detroitarts: January 2007

Detroit Industrial opening

POSSESSION
Opening Friday, February 2, 2007, 6pm – 10pm and Saturday, February 3, 2007, 6pm-10pm. Installation exhibit by Detroit artists Mark Arminski, Katie Are, Scott Berels, Tim Burke and Lindsay Jewell.
Detroit Industrial Projects
1610 Clay Avenue
Second Building, Third FloorDetroit, MI

Beal's angry

Looks like Mr. Beal is angry about what Chris Hill wrote (Lowering the Barre) in this Metro Times article about the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). That story even sparked a lot of debate on the blog! Now Beal has written a letter to Metro Times in the DIA's defense voicing his opinion of Hill's take on the changes happening at the museum. Beal mentions this in his rebuttal:

"...Responding to my statement that much of our research militates against the primacy of 'quiet contemplative places for ... the self-confident visitor,' Ms. Hill jumps to the conclusion that 'Beal's new DIA will be a noisy place, nonconducive to thinking.' Well, actually, no. While there will very definitely be different kinds of interactive stations to engage our visitors, they will, by and large, not impinge unduly on those who wish to maintain a more self-contained experience. For those, like Ms. Hill, who recoil with horror at such calculated disregard for their sensibilities, I ask that they remember we are attempting to engage a nonspecialist audience in a process that will increase appreciation of some of the most extraordinary objects made in the history of the world — objects that make the DIA one of a handful of truly great art museums in the United States..."

On another note, I wondering how much the world of "art bloggers" has influenced art criticism and stories being published. Blogs are less formal and are opinion based that don't usually get source quotes. But now even art publication are leaving out source comments (see Metro Times and even this recent Art in America story) which makes for angry readers, like in Beal's case. Beal remarks:

"...Finally, a personal note. I responded to Christina Hill's e-mail because I knew her to be a DIA member, a teacher and, indirectly, a personal acquaintance. My correspondence with her is technically and legally hers to do with what she will, but to take an ostensibly professional and personal exchange that is over a year old and use it as the basis of a piece of journalism without seeking additional comment strikes me as more than a little questionable."

bloggers + art critics = explosion

This story looks familiar..."blogger gets heat from "art critic"... gee, don't know what that is like!

Check out Tyler Green's response to an Art in America article that mentions him (below). Hear, hear Tyler...keep up the great work!

"Exceptions [to reader disinterest in art critics] exist -- as with the lead critics for a few of the major dailies -- but they don't abound. More and more people in the audience for contemporary art would rather read Tyler Green snark somebody in his blog, Modern Art Notes, than ponder the considered judgment of Michael Kimmelman on a MoMA retrospective. Many art writers have either added unpaid blogging to their activities or been squeezed into it from want of other, traditional outlets -- for which many bloggers don't have enough writerly inclination or discipline, anyway. Each of those art bloggers has a following of fans and other bloggers, and each of those bloggers has... and so on. A growing form of art criticism consists of posting links to other people's criticism, which consists of posting links... and so on." Art in America

Bringing you end of the work day cheer!

Misaki Kawai

Saltz's words of wisdom on the art market...

"...Is the art market making us stupid? Or are we making it stupid? Consider the lame-brained claim made by Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art, Tobias Meyer, who recently effused, "The best art is the most expensive because the market is so smart." This is exactly wrong. The market isn’t "smart;" it’s like a camera -- so dumb it’ll believe anything you put in front of it. Essentially, the art market is a self-replicating organism that, when it tracks one artist’s work selling well, craves more work by the same artist. Although everyone says the market is "about quality," the market merely assigns values, fetishizes desire, charts hits and creates ambience. These days the market is also too good to be true...
The current market feeds the bullshit machine, provides cover for a lot of vacuous behavior, revs us up while wearing us down, breeds complacency and is so invasive that it forces artists to regularly consider issues of celebrity, status and money in their studios. Yet, it also allows more artists to make more money without having to work full-time soul-crushing jobs and provides most of us with what Mel Brooks called "our phony-baloney jobs..." Saltz - read whole story here.

hilberry group show

RYAN MCLAUGHLIN - Garry B

Homework
I had seen McLaughlin's paintings before at Hilberry and this time I enjoyed them much more in context with the rest of the artists. I liked how the smaller paintings had a luscious, traditional painterly surface yet the imagery wasn't uptight. I love a painting that can laugh at itself...or art that isn't too serious, yet is well executed. The puff clouds weightlessly danced with sweeping brooms and hovering jerseys. McLaughlin's worlds are strange but very alluring. I would love to take home the ice arena painting called "Gym Class"!

Gym Class

For Eddie

SHANNON MUSTIPHER - Abel
Mustipher's series of bernhardt-katz-like gouache and watercolor paintings on paper are the prize of the show! The large (50x38") portraits have an unpretentious, fresh quality about them and I am happily satisfied after seeing the works in person. This is something that I would want to own, also!

Nilson

Larry

Cain

STANLEY WHITNEY

Upstate
I read this about Whitney's works:

"Stanley Whitney's painting is the entirety at which nothing can be added and at the same time the potentiality that implies everything that can be painted."

It didn't make me like or understand them any more. That said the paintings were nice, yes, even colorful, but if this show was a contest, then Whitney finished last for me. (Come on, we all rank artists when we go to see a group show, so why not say it?)

MATT CONNORS - New Pink Triangle
I felt that Connors started where Whitney left off. He took the solid planes and stretched the angles so that the colorful lines were sections or cut-aways from a diagram.

Thrasher

Cult Test Final
I like this piece, it reminds me of geometry class...if only you could have been graded on how well you painted the sections of the parallelogram!

HAIR SHOW @ CAID

”Hair is an object that has been seen throughout history as an incredibly loaded item. It has the quality of power beauty and sensuality while on an equal level still seen as grotesque and offensive. Hair removed from its initial place automatically loses its appeal and sophistication. Standards of the placement of hair have become prevalent and overwhelming in our contemporary world. We grow the hair on our head to be long and luscious while shaving our pubic areas to be reminiscent of someone who hasn’t even yet hit puberty.” –Sculptor, Elizabeth Ladd

I can honestly say that I have never been to a fashion show quite like this one! Elizabeth Ladd's furry undergarment creations were rocked out in a fierce runway show of not bashful models. If a model's job is to make you want the clothing then I think I left wanting a hairy crotch...err...well you get the point. Ladd also had a quieter batch of intricate graphite drawings of hair pieces that were a nice contrast to the over-the-top fashion show. My only criticism is that some of the drawings were wrinkled and it seemed unintentional.

Community Arts @ Paramount Gallery

"Epic Conditions"
Chris Erchick, Nathan Vince, and Tim Whitehead curated by Narine Kchikian

I finally made it out to Community Arts. I have been meaning to go for some time now and when it opened I couldn't quite picture where a gallery could be in a bank in ferndale...but now it all makes sense...phew, glad that is cleared up :) The space is unexpected but it is really wonderful to see local contemporary artwork in a bank that is not just decorative giclees by unknown catalog artists that decorators normally use in those situations. Instead the artwork is challenging for the viewer and not as easy to grasp as a "happy landscape poster" for the average bank customer to view. Things like this make a difference in a community, so cheers to Narine for putting this project together. Hmm...maybe I will have to change banks....

Community Arts @ Paramount Gallery located on west side of Woodward,south of 9 mile in Paramount Bank. 22635 Woodward Avenue,Ferndale, MI

hilberry opening friday jan26

MATT CONNORS
RYAN MCLAUGHLIN
SHANNON MUSTIPHER
STANLEY WHITNEY

ryan mclaughlin (above/below)

matt connors

stanley whitney

...and for the last artist shannon mustipher, I can't find any artwork images, just this mention of her winning a Liquitex Paint Exchange Program.

check out my interview with Telegraph

Check out my interview with Telegraph in Real Detroit Weekly (with pics):

The telegraph was the first form of electronic communication that could be sent long distances. In years since, the boom in technology has made it as simple as an email to give quick notice. Humans want to be understood and to send ideas into the world. Artwork is no different in that artists hope to communicate to viewers what they are feeling or an idea that they hope to unleash. Telegraph Art Collective is a group of artists based in Detroit, though many of its members have spread out across the country. Their current exhibition at Oakland University Art Gallery runs through Feb. 25.

Playing an electronic version of paper telephone (er, telegraph) Real Detroit communicated with Telegraph to show how thoughts and ideas can change and evolve between people; much in the way that looking at art can be interpreted differently and spawn new ideas. The first member got this sentence over email: “Why Detroit and why have a collective?” They responded and then forwarded (“telegraphed”) only the last sentence of their reply to the next person, and it went on from there.

These are the results.

Hartmut Austen: Detroit. I like the sound of the name. It sounds French. For an artist, Detroit’s a big playground. I can’t say, living in the ’burbs, that I care too much about the region. I’m not a Detroit artist. I am an artist living in the Detroit area. A collective helps to look beyond [one's] own plate. I just realized that I have been living here as long as I was living in Berlin. I love Berlin. I don’t love Detroit. But I respect it.
Haley Renee Bates: I’m pretty removed from Detroit these days. The lasting impression that I brought from there is the utter contradiction that the area embodies. Contradiction offers entry into a much broader dialog, regardless of the subject at hand. In the case of Telegraph, it is present in individual artwork and in the group as a whole. Contradiction does not necessarily indicate a lack of cohesion; rather, it leads to a more engaging and exciting way of interpreting the world.
Fabio J. Fernandez: Seven different artists will have their own set of concerns, in the context of a group exhibition, the intersection of these often leads to new dialogue, new beginnings.
I am curious to see how Telegraph develops. We have discussed including architecture and design in one of our ventures and have been approached about contributing to an arts/culture magazine in a non-traditional fashion.
We have been able to marshal our energies in an effort to push forward, I wonder how and where we will push next …
Brent Sommerhauser: It’s exciting not knowing that. It’s incredibly flexible. In addition to my own work, I can speak enthusiastically about the work of these other six artists that I respect professionally and personally. We all do that; and we could wind up almost anywhere next year. Without an actual place for much of what we do, our meetings are infrequent, but full of focused response and inspiration. This is where we fantasize wildly about what’s next, hungry for potential.
Brent Sommerhauser: It’s exciting not knowing that. It’s incredibly flexible. In addition to my own work, I can speak enthusiastically about the work of these other six artists that I respect professionally and personally. We all do that; and we could wind up almost anywhere next year. Without an actual place for much of what we do, our meetings are infrequent, but full of focused response and inspiration. This is where we fantasize wildly about what’s next, hungry for potential.
Tom Lauerman: Is Christian is asking us (the reader) about our New Year’s resolutions? Personally, my resolution is to simplify my daily life. I’m frightened by how difficult it can be to take a step back and look at your own situation with some degree of objectivity. Last week in Detroit I had the good fortune to begin a series of conversations with mentors, friends, students and strangers. I came out of my shell a bit, and Detroit saved my life.
Shannon Goff: Each one of us has been “saved” by a fellow Telegraph member at one time or another. ”Picnic for Fabio” is inspired by Fernandez’s extensive thermos collection, but also constructed as a thank you for his generous help in the past. I realize it is a portrait of Fabio ... smooth and sleek, appreciating and pushing design and function, carefully assembled, humble with argyle sweater vest to boot. Honing in on the details and idiosyncrasies of each other ... I could make a portrait for each member ... perhaps that's where I’ll start next. RDW

Telegraph Art Collective • Through February 25 • Oakland University Art Gallery

More info: http://www.telegraphart.com/.

detroitarts pics of show

peres projects

While drowning in snot today on the couch I found time to look into some berlin galleries. After coming from Art Miami, it seems like Berlin is where it's at! Here's a great link to GALLERY-WEEKEND-BERLIN 2007 that is extremely efficient in linking to all the big german galleries (bottom right links).
Here are a few samples from just one of the galleries I found interesting: Peres Projects.