One Size Fits All: Actual Size and Primary Space
2005 Actual Size Biennial, Vol. 2
Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit
Nov 5 - Dec 18, 2005
www.thecaid.org

(NOTE: This writer is the board chair of CAID, and as such has a vested interest in the success of the exhibition. That said, he’s written about actual size shows past and have obviously encountered and written about nearly all of the artists in this show in other contexts, and in addition was not involved with the selection process. Still, he’s heavily involved in the organization.)

Part two of the biennial actual size exhibition rolls out, featuring a huge sampling of Detroit based artists. What I always enjoy about this exhibition is that in the single theme of limitation of scale (this time 8.5 by 11 inches), artists have the opportunity to be creative within the confines of that restriction, and often step outside the box (or the rectangle as the case may be!) and play with the very limitation itself.

In addition, the exhibition is a chance to sort of play who’s who with Detroit art, an encyclopedia (though obviously not complete) of sorts, that offers a viewer to take in a big overview of what is Detroit art in a single viewing. This also means established artists alongside less so, and a great opportunity for various visions to mingle.

Just a briefest of brief sampling of what’s on display (by no means even trying to be comprehensive, only representative of what one can expect to see.)

Well known, high regarded painters like Mel Rosas, Gilda Snowden, Jim Nawara, Stephen Magsig, who often work at such a scale anyhow, show off some beautiful works. In this same vein are sculptural pieces from Charles McGee, Hugh Timlin, and Christine Hagedorn that fit within the show’s size restriction. Ben Kiehl may have painted traditionally, but his actual size painting depicted a slightly crumpled highly realistic piece of paper, also revealing the canvas below.

Some artists play with movement like Frank Pahl’s spinning disk and Andy Malone’s piece in which he replaced all the numbers on a pre-digital clock radio with images he created. These pictures tell his versions of the stories of urban myths in Detroit – progressing at a rate of image per minute. Clinton Snider made his piece a little beyond the scale, in “33% More” his painting on found wood, is just that, elongated a third beyond the 11 inch restriction.

A few artists worked within the 8.5x11in. restriction in the flat plane, but expanded in another direction. Rachel Timlin created a number of images of the Thinker, each on a sheet of paper clipped to individual coat hangers, all saying “I went to the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit and all I got was this stupid art.” Nearby, Christian Tedeschi works with multiple sheets of glass arranged in parallel. The front pane contains a single dialogue balloon, and each subsequent glass panel has further balloons inscribed upon it, building a cacophony of chorus viewed altogether. Matt Shlian really played with the approach with “Caterpillar Book” in which starting from an actual size paper base on the wall, his paper sculpture creatively unfolds off the wall, pop-up book style, to lay flat on the accompanying stand. Sarah Lipinski stuck to the format by painting her actual size rectangle directly on the gallery walls!

This is but a tiny sampling of the 70 or so artists on display, all together painting a really vivid picture of the Detroit art community.

Postcards from the Edge
Pr1mary Space
“Wish You Were Here”
December 3rd until January 28, 2006.

So if the CAID show is about Detroit’s identity and its range of diversity, Pr1mary Space offers up a similar exhibition with a different feel. For their show, “Wish You Were Here” they display artworks on all postcard sized (4by6in) works. On one hand, this is a broader range of artists in that they hail from all over the country, but on the other these all speak to the identity of the gallery itself. And what is that identity? It’s broad to be sure, but it stems from illustration, pop iconography, childhood fantasy, and adult sensibilities. There’s little play within the restrictions of the format, which is ok here, as works of this more illustrative nature lend themselves well to being presented at this scale.

Artists range from Kyle Stone’s unique story book characters (note, Stone is also showing at CAID) to Jeff Claasen’s pixie-ish, stylized characters to Misha Kligman’s photo real, atmospheric portraits to Lesley Reppeteaux’s heroines in pop-culture collaged environments. All of the different artists assembled offer a chance to engage in the rich tradition of illustration, and see various approaches and influences from around the country.

Like the CAID show, in a single visit, this show offers the opportunity to uncover Pr1mary Space’s identity. Like the size limitation, understanding a space’s identity in no means limits what might be there next time, but opens a window to the sensibilities that make each venue, each gathering of artists, its own place.

Check these shows out to get to know the space and the place, and see a strong assemblage of artists all under one roof. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com