A Place at the Table is a collaborative and diverse multi-media exhibition of ¡§chairscapes¡¨ by female artists. The exhibit examines the beauty and variety of seating ¡§at the table¡¨ and the
symbolism of the places we sit ¡V or are excluded from sitting ¡V in the social, political, and personal arenas.

This exhibition is a project of Michigan Chapter of Women¡¦s Caucus for Art (WCA) hosted by the Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 from June 27 ¡V August 8, 2008. This is a juried exhibition and works will be selected by Patricia Olynyk, Director of
the Graduate School of Art, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

About WCA and Ann Arbor Art Center
WCA is a national arts organization whose mission is to support women in the visual arts professions. WCA is unique in its multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural memberships of artists, art
historians, students and educators, gallery and museum professionals, and others involved in the visual arts. WCA has focused attention on the enormous contributions of women and people of color throughout the history of art. WCA has affiliates in over 40 states.

Ann Arbor Art Center (AAAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging the community in the education, exhibition, and exploration of the visual arts. Founded in 1909, the Ann Arbor Art Center is Michigan¡¦s third oldest arts organization.

ELIGIBILITY: Entry fees constitute membership in both the national organization of WCA and the WCA-MI, it is required that exhibiting artists be members of the Michigan Chapter of Women¡¦s Caucus for Art and Michigan residents. Works submitted must have been completed
within the past two years. All participating entries must be consistent with the vision of the show and the mission of WCA and the Ann Arbor Art Center. Two- and three-dimensional works will be considered for this exhibition. Performance and Video will also be considered.

Any piece requiring special equipment must be supplied by artist.
EXHIBITION CALENDAR:
Entry Forms Due (Postmark Deadline) April 19, 2008
Jury Results Mailed May 23, 2008
Delivery of Work to AAAC June 13-15 (10-5 pm)
Exhibition Dates June 27 ¡V Aug. 8, 2008
Opening Reception June 27, 2008 (6-8 pm)
Pick-up Work Aug. 9-11 (10-5 pm)
JUROR: A Place at the Table will be juried by Patricia Olynyk, Director of the Graduate School of Art, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Olynyk, an artist herself, has an extensive artistic career spanning over the past twenty years.

ENTRY PROCEDURE:
1. Artists may submit up to 2 pieces of work for consideration.
2. Entries will be juried by digital jpeg images. Artists may include 1 additional detail
image for each piece. This is not to exceed a total of 4 images.
3. Images must be a minimum of 300 dpi and not to exceed 7 inches in any direction.
Disks should include an image list with title of work, media, and dimensions (H x W x
D). Emailed images will not be accepted. Artists wishing to have disks returned
should submit a SASE. Disks should be clearly marked with the following:
a. A Place at the Table
b. Artist Name
c. Phone Number
d. Email Address

SALES: It is preferable that works be for sale. All sales will be conducted through the Ann Arbor Art Center. Prices should reflect retail costs. A 15% commission on each sale will be paid to Michigan Chapter WCA. A 35% commission on each sale will be paid to the Ann Arbor Art Center. No artwork may leave the premises prior to the completion of the exhibition.

AGREEMENT: Sending an entry to this exhibition shall constitute the agreement with all conditions in this prospectus. The WCA and Ann Arbor Art Center reserve the right to reproduce accepted entries for publicity purposes.

PRESENTATION: All two-dimensional works must be framed in a professional manner and prepared for installation. Works requiring special installation should provide detailed installation instructions. The juror, WCA and Ann Arbor Art Center reserve the right to remove artwork no accurately represented by submitted images.
LIABILITY: Every precaution will be taken to assure protection of artwork; however, the Ann Arbor Art Center is not responsible for loss or damage.

DELIVERY: Works may be hand delivered or shipped UPS or Parcel Post. If shipping, artist is responsible for complying with all regulations pertaining to works of art. Artists desiring return shipment of work must send the entire cost of return shipping with accepted piece.
Return shipment will be packaged using the same shipping materials they were shipped in.

Refer to ¡§exhibition calendar¡¨ for specific dates pertaining to delivery and pickup.

ENTRY FEE:
Existing WCA Members: $20
Nonmembers: $45, which entitles applicant to a one year WCA national and state
membership.
A Place at the Table Entry Form
Please enter my membership in WCA, MI chapter. I have enclosed my $45 membership fee.
Mail To: Exhibitions Manager, Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 W. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Name_____________________________________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip_______________________________________________________________________________
Phone (________)_______________________ Email_______________________________________________
Entry Information:
Entries must be the original work of the artist. All media accepted must be prepared to install in a professional
manner.
Title:_______________________________________ Title:_______________________________________
Media:_____________________________________ Media:______________________________________
Size:_________________ Price: ________________ Size:_________________ Price: ________________
Insurance Value (if NFS):______________________ Insurance Value (if NFS):______________________
Please provide a short statement about each piece submitted
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Existing Members: Membership # _____________________________________________
New Members: Please provide a short biographical statement about yourself or attach an artist¡¦s resume
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
„h please keep a copy of all forms/information for your records

Zeitgeist Gallery
February 16th – March 15th, 2008
Gallery Hours: Fridays 5 - 8pm; Saturdays 12n - 5pm

Borrowing its title (perhaps) from a Gordon Parks directed 70s action film, “Three the Hard Way” brings together an unlikely but quite complementary trio, Dennis Jones, Tom Carey, and ChrisTopher Crowder. While their approaches are quite distinct, they share in bringing forth in their works a critical response to society, a perspective that cuts through surface layers and image, and portrays something rather, as Holden Caulfield would say, “cruddy.”

Each of the artists is also known for his signature approach to the figure and the characters that inhabit their respective compositions. For this outing, as he did in his Oakland University solo show, Jones forgoes his sad sack, lost boys, Charlie Brown-like characters and distills his approach to text in paint on canvas and objects. The words are aphorisms, fortunes on a tea bag, ironic, sardonic versions of Jack Handy, or to offer a more obscure reference, like Alan Moore’s “Weeping Gorilla Comix.” An example: the word “Oblivious” written in bright orange-yellow, glaring forth on an equally Ronald McDonald red background. Another, typed perpendicularly across a sheet of lined paper oriented horizontally, “Someday you might be crushed by a big rock.” The words are small and out of place, appropriate stand-ins for the human, in the face of a world that’s too big, where we can get squashed without anyone noticing. It’s not then simply the words, but Jones’s use of the medium accompanying his message that makes them complete and quite compelling. If we could miss the words, we can’t miss the images, and vice versa. One piece consists of children’s wooden blocks with letters painted on them, arranged in various ways, spelling out, “Never a care, never a worry.” Even without his iconic child-figure (who does turn up on a role of toilet paper on display, as if to suggest, “$#!+ on me”), Jones’s strong empathy for children comes through in the work, as it also does in “Good night sleep tight” – white transparent letters on a midnight blue painted light box. This fusion of text and imagery is proving to be fertile terrain for Jones, as the strong aesthetics and his sharp, pared down observations in text, carry the messages deep. We might imagine these as billboards or large-scale installations in much the same way as Martin Creed’s neon signage adorning MOCAD at the moment.

If Jones offers a lot of words, Carey’s images are silent, mute, a single figure inhabiting each composition. These are whimsically grotesque, oddballs with antenna for eyes, part 50s robot, part monster, part alien, part Spongebob Squarepants. They’re a cross too between the mechanical and the cellular, as is reinforced by the more organic, almost washed, patterns adorning the surfaces behind the clean inked figures. This vibrant, bright color is a lush field that comes alive, like dyed bacteria cultures under a microscope, and almost exists in a separate world than the figures – the compositions are teeming with life on multiple levels. They could be scary as they lumber and writhe across the compositions, but Carey infuses them with humor, and as with Jones’s they instead elicit our curiosity and our empathy, and end up being rather delightful.

Crowder shares much with Carey’s figurations, his are human, though often grotesque and composed of the mechanical. It’s a bit of Brueghel by way of MAD magazine’s Don Martin or R. Crumb. The hyper-detailed works highlight the compulsion of the artist, as a landscape of sex, mechanization, and medications are eviscerated in his imagery. It may be generated by feelings deeply personal, and to be sure there’s a therapeutic quality about them, but what comes out is such a display of intensity as to be entirely compelling even as they prompt us to turn our heads. Crowder’s large scale, ornately detailed expansive works are not on hand here, instead he offers some of his more narrative, almost comic book pages, and then a small body of perhaps fragments from “Dear John” letters written to the artist in his youth, illustrated with great intensity. And here is the one downside to the show, these illustrated letters are great, disturbing, humorous, works, but they are sandwiched together and slighted as a result. They’d be served better, spread out, and given their proper due without being cramped by the other works on this occasion. His stand-in, with pompadour, often engaging in crude intimate acts, offers a raw expression of emotion, very honest if disturbing. The images depict a closeness of the letter writer and the receiver, in stark contrast to the almost dismissive, casualness of what was written, no doubt prompting even a stronger graphical response. We’ve received and written such notes ourselves, and perhaps share in some measure of the same dark thoughts that Crowder brings to life.

It’s a great grouping, each artist offers a lot to see, to take in, to relate to. As dark as they go, they all bring forth a lot of humor at the same time – they can laugh in the midst of it all, balancing the works, and helping us all get through these same dark moments. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

By Leyland DeVito

The Russell Industrial Center, the hulking remnants of a car factory and current bastion of the Detroit do-it-yourself art scene, plays host to “Feedback”, a show put on by a group of College for Creative Studies students known as the Lollybot Collective.

Lollybot are just one of many artistic tenants to utilize the building, which recently celebrated its creative community by throwing the People’s Arts Festival in September. In January, it held an Art Battle, inviting contestants to create art live to compete for cash prizes. And CCS has been encouraging its students to use the opportunity to show their work, helping sculpture classes organize end of the semester exhibitions.

The DIY spirit that fuels places like the Russell comes from the multitude of industrial-sized available spaces that Detroit’s vacant buildings afford, but also from a desire of by Detroiters to have a viable art community.

“For the kind of show we wanted to put on, the Russell was the only place we could have the freedom to do what we want,” explains Matthew Pritchard, a senior at CCS and one half of the creative pairing behind the art group, on the choice of venue. “Everything’s based on a handshake, and it’s relatively cheap.”

It is the collective’s second show. Jeff Nolan, Lollybot’s other creator, eventually chose Scrummage University, a DIY venue in Eastern Market that typically features underground music by the likes of Dan Deacon and Black Dice, as the venue for their first show, and invited classmates to submit work. The laid back and extracurricular nature of venue drew experimental, and often whimsical entries, in a variety of media and disciplines.

At the Scrummage show, whose theme was simply “accidents”, a sort of kinetic sculpture involving a bowling ball and fake grapes precariously balanced on a two-by-four in the center of the room. It repeatedly fell over throughout the course of the night as people bumped into it, causing the bowling ball to roll into peoples’ feet. What would be a nightmare for some art venues is just a part of the fun at the show. “You couldn’t do this at the D.I.A.,” sculptor Kurt Greene said while rebuilding his perpetually destroyed artwork. Artist Kristina Rafalski agreed that the atmosphere was refreshing. “People have such short attention spans,” she says. “Shows need to be more interactive.”

But the appeal of student-led shows isn’t only to see what you can get away with. Part of it is to prove that students have the drive and ability to put on a good show. CCS Student Chelsea Kirchoff recently organized a show at the 4731 Gallery. “My partner, Alen Catolico, and I had been to a few student shows prior to planning for our own and felt that they fell short of what we expected,” she says of her decision to do it herself. “We thought, ‘what can we do to show people what we believe an art show should encompass?’” But, she agrees in the appeal of freedom from authority. “We were allowed to use the gallery however we wanted and I was grateful for that. They were involved just enough and I enjoyed the independence that the gallery gave us.” In all, over 70 artists entered work and 275 people showed up.

“We’re just going to keep throwing the same kind of parties we know how to throw,” says Matthew Pritchard, on what to expect from Collective’s second show. “Things of this scale, this is the kind of thing you can only do in a place like Detroit.” He adds, “We’re not concerned about selling work, so we can take more chances. We’re nonprofit; we just want to make enough to throw the next show. These kinds of shows create their own crowd.”

Chelsea Kirchoff agrees. ““Before, it was all of us going to shows that other places were throwing. Now, it’s these other places coming to the shows we’re throwing.”

The upcoming Lollybot show at the Russell is entitled “Feedback”. The theme of the show is communication, and artists are encouraged to talk about their work.

The opening party for “Feedback” starts at 9 PM on February 16th; the gallery runs from the 15th to the 17th from 6 PM to 10 PM. It is located at The Cave Gallery, in building 4, floor 3 at the Russell Industrial Center.

For more information, check out Lollybot Collective at http://www.lollybotcollective.com

Photos by Micaela Ruiz

9pm Friday, February 08, 2008 at MOCAD, Admission $5.
MOCAD
(Co-listed in Music)

Along with “Holy Hip Hop!” new portraits of hip hop icons by Russian-born artist Alex Melamid, and Rei Kawakubo’s ReFUSING FASHION opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit tonight, Detroit-based hip-hop artist MIKE-E Ellison will be performing live at 9pm. MIKE-E is a growing sensation around the country and in Africa, and most recently he’s garnered greater attention as a song of his has been featured as part of Barack Obama’s campaign. We caught up with Ellison a while back to discuss “AfroFlow,” his debut album and the movement (in all senses of the word) that it represents.

Ellison defines “AfroFlow” as meaning, quite literally, “flowing from Africa.” In his words this concept, is a curriculum, an approach to educate and bring awareness of not just African-American’s roots in Africa, but all of humanity’s, and thereby help “create a culture of respect.” It’s a socially conscious message – that you can dance to – out to alter people’s perceptions of Africa, Detroit, Hip-hop, and themselves.

I’ll take it all the way back – where it all began

The message and the music are about educating and giving a sense of identity to African-Americans, and understanding of all peoples. As he says, unlike Europeans who came to America fully aware of their cultures and a strong sense of self and thus could start over, those who came from Africa, came by force and lost their culture, their very identity. Without that, it leaves a lot of people struggling. So AfroFlow is in part a history lesson. Instead of devoting a single month to the history of African-American people and learning just a few figures, MIKE-E’s talking about it as a true curriculum – discovering inventors, scientists, the contributions from Africa and African-Americans. Not at the exclusion of others, but inclusively – to teach respect for all cultures. And rebuild a sense of identity.

4 the red, 4 the green, 4 the green, 4 the gold

This message of empowerment comes through in MIKE-E’s lyrics, as well as his actions. Listening to his words is an education – as the history of Africa comes through, a few listens and we pick up on references from the colors of our traffic lights coming from the Ethiopian flag to the Berlin Conference of 1885, that led to the division of Africa by European colonial powers to a pretty stirring excerpt from a Sidney Poitier speech in the movie “A Piece of the Action.” MIKE-E is active in the Detroit Public Schools, working with the kids and doing public service announcements. Trying to help change their perception of Africa, and thus their own perception of their origins and themselves.

Ethiopian Child

AfroFlow applies to Ellison’s own origins too. He was born in Ethiopia, to African-American parents, and spent his first few years there. From there it was off to North Virginia where he grew up. But it was summers spent in Queens visiting with his cousins, where he was introduced to hip hop. As a young man, he went into, as he puts it, “jobs that seemed like you were supposed to go into.” This led to a career in sports management, first in New York, which then brought him to Detroit. Despite it being a solid job, something was missing. “For me sitting in a cubicle is a prison sentence. I’ve always been a pretty hyper guy.” As he sings in “Four More Exits,” “I’m in the office, trapped like a mouse in 4 corners. U call ‘em cubicles, I call ‘em unsuitable. It feel like punishment, cruel & unusual. My energy’s creative, but I never get to be creative.” Something had to give. He had to find his art.

From the Blue Nile 2 Belle Isle

“Detroit woke me up out of a creative coma.” Ellison credits the city and its rich musical and creative heritage and environment as helping him tap into the poetry and rhythms he’d been struck by as a child in Queens. He began honing his writing skills on the slam and spoken word stages in Detroit. This experience made him a better lyricist, as he puts it, “When you take away the music and the hype, you need integrity.” It’s this foundation of strong lyrics, good thinking that his music is built on. In fact, he says, “In some ways, AfroFlow is a cleverly disguised spoken word album.”

Ethiopia to Detroit & Back Again

Ellison would return as an adult to his birthplace of Ethiopia. He wrote “Everything will be alright,” for the people there, which slid through the underground to become a huge hit in that country. Many of his songs reference Ethiopia, trying to bring respect to a place that’s seldom been given much. In “Call Us By Name,” he combats the view of Ethiopia of just starving children and a helpless people. “They make it look just like hell, they never show u the wealth/ They always got lies 2 tell, folks always got jokes as well/ They never say 1st on earth, they always say last in line.” Using a clever, catchy rhythm, he turns from what “They Say” to what is: “this is the home of the earth’s first inhabitants / The birthplace of science, medicine & mathematics.” And “I’ll never hold my head in shame / I’ll make the world call us by name.”

The beautiful rhythm, The powerful rhythm

As MIKE-E brings cultures together through his words, he does so through the music as well. The music is a mix of African, hip-hop, and other world beats, all mixed together into a cohesive whole. It creates not only something lively and strong, but an education of rhythm as well.

People sacrificed life so I could rap on this mic

In putting forth a positive message of empowerment and education, MIKE-E also addresses the hip-hop and rap cultures. He turns away from emcees battling each other, and instead credits the civil rights leads and the sacrifices that they made, as being the real emcees, the one to learn from and emulate. “A Malcom, Mandella, Martin Luther lovin’ lyricist / U want sum inspiration 4 the nation, baby, her it is”

I had 2 take it back home & make the people feel it

And so now, MIKE-E is lending his talents to a modern day political emcee, Senator Barack Obama. A retooled version of his song “Everything will be alright” has been part of campaign rallies for the aspiring presidential candidate. From Detroit Public Schools to Ethiopian towns, and now across this nation, MIKE-E is spreading a message of empowerment, of possibility, through music.

Catch him tonight at MOCAD, and from there he’ll be continuing the AfroFlow Tour, which is put on in conjunction with the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY (ACS), “as part of an anti-tobacco initiative aimed at historically black colleges and universities throughout the United States.” For more on MIKE-E and AfroFlow, check out his website here. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

9pm Friday, February 08, 2008 at MOCAD, Admission $5.
HOLY HIP HOP! New Portraits by Alex Melamid
ReFUSING FASHION: Rei Kawakubo

“Everything will be alright” remix for Obama:

Interview with Mike-E:

2008 Mike-E AfroFlow Tour Dates (As of February 5, 2008)

February 20 – South Carolina State University (Orangeburg, SC)
February 21 - Claflin University (Orangeburg, SC)
February 22 - Savannah State University (Savannah, GA)
February 28 – Winston Salem State University (Winston Salem, NC)
Feb. 29-March 1 – CIAA Tournament Fan Experience (Charlotte, NC)

March 10 – University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Princess Anne, MD)
March 11 – Howard University (Washington, DC)
March 12 – Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD)
March 18 – Delaware State University (Dover, DE)
March 28 – ACS/HBCU Conference - Carolina Theater (Raleigh, NC)
March 28 – University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)

April 1 – Morehouse College/AUC (Atlanta, GA)
April 4 – Shaw University (Durham, NC)
April 5 - St. Augustine (Raleigh, NC) - Afternoon
April 5 - Duke University (Durham, NC) – Evening
April 8 – Benedict College (Columbia, SC)
April 10 – Norfolk State University (Norfolk, VA)
April 11 – Hampton University (Hampton, VA)
April 17 – Fort Valley St. University (Fort Valley, GA)
April 18 - Albany State University (Albany, Georgia)
April 23 - Bowie State University (Bowie, MD)
April 25 – ACS Relay 4 Life (Onslow, NC)
April 26 – Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (Jacksonville, NC); to be confirmed

May 2 – ACS Relay 4 Life (Brunswick County, NC)
May 9 – University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)
May 16 – ACS Relay 4 Life (Bertie County, NC)

* Stay Tuned for additional dates

At the Detroit Film Theater

(France/2007) Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
In French with English subtitles. (95 min.) Fri. at 7:00 and 9:30; Sat. at 4:00, 7:00 and 9:30; Sun. at 2:00, 4:00 and 7:00

“People are people so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully.” – Depeche Mode

The film version of Persepolis and Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel that it is adapted from may not help us understand what makes a man hate another man, but it does paint a very human portrait of the Iranian people, and their struggles. The story chronicles her coming of age in Tehran during the Iranian revolution and subsequent war with Iraq, particularly timely at this moment when our government is threatening to enter into conflict with these people.

Visually, the film is absolutely stunning. Satrapi’s straightforward cartooning style is brought to life faithfully on the big screen. This simplified figuration mixed with her personal narrative brings the story close to home, as Scott McCloud writes in “Understanding Comics”, “when you enter the world of the cartoon you see yourself.” Where the spareness of imagery works perfectly in the tight panels of the comic book format, for the big screen, the animators have created a lush and textured environment for the characters to inhabit. It adds tremendous depth and visual interest to the film – often, single frames could stand by themselves as engaging compositions – they’re that strong. The filmmakers incorporate a number of different animation styles to capture different aspects of the narrative and continually draw the viewer into the world on the screen.

The film is quite funny and heartbreaking simultaneously. Satrapi’s character is sharp and outspoken in the serious world of adults even as a very young, extremely precocious child. Naturally inquisitive, she gathers information from adults, her own reading, and it is through her perspective that we learn about Iran’s history and political situation. Her outlook continues to shift as we see her adopt one philosophy, only to reject it in the face of some new experience. In this way, the audience is educated along with her and thus the film never comes across as preachy or political, just human. As a side note, in the graphic novel, we see her as a young child gaining a great deal of knowledge on politics and philosophy from comic books on the subject – as her work now does for another generation.

The film is incredibly layered and full as we watch her life unfold and Iran change around her, yet it never feels dense or static. The medium, whether film or comics, allow for the viewer or reader to absorb a lot through image and words all while moving along at the pace of entertainment. In trying to write about it, the list of scenes one would want to relate is too big, the film never quits. Perhaps one of the more startling overall aspects that comes through in the story, is the rapid transformation of Iran from a secular to Islamic society. We see her family, particularly the women, all more progressively educated and living a very Western lifestyle, having to start concealing themselves in veil, restrictions on parties, and other things. The contrast for them between life before and after is extremely unsettling, and also points to just how fragile the constructs of our society can be. Yet, even in the midst of revolution and war, we see life go on. The family goes to parties, we watch Satrapi buy a tape of Iron Maiden on the black market – they laugh, as do we. And this brings to mind how people in war-torn countries today – even as bombs explode around them, they struggle to make do. The needless loss of human potential is painfully sad, and as she writes in the graphic novel version, “When I think we could have avoided it all… it just makes me sick.”

It’s hard to not draw comparisons to Art Spiegelman’s holocaust tale told in comics form “Maus.” Like Spiegelman, Satrapi has crafted a tale that transcends cultures and mediums, which will continue to touch and educate people for generations. The film brings it to another audience in its own unique way, and gives the story even longer legs to reach people. It’s an important educational story, and one people need to experience so as not to make decisions out of ignorance and fear, but rather through understanding. Satrapi writes in her introduction to the Persepolis collection, “I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists.” One should hope that we will not be judged thus either. Go see it. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com