KIDD opening

A gallery's success lies in its ability to grow and change. KIDD has been around now for about thirty years now and they have certainly learned to adapt to the times. For as much as some think of KIDD as an uptight birmingham gallery I ask you to go in and talk with Ray, the director and owner. For someone who has been in the business for some time, he still speaks about art with a twinkle in his eye and boisterous enthusiasm that makes everyone feel at home in the gallery. He greets most familiar guests with a hug and kiss and then dives into topics like the current show, emerging artists, or any art news. The gallery has also taken on some young, fresh talent by hiring a recently graduated ccs painter who not only makes great work but now has risen to the challenge of managing a gallery. I only go on about KIDD because in the past as a young artist I wrote off KIDD as being a place to pursue but with art galleries on the decline in this state, the gallery offers another possibility to emerging and established artists. I mentioned that a gallery has to adapt with the times: this show features two local artists (cristin from detroit and martha from ann arbor) and to top that the show was put together in three weeks because both artists just recently came into KIDD and introduced themselves!

CRISTIN RICHARD

What a difference this dark room and installation set up does for cristin's new works! I had seen her dresses prior in the two District Arts shows but nothing compares to the feeling when you enter the dark room with spotlights on her forms! The tone of the work changes and emits an eerie, ghostly appearance as opposed to the other works in natural light that have a decorative, relic feel. The works clustered together call to mind the missing figure while the separate pieces in normal gallery light focus on the delicate materials and fashion narrative. I also enjoy the new inclusion of the casing shoes! The shoes also bring the eyes down from the floating dresses and establish a "footprint" of the figurative form. I have to say that when I heard that cristin was included in this show I wondered if she had come to a brick wall where she could only do so much with casings and romantic dresses but after seeing the new installation room I believe she still has much room to grow and experiment! There are times in an artist's career where they struggle so hard to make a point but cristin has finally nailed it in this shadowy room!

MARTHA CECCIO - these works look like simple landscapes but they are layers of encaustic. 







ROBERT NUGENT