detroitarts

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  ...and now this

  Posted: 27-August-2008, 6:25am CEST by art blogs are fun

  I moved to LA, welcome to my new blog:
  
  TRYHARDER
  
  
  
  [try-har-der.blogspot.com]
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  Russell in the news

  Posted: 13-September-2007, 4:16am CEST by art blogs are fun

  Be sure to check out Real Detroit Weekly for info on the Russell's art events this weekend and many art profiles. See the artist collective group, a great interview with greg tom, and also janette strezinski (of DIP).
  
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  don't miss tonight...

  Posted: 15-September-2007, 5:28pm CEST by art blogs are fun

  
  all the russell happenings...
  yup, it's supposed to be that dark....don't miss this in the shuffle tonight:
  BLACK & BLACK
  Featuring:
  Dana Bell
  Sara Blakeman
  Jef Bourgeau
  Davin Brainard
  Mike Connelly
  Ronald Cornelissen
  Jamie Easter
  Dion Fischer
  Matt Gordon
  John Olson
  Taormina Brothers
  Suzanne Walters
  Saturday, September 15, 2007
  6-11 pm
  UFO FACTORY,
  1345 Division, Detroit
  (Eastern Market)
  and...Intelligent Design: Project II @ MONA

  Reception: September 15, Saturday from 6 to 9pm

  
  

  
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  russell artfest

  Posted: 16-September-2007, 6:23pm CEST by art blogs are fun

  
  I knew that the russell events were a big thing when I got a phone call from my mom asking what time I was going. Not that my mom's not a hip lady, but I didn't know that the word about the russell's events had spread past certain artist groups and tenants included. It is so strange and fast that the russell has exploded as the "art spot" hosting many studios, small businesses, glass studios, make-shift and established galleries and many other experimental spaces. As positive as this big fair/show was it still has far to come. First off, I recommend a little curation happening. I will say it again, one thing detroit lacks is curators to jury big events like this. Sure you are excited and want to let everyone in but the quality of art down in the alleys was pretty poor. I was thinking it would have been a step up from art fairs but instead the cool evening and decaying building made the tents look grim and sparse. That said, things on the inside were better, or at least selectively better. But this ain't no chelsea district!
  
  
  Here's the second floor...man, I haven't seen this part of the building...everything looks so finished. Where are the plywood walls?
  
  So, there was a lot of art like this...
  
  
  
  
  
  ...and then the standout installation was in the Detroit Industrial Projects (DIP) gallery.
  Works on paper and canvas
  Serbian artist, Srdjan Segan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  And in usual russell center fashion, here posted was the sign to the artist collective group upstairs. Don't miss that sign...you might end up lost in the back building with the rats....
  
  yes, more helpful signs :)
  
  And, here we go - the artists collective group, artists involved:
  

  Vincent Troia, Jenny Ziegler, Vanessa
  Merrill, Kevin Beasley, Nate Morgan, Linda Baracat,
  Gil Vasquez

  
  I was really into the installation set up by the artist/ccs gang. I felt more attention to an overlying theme/idea was taken as a whole instead of each artist having their own random object setups. I brought in a whole bunch of my own meaning and it resonated even more...but you will have to check it out for yourself.
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  artoff

  Posted: 17-September-2007, 3:25pm CEST by art blogs are fun

  This morning I saw this piece up on the Art Market Watch and it made me think of a Detroit artist who did/does similar things. (Forgive my dark pic quality)
  Steven ParrinoScab Noggin$433,000Sotheby?s New York, Sept. 12, 2007
  Ben Kiehl

  Batter - 2007, Oil on linen, 24 x 18"

  
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  art is fun

  Posted: 17-September-2007, 4:10pm CEST by art blogs are fun

  This is my relationship with the blog now... it's like a grimacing, grumpy, controlling man staring back at me...just wanting me to write more and more - only positive news of course, and I am frightened and want to slowly step away... Michael Williams ?Friends?, 2006 Oil on Canvas 24 x 30 in
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  here's some text art mocad forgot...

  Posted: 17-September-2007, 7:18pm CEST by art blogs are fun

  Work N° 275 'Small Things' Martin Creed (I did really like his piece feelings in the show...mocad pics to come)Gold No Room (no. 1) Glenn Ligon
  
  
  Big Funk
  Deborah Kass
  
  People Like You Need to Fuck People Like Me
  Tracy Emin at White Cube, London neon sign.
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  Grants @ MOCAD

  Posted: 18-September-2007, 5:06am CEST by art blogs are fun

  Free Grant Information Sessions:
  Performing Artists, Writers, and Artists in Emerging Fields!
  
  Wednesday, October 3
  11:30 a.m ? 1:00 p.m.
  FREE
  
  Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
  4454 Woodward Ave_Detroit, MI 48201
  info@mocadetroit.org_ or julie@mocadetroit.org
  313 832 6622
  
  Kemi Ilesanmi
  Associate Director of Grants & Services, Creative Capital Foundation
  
  Creative Capital Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that supports artists pursuing adventurous and imaginative work in the performing and visual arts,
  film/video, innovative literature, and emerging fields. In 2008, Creative Capital will be considering proposals in the performing arts, innovative literature, and emerging fields.
  
  Please RSVP and refer questions to grants@creative-capital.org
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  words fail me @ mocad

  Posted: 19-September-2007, 3:00am CEST by art blogs are fun

  (Words Fail Me curated by matthew higgs - artist, curator, and writer based in ny. director and chief curator of White Columns.)
  
  anne-lise coste
  Parmi les singes et les signes
  
  
  
  jeremy deller
  Folk Song
  
  
  
  siobhan liddell
  WEAKNESS AS STRENGTH
  
  
  
  lisa anne auerbach
  Everything I Touch Turns To $old
  
  carl pope
  The Bad Air Smelled of Roses
  
  
  
  kay rosen
  Blurred
  
  tauba auerbach
  Telephone
  
  
  
  jennifer west
  Whatever Film and Yeah Film
  
  ron terada
  Stay away from lonely places
  
  
  
  martin creed
  Work No. 336
  
  
  
  sam durant
  Let's judge ourselves as people
  
  
  
  jonathan monk
  Nostalgic for the Future
  
  
  
  philippe parreno and rirkrit tiravanija
  Stories are Propaganda
  
  ryan gander
  Encrypt Encrypt Encrypt
  
  I was surprised to hear from everyone mixed reviews about this show. mocad, being a new museum always sparks heated debate when it comes to shows but I noticed a bit of indifference (or comments under this post). I, being a text art junky, enjoyed seeing the show and felt that the works flowed nicely and unlike other mocad shows, it was a better number of works compared to other overcrowded or sparse shows of works. I shouldn't be that surprised though, because text art isn't for everyone. Some people love text and associating meaning with single words or repeated phrases while others need tactile surfaces and picture planes to get off on. Text art is a tricky thing because while some might say, "oh, it's so easy to put a word up on the wall and have it mean something grand," frankly, more thought goes into it than you think. Some text art falls flat and doesn't give enough info while others give too much diary-like meaning. A standout text artist, martin creed, graced the show with "feelings", a perfect example of a dialog piece that is so simplistic yet says a billion different things! I end up remembering the works like creed and also rosen, terada and monk while passing on pope and a couple others. Ultimately, this is what a contemporary museum should be showing to the community: well curated shows with an international mix of emerging and contemporary artists and hey...maybe one of these days they will have curators that will actually visit many of the great detroit artists' studios here and not just the few artists affiliated with mocad. Oh, a girl can dream ;)
  
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  #26

  Posted: 20-September-2007, 3:35pm CEST by art blogs are fun

  I just looked at a calendar today and realized I leave in 26 days! yikes! And then I started thinking about artists numbering works and thinking how few actually hold meaning to the number versus counting a series of works. I always think it is funny when artists are asked to title a piece and then they whip out some random number...like yeah, it's called #72 1/2 Untitled Series! ...I can just hear The Count saying, "26...muahahahahhahahha..."! Robert Beauchamp #26
  

  John Chamberlain

  Kiss # 26
  

  Glenn Ligon

  Stranger # 26
  

  

  Nicholas Prior

  Untitled #26