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.

May 17 through July 5.





Art director Jim Puntigam has a strong vision for the Zeitgeist gallery and continues to see it through with each show. While on the surface Dreifuss and Johnson might seem to be an odd pairing, they complement each other well. Both men share in a great passion for making art which is made clear by the sheer amount and variety of work on display on these walls.





Arnold Dreifuss offers the retelling of myths through narration and symbolism in his own unique style. His figures are at once sketchy and awkward like images on cave walls and woodcuts of a past era, yet they simultaneously possess a curvaceous grace and refined elegance about them, as befitting the characters he is portraying. While narrative in scope, the pieces are more stained glass mosaics where the line between figure and landscape is nearly nonexistent. Pieces fit together to form the figures and the ground. Whether working in paint or scrawling marks to fill the entire surface – each piece shares in this fractured yet whole quality. The strength bestowed upon the lines and the segmentation helps to add to the intimacy already existent between the figures portrayed. Where one figure stops and another begins is not entirely clear, as they are woven together on the canvas. Dreifuss has created visual poems along the lines of the Orphic tradition.





Jack Johnson is a juggernaut of creativity producing copious amounts of work. These are raw, expressive pieces on canvas, sheets and abandoned furniture. In terms of energy and expressiveness it is not too difficult to draw comparisons to Basquiat – and in fact (though this may be coincidence) a Warhol-esque coifed figure is portrayed in a piece entitled “Jean-Michel’s New Friend.” (In the list it says “Jean-Michael” though the painting seems to have no “a” in it.) Loosely rendered primitive faces confront the viewer with a powerful presence. Whether using large brushes or spray cans, Johnson wields a palette of primal paints and expressive color to compose his portraiture and message laden imagery.


Johnson has tremendous energy and vitality but no hint of pretense. On one of the paintings (entitled “Dear Dr. Ruth”) he has scrawled over layers of other writing and imagery – “Be humble.” This is Johnson to the core – the “real deal”. He seems to make art from a place because doing so is important and ideas matter. This is not to say that all of them are stunning successes – some are less than others. But this should come as no surprise with the tremendous amount of work on display here. In a different venue, careful selection might be essential. At Zeitgeist however, they all seem to inhabit the space well. Johnson’s narrative comes through not on the canvas but through the viewer’s interaction with the fusion of words, imagery, and raw color he creates.


Both men exude passion – passion for stories, passion for ideas, and most of all passion to make art. These things must be told, must be expressed, must be made – and Dreifuss and Johnson hold nothing back in doing so. – nick Sousanis