Who Are You Looking At?

Julie Mehretu at the Detroit Institute of Arts
23 Nov 2007
Julie Mehretu: City Sitings inaugurates the central special exhibition galleries, located just to the south of Rivera Court. Mehretu, born in Ethiopia and raised and educated in Michigan and Rhode Island, has been described as a truly global artist, whose large, abstract paintings explore the often unwieldy issues of mobility, social organization, political entanglement, and global competition. Five of the paintings in City Sitings were completed specifically for the exhibition. These new works demonstrate her fervent preoccupation with multiple, often conflicting, viewpoints. 


Julie Mehretu: City Sitings

23 November 07 - 30 March 08

The Detroit Institute of the Arts





These images aren't in the DIA exhibition but I wanted to show examples of her work. If you have the opportunity to see the show please take advantage. Her work is striking to see up close.

Who Are You Looking At?

A lot of folks...

I spent the holidays in Detroit and, yes, I know what you're thinking, but it’s my home and I love it as maybe only a family member can.

In every family there's a shining star and ours right now is the New Detroit Institute of Arts. Although I had a cold for most of the trip I managed to get there for a short visit.

My visit was too brief for me to make any grand assessments but I have to say it's absolutely wonderful!...and HUGE! in comparison to the "Old " DIA. I should also mention that they have three permanent galleries dedicated to African American Contemporary Art. This is a big deal because many museums don't have permanent exhibit space reserved for African American Artists.

Here are some pictures I took during my visit.
(note: the exterior and cafe shots are downloads)

The Detroit Institute of Arts illuminated

The Great Hall

Riveria Court





One of the African American galleries


Autobiography: Air
Howardena Pindell




Portrait of Christopher D. Fisher, Fourth Reich Skinhead
Peter Williams




William T. Williams





Benny Andrews (2 images)




Untitled
Martin Puryear


CafeDIA

(we ended with lunch)

***
Since the re-opening of the DIA critics have said that the museum is playing up to an “uneducated” public by installing labels and displays that “dumb down” the art.




While I noticed the new labeling right away I also quickly recognized that its intent is to provide access to a broader and younger audience. The new designs make sense when you consider that time and tracking studies show that 59% of visitors stay in individual galleries no more than three minutes and that where interest is minimal labels with extensive text are a deterrent.

It should be noted that every single label in the museum is not designed this way, certainly not enough to be a distraction to those with extensive knowledge of the art and artifacts being presented.

Who Are You Looking At?

Krista Franklin



I saw this image on the cover of Callaloo (the premier African Diaspora literary journal). I loved it and actually tracked down the artist. I can’t tell you how excited I was to find out that we were actually in the same city. I emailed her and we met at an art opening. Since then I’ve been shadowing her every move trying to get to one of her pieces. Unfortunately something always comes up and last night was no exception. Forced to study for finals I missed the opening of Krista Franklin’s current exhibition “Lucky Sevens” at Tianguis: books. Tea. Cultura. Despite my absence last night my plan is still in force. I'm sure I'll have a Krista Franklin piece before 2008.

Check out Tianguis and the link I to Krista Franklin's site
www.tianguis.biz
www.myspace.com/tianguis

Who Are You Looking At?

Hank Willis Thomas





Here’s another one that almost got by without me seeing. Again I was on a quest. I asked a co-worker to name the artists that she liked and Hank Willis Thomas was on the top of her list. I had never heard of him but since our conversation I’ve been tripping over his name. I still don’t know a lot about him but this article hit my email today:

The Elusive Concept of Blackness
Through photography and film, artist Hank Willis Thomas explores what it means to be Black today.
www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=256

What do you think?

And which artist is on the top of your list.

Who Are You Looking At?

I've taken a fancy to Jefferson Pinder



“My work explores both urban and rural mythologies. Creating cut paper hybrids of fact and fiction, I tear and paste paper upon paper to produce a layered cast of portraits. In the tradition of Romare Bearden, David Driskell, and David Hammonds my work is about recollecting truth from a personal past and using collage techniques to create a cohesive thought or image. By creating a cast of self-made mythical portraits, I examine what it means to be an Afro-American in a fragmented contemporary society.”
~Jefferson Pinder

I came across the work of Jefferson Pinder while surfing the site of the David Driskell Center. Only after my initial stumble did I find more information about him but it was still with great intention on my part. I love art and I’m always disappointed when an artist gets pass me. I wonder… how does one get into the loop? How does one go from stumbling upon an artist to getting the information straight on? And don’t tell me to subscribe to art magazines because I have a forest of such material pushing me out my apartment.

I invite everyone to visit the link I have for him and check out his performance and mixed media work.

Who Are You Looking At?

I've been checking out Mark Bradford.

Mark Bradford was born in Los Angeles, California in 1961. He received a BFA (1995) and MFA (1997) from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Bradford takes materials found in the streets of LA and creates transformations that speak to and of his community.

I first saw Bradford’s work when he participated in the Freestyle Exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem. He has become a shining star and I’m learning more about him everyday. I love his collage abstractions that are described as “architectural”, “organic”, and “grid-like”. He’s often compared to Piet Mondrian,
Ellen Gallagher
and Basquiat. Coming from a laymans perspective and considering only visual aspects of the work I personally would not have thought of these artists in conjunction with Mark Bradford. Maybe Mondrian but not Ellen Gallagher or Basquiat (both whose work I love). I probably would have thought more of Robert Rauschenberg. But only in comparison to certain pieces, like the following:




I recently read an interview with Mark Bradford in Art on Paper. When asked (about his work), “What has changed? Are there still endpapers?” I found interesting and just loved his response. He said, “Early on I did use endpapers. But the social component of the work started to weigh more than the paintings. I mean that being hairdresser started becoming more talked about than my being a painter. …”

He’s so right. The question is, why? Despite it’s place in the making of Mark Bradford, why would being a hairdresser be pushed that much into the forefront. I remember some of those reviews:

“Mark Bradford, 45, has gone from being a self-proclaimed “beauty operator” at his mother’s beauty shop in South Los Angeles to navigating the tangled, lucrative weave that is the international art scene”.

“…he used the tools of his mother's beauty salon trade to create his dynamic early pieces. (He also worked at her salon for a while.) His mediums were hair dyes and end papers, the small rectangular tissues folded over the ends of hair during the perming process. The collages that arose from his use of those beauty supply staples…”

“He’s discussed having been a hairdresser in South Central, using the same backdrops and aesthetic languages as that subculture—yet it complements his painting.”