very, very satisfying experience.

The interplay of the figures with forms surrounding them; the layering of the colors allowing textures to work up to the surface; the understated touches...the angel's wing in “Niagara Bather with Angel Wing” is rapturous! No heavy-handed literalism here. Oh no. Just a tiny, tiny, wing---hanging like a whisper in the air---telling us to look and see.

“Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries---stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water.” - Herman Melville

Woodson, like Melville, understands our enchantment with water. Water represents baptism in life; the crossing of the Middle Passage; the soothing, relaxing, meandering of beach walks. Her painting of a sturdy pair of legs from the thighs down stands out from all the rest because of its solitary subject: legs so strong, supporting the history of a whole nation of people; holding up all we could possibly imagine walking along a shore.

The Niagara Bathers series also caught my attention with the activity of swirling water splashing until a brush stroke of color lands near the face of one bather. Who, but the most courageous, would dare to swim the Niagara River?

The Red Pool in the painting of the same name is hard to find when your attention is focused on the remarkable figure in that bubbly pink outfit that just makes you want to squeeze her! If she is so frothy, the red pool may be the source of her energy or her nemesis.

A little blue and purple gem, Blue Wave, above the guest book is pure, juicy, yummy color. It stands out not only because of its diminutive size, but also because of its deep, rich colors that depart from the color palette in the rest of the works.

“Four at Sea,” a large canvas with fish, figures and a single flower above them, strikes me as an ancestral portrait about journeying from one place to another; the school of fish as younger generations swimming to another place in the ocean of life.

The “Flight Into Egypt” and the diptych “At the Crossroads” speak to me about the African Diaspora; movement from the known to the unknown, and adaptation. The diptych presents two contrasting figures; one contemporary mounted on a horse the other, its legendary counterpart, standing like the present facing the past and listening to the words of oral tradition taking form and coming to meet it.

“Reflections and Flowers” is a gorgeous self-portrait. A stoic figure, Woodson, holds a paintbrush poised above pots of flowers. The blossoms are her children...her family...and all the school children and their teachers for whom Woodson cares so very, very much in her day job as Head of Fine Arts for the Detroit Public Schools. The reflection in the mirror could easily be a combined image of her two sons, both teachers in the DPS, one of whom is an accomplished artist. That strong, dark figure in the background could be a representation of the love, encouragement, support and inspiration she received from both her deceased husband and her father. This painting is a symbolic record of Woodson’s life. No matter what happens, she makes it more beautiful for the experiences she has had, for the rich colors she offers our eyes to absorb and challenges us to reflect back to the world. These are the poems she not only carries in her art, but also lives by example.

Dolores S. Slowinski is an artist and erstwhile art reviewer. Her visual work has recently appeared in Dispatch Detroit, Vol. 8. Her writing has been published in American Ceramics, Art in America, Ceramics Monthly, Dialogue: An Art Journal, The Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Art Examiner, and numerous catalogues. Her most recent work for thedetroiter.com concerned the graphic novel, "Pride of Baghdad" and can be found in our lit section here.

Motor City Brewing Works
4701 W. Canfield, Detroit
(Between Cass and 2nd)
313-832-2700
Every Wednesday Night, 7-11 pm
(December 13, 2006)

This week, check out Brad and Vaughn Taormina as they take center stage of the brewery’s one night showcase.

And one more thing from curator extraordinaire Graem Whyte: Jan 3rd marks the two-year anniversary of twia, and we will be having a group show to celebrate, with an open call for submissions due to space, no piece can be larger than 4" x 4" x 4", and only one piece per artist. drop off will be anytime during open hours the week prior to Jan 3 (include title & price info). Feel free to contact Graem with any questions.

Week in and week out, Wednesday nights have proven to be educational and a valuable experience. For artists this has meant a chance to try out work in mini-shows and given up and comers a shot to be seen. Perhaps just as importantly the atmosphere has been such as to provoke conversations on art and more that have gone on long past closing time. So come check it out, sample (in moderation!) what the owner John Linardos and the good folks at Motor City brew up each day (an undeniable artistry in its own right) and enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you there. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

dec 20 faina lerman
dec 27 christina gibbs

(For more on the man who makes this all possible - bartender/curator Graem Whyte, see our four question feature here.)
(Also check out Rebecca Mazzei’s excellent profile of Motor City and This Week In Art in Metro Times.)

Detroit Industrial Projects
Even Clean Hands Leave Marks and Damage Surfaces
Installation exhibit by Detroit artists Kevin Beasley, Miroslav Cukovic and Curtis Glenn
Through January 13, 2007
Artist Talk: Sunday, December 10, 2-3pm

In “Even Clean Hands Leave Marks and Damage Surfaces,” Kevin Beasly, Miroslav Cukovic, and Curtis Glenn, collaborate to transform a vacant, raw studio space within the Russell Industrial complex by very subtle means. It’s likely at first glance a visitor might dismiss the room as having had nothing done to it at all. The project is installation, yes, but not as in major construction, yet it is still completely transformative. By manipulating the smallest aspects throughout the room – the entire space becomes activated – everything becomes an integral element of a three dimensional composition. Room becomes art object.

So what’s inside? There are obvious pieces, clear signs of intentional intervention: A flywheel attached to a wheel, mounted directly inside the entrance. A pullout couch bed frame serves as a third wall of sorts for a tent frame nestled in a corner of the room. Inside the makeshift structure: a bed of plastic air-filled packaging bags. There’s a light, and images of a toilet – a likely reference to Marcel Duchamp’s “fountain,” a readymade urinal exhibited as an art object, quite appropriate for an installation of this sort. A long, curved pipe is place purposefully, leaned against a wall, rust spilling out from its floor end, depositing a striking red stain on the yellow painted cement floor. A small blue painting is hung askew on one wall. Nearby, elements of representation adorn the wall – paintings of a fish. A drafting table is mounted high on the opposite wall, an element of the architecture now, rather than a tool to help design the architecture. A plastic power strip serves as the hypotenuse of a triangle whose legs are the floor and wall.

The work becomes in a way an elaborate Easter egg hunt: A strip of red tape stuck vertically along a support column in the wall is obscured by a strategically stationed metal shaft. There’s at least one hook sticking out from the wall, power supply cords have their ends plugged into the walls and are arranged in a symmetrical formation. A bucket collecting water dripping from the ceiling presents a new question – what was done and what was already here before? Is a nail on the floor set out in a particular position or is left behind from earlier construction? Additionally, the bucket creates variable sound effects; both as it fills higher with water and as the dripping slows with lessening precipitation outside. A rickety wooden frame, hanging off the wall, falls apart at a touch, providing a means of interacting with the viewer quite actively. So what then of the cracked paint on the ceiling? Or the nearly invisible drawing in dust on the window panes? A strip of blue tape in a corner? It becomes almost impossible to know what’s intentional and what’s incidental. Everything in the room acts in concert – modified or not, each element matters to the entire composition.

And thus this experience makes us look differently at our own spaces – that cracked paint on the kitchen ceiling, flecks of blue-green tile revealed through chips in the black paint covering the floor, a yellow extension cord snaking across that same blue-spotted, black floor. Our own spaces take on greater visual interest. (In my case, raising the entirely separate question of whether it’s art or just poor housekeeping?)

It’s a lot of fun, it’s Easter Egg nature turns into a game of sorts, and perhaps one of the most engaging exhibitions in sometime – which is curious, as stated above, that on first glance, it’s nothing but a fairly empty room in a state of unfinished construction. But in looking, we start to see hidden depths, which open up further views, and soon a lot of time has passed, and it seems we’ve just started looking, and are ready to look some more.

As such, this connects the work to the mathematical concept of fractals – geometry able to more closely approximate the complexity of nature. We might see in a coastline, a naturally occurring fractal, within every inlet, smaller inlets can be found, and similarly within them smaller inlets, and so on. Infinite depths in limited area. The closer one looks at such objects, the more we see, as this installation seems to do. (Even in writing this, I’m finding new things – like, does the fishing rod in the entrance connect to the fish paintings across the room? If there’s a “bed” room in one corner, a drafting table in another, an area for seating and conversation, fish in the “kitchen?”, does this mirror someone’s studio/living space?)

This also connects to light and space installation artist Robert Irwin (as was pointed out to me). Irwin’s modifications of entire, otherwise empty rooms often included the placement of something almost unnoticeable – a single strip of black paper, an altering of the lighting. Yet these subtle, exceedingly minimal manipulations dramatically changed people’s perception of the space. This caused visitors to pay great attention, thus enabling them to see something they’d never seen before, and the whole space in an entirely new light. Irwin describes his practice as, “the gift of seeing a little more today than you did yesterday.” Beasly, Cukovic, and Glenn, too, invite us to pay greater attention to our surroundings and in the act of doing so be pleasantly surprised with what we discover in the act of looking. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Motor City Brewing Works
4701 W. Canfield, Detroit
(Between Cass and 2nd)
313-832-2700
Every Wednesday Night, 7-11 pm
(December 6, 2006)

This week, check out Tom Humes, Julie Russell, and Tom Dickinson as they take center stage of the brewery’s one night showcase.

Also this week, catch a special double-shot of “This Week in Art” with a Thursday night, December 7th, silent auction to benefit the school of San Pablo, Guatemala. Artists include: Lowell Boileau, Ray Katz, Karen Sepanski, Betty Bbrownlee, Diane Carr, Gilbert Pike, and more.

And one more thing from curator extraordinaire Graem Whyte: Jan 3rd marks the two-year anniversary of twia, and we will be having a group show to celebrate, with an open call for submissions due to space, no piece can be larger than 4" x 4" x 4", and only one piece per artist. drop off will be anytime during open hours the week prior to jan 3 (include title & price info). feel free to contact me with any questions.

Week in and week out, Wednesday nights have proven to be educational and a valuable experience. For artists this has meant a chance to try out work in mini-shows and given up and comers a shot to be seen. Perhaps just as importantly the atmosphere has been such as to provoke conversations on art and more that have gone on long past closing time. So come check it out, sample (in moderation!) what the owner John Linardos and the good folks at Motor City brew up each day (an undeniable artistry in its own right) and enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you there. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

dec 13 brad & vaughn taormina
dec 20 faina lerman
dec 27 christina gibbs

(For more on the man who makes this all possible - bartender/curator Graem Whyte, see our four question feature here.)
(Also check out Rebecca Mazzei’s excellent profile of Motor City and This Week In Art in Metro Times.)

Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID)

The CAID presents two independent exhibitions on its two floors, bringing together two distinct cultures in one space: that of Mexico and Cranbrook. Downstairs check out “Tradition and Modernity of Mexican Culture” an exhibition of prints ranging from etchings to more experimental printmaking methods.

Curators Marie Alsace Galindo-Roel & Gerardo Macias-Garcia state this is “first important presentation of contemporary Mexican printmakers in Detroit.” This show is a first time exhibiting in Detroit and includes these artists: Alfredo Zalce; Manuel Felguerez; Martha Chapa-Benavides; Gerardo Cantu; Edgar Mendoza; Jose Luis Corral; Julian Diaz; Inda Saenz; Nicolas Moreno; Luis Filcer; Esther Gonzalez; Guillermo Ceniceros; and Raul Anguiano.

Tradition and Modernity of Mexican Culture
an Exhibition of prints by Mexican masters
November 25, 2006 – December 9, 2006

Upstairs recent Cranbrook grad, Laith Karmo puts together five Detroit-based artists including Ivin Ballen, Sara Blakeman, Britton Tolliver, Chris Williams, and Little. Bright colors, pop imagery fill this show which includes paintings, sculptural objects, and prints. Each works quite differently yet they all resonate quite well together, and altogether maintains a consistent dialogue, as is to curator Karmo’s credit.

November 25, 2006 - January 2, 2007
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 25, 2006 6 PM-10PM

Note the downstairs show ends December 9, and a new exhibition of soft-sculpture installations will open December 16, and this exhibition will be up until January 2, as will the upstairs. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com
(In addition to being editor-in-chief of thedetroiter.com, Sousanis is the current chairman of the board of CAID. That said, he really wishes he could. Good work to our independent curators, Nick)