attack of pigeon art....

This exhibit is definitely not for any of those who hate birds- especially pigeons!

Go here and here for more details. The artist is Kader Attia and the piece is called "Flying Rats", 2005, live pigeons, birdseed, mixed mediums. The images freaked me out at first...but now I wish I could see it in person!

CALL FOR ARTISTS

CALL FOR MICHIGAN ARTISTS:

Detroit and Michigan artists, I need your attention now!

 

I work at a gallery, TRA Art Group in the Michigan Design Center (a corporate and trade gallery), and we have stumbled upon a great opportunity for local artists. A large investment and real estate development company (which I will not name on the blog) is looking for Michigan artists' works to put in their new building downtown and other buildings in the metro Detroit area. Detroit artist, Mary Rousseaux and I are working on a deal to propose to the company but we first need your help. If you are interested please submit high resolution jpeg images to traart@sbcglobal.net for us to select artists to be included in the proposed artist bill. We are looking for more established artists...ie...clint snider, mitch cope, scott hocking, lynn galbreath, ben kiel...and so on...so spead the word. The sooner you submit image/resume the better.

If you have any questions please contact the listed email address. Thanks :)

kim and anderson at Hilberry

It is great how kim's geometric forms transfer to photographs - they make atmospheric distortion like the piece is melting or crumbling.

I might also add that this show was affortable to almost any collector. Kim's smallest wood form was only $500!

The "meat" painting was a favorite of mine...too bad it was already sold...




Anderson's paintings looked like colorful candy that melted onto a canvas...very yummy in texture.


I think this one was a bundle of red and green peppermints that melted.....Joking aside, I did really enjoy the surface quality in andeson's works, although in the long run I don't know if I would want to look at one everyday.

sara blakeman at mcb

Great show...and here are the pics for anyone who didn't make it out to motor city.



I bought the top piece...I called it "two poops floating in heaven". It really was called "egg replacers".

The glam/noise hipsters were in full force!

john azoni at the belmont

Hilberry opening Friday

Some art openings are about art: others are about "being seen"! Be cool and go to the Hilberry club.

Friday January 27, 6 - 9 pm opening
 Paintings by Charles Andresen and sculpture by Mary Kim and performances by The Living Flames and Genders.

mary kim



Charles Andresen

Five Detroit Buildings Worth Saving

Check out this great story - with great pics - that my buddy over at detroitfunk wrote for real detroit.

sara blakeman wednesday

Sara Blakeman at Motor City Wednesday night

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

art opening at the belmont

Tomorrow night at the Belmont, ccs student John Azoni is having an art opening.
wednesday, Jan. 25 at 8:00 pm.

The Belmont is a bar located in Hamtramck.

10215 JOSEPH CAMPAU
HAMTRAMCK, MI 48212
Phone: (313) 871-1966

reality television meets the art world!

Just when you can't get enough of reality shows like project runway and america's next top model, a new artist based reality show has emerged called "Artstar" and is put on by NY gallery Deitch Projects.

"Though the title rather playfully implies that one of the eight will emerge a star, participants won't be kicked off the show every week, they won't be living together, and there isn't going to be an official winner. Each of the participants was given a $1,000 gift certificate to spend on materials, a $500 honaorarium, and 24-hour access to 7,000 sq ft of shared studio space." Art Review jan/feb issue.
"Gallery HD and Deitch Projects are pleased to announce ARTSTAR, a groundbreaking new television documentary. ARTSTAR is the first-ever unscripted television series set in the New York art world. Selected from an open call, the eight chosen artists will have the opportunity to participate in the Art Parade at Deitch Projects. ARTSTAR will document these artists as they interact with leading critics, collectors, curators and artists in New York, while making new artworks as part of a historic collaborative participation in Deitch Projects and Paper Magazine's production of the Art Parade." Artstar official site

Check out the ARTSTAR site for more details. Too bad that it only airs on the Voom Dish network :(

more of ccs...

Besides the faculty show in the main center gallery, down the alumni hallway was an exhibit of ccs staff and administration. It is funny that to me the hallway showed a stronger show than the main gallery...which poses an interesting question about being an artist and becoming a full time teacher: does being a teacher drain you of your talent? I know this isn't a problem with all teachers and it seemed like the some of the artistically stronger teachers were not in the main show like gilda snowden, nancy mitter...isn't clint snider on board at ccs too - where was his work? The work in the hallway was also a cross section of a generally younger staff and a staff very much still involved in the current art community.

harlan lovestone - this was my first time seeing harlan's work and I would like to see more. I know the name...just not a face yet.

miroslav cukovik - very surprising...a new series? or just experimenting?

graem whyte - I loved this piece...bronze packing chips. very neat...hey graem...wanna sell?



maria pranito - maria's finishing up her masters right now. this print is a big departure from her thickly painted landscapes with stickers of a few years ago. are you still painting or are you doing more photo now?

robert kolinski

CCS faculty show

99% of the time bloggin' is fun. It is just when a computer and files have a mind of their own that using a computer is not fun at all. Since getting this page to load took most of my morning I decided to have "Blank Canvas" do the critiquing. It is also helpful to have another artist review the show because I might not be seeing clearly in my computer rage.

Blank Canvas:  When I first walked in to this show, I noticed an immediately different feel than most of the openings I go to around town. The pieces as a whole felt more developed and practiced than the work at younger artists' shows, but they also felt much more stale. As if the artists worked to a certain point and then plateaued - somewhere between 5 and 50 years ago. The sculpture above was one of the younger-seeming works. But it is very kidrobot (www.kidrobot.com) and that is very '90s. Of course, I'm sure the reason for this show's timing was so that CCS faculty could have work up and show off during the Super Bowl. A carefully curated alumni show would have been a much stronger choice.

The Ann Arbor Art Fair comes to town.

The pieces on display were not exclusively by fine arts teachers, but teachers of all disciplines.

I hope a lot of these were by the cooking teacher. What? CCS doesn't have a cooking program? These are all by teachers in the visual arts? Uh oh ...

This piece was called "vase with tears," I think. The ribbon and little glass balls seemed like after-thoughts.

This was one of a couple pieces utilizing womb imagery. It was also one of many pieces that could have used longer - much longer - gestation periods.

CCS has an excellent, if over-exposed, furniture design department and this piece speaks to the apparently highly-skilled teachers in that discipline.

one of the few pieces by the teachers that actually felt like it was made in a somewhat recent era. though it looked a little too hitchcock-film-poster to really interest me on its own terms.

a nice piece from the painting department.

the illustration piece on the left was well done but typical while the portrait on the right appeared hastily conceived.

this piece was close to $10,000. I think because it's an antique? oh, no, it's new - it just looks 100 years old ...

ccs' industrial design side showed up too. and it was, of course, quite clean, developed and finished looking. thanks to mrs. ford, it should stay that way for quite some time.


using excel spreadsheets to make art was a cool idea - in the '80s.



please stuff this painting back into its creative womb! it needs more time. or an abortion.

[the comments expressed and written by blank canvas do not necessarily reflect the views of detroitarts blog]

the opening was packed. a group show of fairly old, local artists will do that. they make their kids come.

there wasn't much abstraction at the show. you know the classic saying - if you paint realistic when you're young, you have no soul, but if you paint abstract when you're old, you have no secondary art fair income.

 

The part of the show in the CCS faculty hallway next door to the gallery was much better.

[I, detroitarts, will post and comment on pics of the hallway later]

MONA opening Saturday

PICASSO'S CAMERA: EARTHSHATTERING

Check it out Saturday 21st, tonight from 5 to 9pm.

www.detroitmona.com or call 248.210.7560.

MONA is located at 7 N. Saginaw in Pontiac.

Falling in love with Romanticism...

Normally Marygrove College isn't at the top of my list when it comes to art exhibits. I think this might be a consensus for others as well. It has always been easier for people to get out to the big art night openings at Revolution, Lemberg, District, and Hilberry. Now there are no excuses to try new venues because let's face it, Detroit galleries are shrinking in numbers! This was my first time at Marygrove and I was pleasantly surprised. After climbing four floors of stairs in a building that resembled and smelled like a historical museum I found myself in the quaint gallery...and looking at the "New Romanticism" curated by Detroit artist Kristin Beaver.

A helpful artist pamphlet accompanied the show (always great to have so you can keep artists straight) where Beaver sums up her sensual memories of her grandmother's house. Beaver remarks, "Art for decoration's sake is acceptable again. Romanticism is not just about the decorative aspects of nature, however. It is about the exotic, unimaginable, the sublime. Each of the artist's work in this show can be seen in these terms."

This grouping of luscious paintings are Adrian Hatfield. The two outside paintings (above) are rich with layers of paint, stickers, and other paper pieces that float within beautiful layers of resin.

Hatfield's attention to detail is quite exquisite! Not only does he use decorative painting of flowers and prints between the clear gloss, but he captures amazing realist detail in parts of the painting (middle above).

This painting is hard to make out in picture form but is the sexiest "under the sea" painting I have seen! I know I am being funny, but in person it is really fun to look at, especially with the sparkly stickers - this painting could easily go the wrong way and become cheesy or gimmicky but I love the dark mystery of the piece from a far and up close it is when you can discover the details.

________________


Josh Newth's works also are misleading from a distance because once up close, one discovers small scientific looking paintings of cropped body organs or tumors. The presentation is very sterile as if one was looking into a microscope on a lab table. All pieces are hand painted in amazing detail: no photos here!

______________

Riva Sayegh's photos really seemed straight from a grandmother's attic. Her prints examined the sweetness of ordinary objects, such as the scissors (above). I like how the prints complimented the show, but I still felt a little like they were a side dish to some of the other pieces.

____________

Something that could come in handy...! hahahah...anyways... I enjoyed the sculptural works of Shannon Woods. The clever titles made me chuckle and also helped to balance the clinical unfamiliar feel. These works also seemed to be found objects from a crazy old man's basement. It is as though the pieces were found and then titled to what the viewer would guess they would be used for. It is like a child's perspective!

__________








These digital prints were in the front gallery leading into the show...but not included in the show.

Very typical detroit grit. Nice from a distance but up close they were a bit grainy in quality. To me, they looked like a Scott Hocking print...or somehow related - but then again we live in a city where this kind of imagery is everywhere!

DAM Design Opening Friday

Detroit Design Exhibition

Opening: Friday Jan. 20
5:30-8 private preview and 8-10 public party
featuring motorcycles, fashion and design. Runway fashion show and black tie event. This is an opening you have to get dolled up for!

I believe you also have to pay $10 to get in though:(

CCS Faculty Show Friday at Center Gallery

Opening Friday, January 20 from 6 - 8 p.m.:

******In the Main Gallery: "CCS at 100: FACULTY NOW!"
PART I (last names A-L) including...Aaron-Taylor, Adegbenro, Andersen, Andonian, Arkles, Arnaoutova, Ashby, Aubert, Avadenka, Babcock, Barbour, Bernard, Bernstein-Machlay, Boatman, Bostek, Boucher, Braidwood, Brienza, Buffington, Cakan, Campbell, Carducci, Chow, Clark, Davis, Diaz, Drumb, Dryovage, Dunn, Durren, Ebbinghaus, Elliott, Epstein, Erickson, Fanning, Fiedler, Fitzpatrick, Foles, Freeman, Ganis, Gillies, Goodfellow, Harris,Hewitt, Holland, Holt, Houff, House, Irwin, Johnson,
Johnson, Johnson, Jones, Karbin, Karas, Kisor, Kotula, Kraus, Krayer, LaPorte, Lahey, Lamberti, Larson, Lealand, LeBarre and Lewandowski.
PART I runs through February 4.

******In Alumni & Faculty Hall: "CCS at 100: Staff Now!" A selection of
work by artists from the CCS administrative staff. This exhibition runs
through February 25

opening at marygrove thursday

Don't miss this show that Kristin Beaver curated at Marygrove College:

Opening - Thursday, January 19 from 4:30 - 7:30pm

Meadowbrook Faculty Show

 

Be sure to check out the Meadowbrook Studio Art Faculty show - Jan. 14-Feb. 19, 2006.



Vagner M. Whitehead - photo/video installation - This room had an eerie feel and the work was developed but it seemed a bit typical - tortured figures with hand stitching in the prints. Don't get me wrong, this might be up someone else's alley, but I just personally didn't dig it.

Sally Schluter Tardella - male/female backsides - This work sparked an on-going art debate between myself and another gallery attendee. I felt as though, particularly on the piece above, the background seemed like an after-thought. The space in the piece below is more resolved but I still find the painting and concept a little more art schoolish and less art faculty-ish. The debate when on to discuss the differences between Tardella's works and Goody's works. While Tardella uses strong focal figures as the subject and Goody uses a narrative of figures and background that are just as important as one another.

Dick Goody - landscape/figurative narratives - My first glimpses of Mr. Goody's work at District Arts left a lukewarm impression but this show has changed my opinion. Normally works of this nature would drive me crazy - but I have learned to enjoy his flat layers of paint and circling background. Even though the style of the figures is still a little unsettling they work well with the strange activity of the landscape. I attended a lecture that Dick participated in...he is an interesting character to say the least - he was the most interesting panelist in the "what is art" discussion.



It was these details that drew me into the works...I like knowing the history of a painting. The paintings while flat in application are very dimensional - painting the space within the forms. The fleshy qualities remind me of painters like early de kooning, diebenkorn, and gorky.







Abe Kyohei - constuction epson prints

Andrea Eis - epson archival prints- These prints speak of things that are either over my head or they are just trying too hard to be something...ancient...roman...greek? I am bored by the imagry that doesn't make me want to look into the pieces further. Yes, harsh...but someone's got to say it.



and Lynn Galbreath - narrative figure sequence- This piece was a complete surprise to me! I am accustomed to seeing landscapes by Lynn but I was pleasantly shocked to see this long frieze-like painting. The paintings have a little bit of Kristin Beaver in them but still that wonderful glazing that Lynn is famous for. Up close the paintings shine and vibrate with rich glazes of alizarin crimson and ultramarine. I enjoy when artists take risks and that said I am happy to see that she is still experimenting! Go see this show in person, but go into it like a sunday with the family and not a friday night out with friends...it isn't a shocking opening but it will spark some dialog.

another gallery closing

I just received news that 101up Gallery will host its last show the Saturday before the Superbowl, February 4.

101up: "We at the 101up Gallery are keeping this story in mind and hope you will too. The 101up Gallery will be closing its doors after The Tenth Show. The opening of this last show will mark our one year anniversary. We will end this chapter of the 101up saga with ten shows in thirteen months. We (Mark Sengbusch and Greg Frederick) have decided that we need to get back in the studio and work on our own art. This was a tough call involving the inevitable compromise between curator and artist. Like the DJ who decides he needs to produce his own records, or the
director who needs to act, the choice becomes clear."

The show will feature the private collection of 101up. (my name is on the list but I question the piece that they say they have of mine?)

What Detroit isn't doing...

Everyone needs to read this article in the Times about museums attracting young collectors and hosting gala events that merge new collectors and emerging artists. Maybe this is something MOCAD could look into and learn from???

comparison shopping

above: detroit artist Christian Tedeschi

below: ny artist Petah Coyne at the sculpture center

ambient gallery

Coinciding with the spirits of celebrating the city of Detroit with the auto show and also the super bowl coming...Ambient Gallery has a show up featuring Darcel Deneau's Detroit  landscapes. I understand the push to show "detroit" content related art but is this the way the city should be going when it has a chance to knock the socks off of its visitors? DAM will have its "stylize" show up...once again another design based show... I just hope that Hilberry will have a more representative show of detroit artists to attract art attention. It would have been great to have had the CAID biennial show up during the superbowl!

Saturday openings

"SEARCH"
Oakland University Studio Art Faculty Exhibition
Opening reception: Saturday, January 14, 6 - 8:00pmJanuary 14 - February 19, 2006

featuring

KYOHEI ABE
ANDREA EIS
LYNN GALBREATH
DICK GOODY
SALLY SCHLUTER TARDELLA
VAGNER M. WHITEHEAD

Rauschenberg at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

OUR PICASSO? by Jerry Saltz....be sure to take a look at his analysis of Rauschenberg's works.

Criticism has a rebuttal

In my previous post about art criticism and linking the Metro Times article on the Judy Pfaff show I received a response from Rebecca who co-wrote the article. She didn't mind if I posted her comments so here ya go. I think it is only fair to keep the debate going!

You bring up some good issues, but I need to make a couple of points:

1) Opinion alone does not make for criticism. First and foremost, criticism is analysis. So qualifying something as bad or good doesn't make it more relevant than one that doesn't make that judgment, perhaps just more interesting -- but not always. Someone who's always offering an opinion and little analysis? Jerry Saltz.

2) Why not analyze a bad show? Because most of the weak art in Detroit is not simply bad, it's boring. There's a huge difference there. Bad art invites questions and comments. Boring art leaves its audience with absolutely nothing to say, and is usually a result of looking at work by an artist who has nothing to say. Speaking of boring, I'm befluxed and beflummoxed that you could call the Pfaff show boring! It's one of the most fascinating shows I've seen in a long while, and believe that non-art lovers could appreciate it too, since it's not art about art. It's art about philosophy and science.
( ann: I didn't mean to not analyze a bad show...I agree that a bad show makes for a better show than a boring show. I just think that Pfaff's imagery didn't appeal to me despite the story behind it...I just don't think layered paper with punched holes is very engaging. Yes...her installations are interesting but these just look like decorative floral collage prints that I sell to interior designers!:) )

2) Art criticism, in part, is "descriptive" for the exact opposite reason you suggest: There is too much nepotism in the arts right now. critics often double as curators, educators, artists and collectors, and have much to lose from printing negative reviews.

Stephen Bush

While flipping through the back of Art Forum's review section I came across artist Stephen Bush. At first glance, to some,  these paintings could easily be described as an acid trip of fluorescent colors but I have been taken with these menacing, desolate cabin landscapes. I think that most people are attracted to elements of the work they create. This said, I love the lone structure contained in the abstract field of color and painterly strokes. I feel that the works tie to the feeling of the city of detroit and the neighborhoods that now appear to be more country than city-like.

 
In the press release to his show at Goff + Rosenthal it explains:  "In making each painting, there are two stages in the development of the work. First, Bush pours paint directly onto the canvas, allowing a freeform image to appear. Next, Bush begins to develop a narrative out of the abstract and accidental forms. Says Bush, "I work to discover or manipulate figurative elements with the information that presents itself in the ground."

A lonely crawl

"A performance artist who is attempting a 60-mile crawl to Canterbury has passed the half-way mark and hopes to arrive in the city late on Friday.  He is crawling about five miles a day and reached Maidstone on Sunday in his campaign to highlight loneliness. " BBAC News

art criticism (description?)

Why is it that the majority of art reviews are solely based on description, not evaluation and analysis? I have been thinking about this topic for some time now, partially because I like to read about art and find it difficult to want to read a review that talks about how art looks, where/how it was placed, what the colors are...and so on. Let me emphasize "want" again. I want to read art criticism that is interesting and isn't like licking sand off a jagged piece of glass.

In the recent issue of Art in America there is an article called "Art Criticism, Bound to Fail" and one can imagine my excitement when I thought the problems of current art discussion would be addressed. I grabbed my pen, ready to underline the key points but found after finishing that the only star subjects mentioned never went into detail and also were the bullet points to the page! The article did bring up some ideas about the downfall of art writing. For instance the gap between artists and art critics has grown - past critics like Greenberg and other mid-century writers dined with fellow artists regularly. The essay took no real side, and in fact felt like a dull descriptive review that didn't seize the chance to step up. They went on to say, "the guiding question shouldn't be why write art criticism, but why make art?" and "what matters most about visual art, in the end, is that it's visual, that it always involves an essential quality which exceeds written accounts". So, as with art, I guess there is no real answer and art criticism is also subjective in style. But why spend time reading what something looks like for so long without any sort of evaluation of the intent?

This now brings me to writers who love everything. Why? Not all art is good so why write about the color and composition for so long when the exhibition is weak and other issues could have been addressed. I only bring this up because I recently read the Judy Pfaff review in Metro Times and felt that...yes, it was a nice review but the show was very decorative and just boring. Pfaff's art history is intersting but if the viewer knew nothing about the show, would they think the same?

money makes the world go around

So this is why CCS is looking so sexy lately:

"In one of the largest gifts ever given to a U.S. private arts college, the College for Creative Studies is the beneficiary of a $50 million bequest from the late Josephine Ford."

BBAC CCS Selections

In case you haven't made it out to the BBAC for the ccs selections exhibition...here are some pics of the works. It is a great show to check out...don't let the venue scare you away. It is really the only fresh and upcoming artists' show going on right now. I didn't get a chance to write down all the names with the pieces when I took pics so I am labeling strictly on memory. If I leave out anyone...just leave a comment :)

Joshua Ferrel

Michael Smith

Steve Brown



Ann Gordon







Faina Lerman



Miroslav Cukovic

Ben Kiehl


Matt Lewis




Susan Trujillo



Craig Nowak




Brian C. Barr

Joel Dugan

Leman Lambert








Erin Somerville

Artists in Show...

Here is the list of artists participating in the CCS Selections show at the BBAC. Opening: Jan 6, 4-8pm

Graduated 2005
Heather Anger
Erin Aube
Jacklyn Brickman
Miroslav Cukovic
Ben Kiehl
Kylie Lockwood
Erin Somerville

Graduated 2004
Leman Lambert
Faina Lerman
Brian C. Barr

Graduated 2003
Steven. Brown
Ann Gordon
Julia Stout
Susan Trujillo

Graduated 2002
Joshua Ferrel
Matt Lewis
Joel Dugan

2005
Stephanie Buer
Chris Hall
Brittany Harris
Craig Nowak
Michael Smith

In case you missed MCB...

Here are some pics of the opening at Motor City that featured about 50 artists, each creating a piece that was 5x5".

Picture of the Day!

Champion air guitarist Bjorn Turoque at Artists Space, Dec. 21, 2005

Motor City art night Wednesday

Don't forget Wednesday Jan 4 is the big 1-year anniversary group show at motor city brewing. There will be over 50 artists exhibiting works five inches square or smaller. The opening runs from 7-midnight.

For those who don't already know: the brewery is located at 470 w. canfield in detroit, across from the traffic jam. ph.313-832-2700

CCS Selections at the BBAC Friday

This Friday, Jan. 6th, is the CCS Selections: Fine Arts Invitational opening at the BBAC. The opening is from 4-8pm.
I will have some new paintings along with a slew of other exceptional fine artists from CCS. Don't miss out on a truly great show!!
_________________
In 2006, CCS will celebrate its 100th anniversary. As the first part of a year-long celebration of this extraordinary milestone in the history of the College, the Fine Arts Department is presenting an exhibition highlighting selected recent graduates of its program, entitled: CCS Selections: A Fine Arts Invitational. The Fine Arts Department of CCS has been a primary source of leadership in the fine arts in the Detroit Metro area for generations. These artists have contributed on every level, and continue to form the solid base of the Detroit scene. Many have gone on to careers on a national or international level, but still see this area as their artistic home. This exhibition gives the viewer the opportunity to see the latest product of a well-respected,established program.

The faculty and administration of the department has considered the 94 Fine Arts Department graduates of the past four years as well as current seniors and has selected twenty-three artists for participation in this show. They represent a variety of disciplines, from traditional drawing and painting to video. Each of these artists were selected because of their proven potential and current high levels of activity. All are currently pursuing their creative careers as working artists, many in this community but others as far away as Florida.

forum discussion...

There happens to be a nice little discussion happening about a possible art mag in Detroit...check it out.

whitney biennial preview III

Here is an interesting artist in the biennial....

Anthony Burdin

Here is an excerpt about the artist:

Articulating a complex and hallucinatory California Gothic, Burdin's video installations and drawings explore a kinship between fact and fantasy, between the conventions of pop music and marketing and the obsessive desires of fans. His videos many of which are made in the 1973 Chevy Nova in which he has lived during much of the past decade are characterized by a restlessly nomadic aesthetic.

whitney biennial preview II

Here are some more artwork images of selected Whitney Biennial 06 artists:

Troy Brauntuch

matthew monahan

Marilyn-Minter

Josephine Meckseper

adam mcewen

adam mcewen

whitney biennial preview...

I have started to check out artists for the upcoming Whitney Biennial. It is somewhat difficult to really get a sense of what the artist is fully about by just some images online...but at  least you can narrow down what media they use. The images below are from Todd Norsten - printmaker/painter. You can see more images and a bio here. I am especially fond of the bleeding snowman, pumpkin heads, and teeth!