”Volume Number DETROIT HjH FOCUS QUARTERLY

A Visual Arts Publication

Photo: Lucy Bates Tom Parish in his studio. Letters to the Editor Detroit Focus Quarterly Detroit Focus A Visual Arts Publication 743 Beaubien Artist’s Response: Detroit, Ml 48226 962-9025 I would like to clarify some of the misin­ Wed.-Sat. 12-6 terpretations concerning my installation Staff which were made by Dolores Slowinski in Publisher Gere Baskin her recent review of theFields of Fire show Woody Miller at the DIA. Ms. Slowinski speculated that Editor Sandra Yolles having '' been there’ ’ (in dozens of European Design Editor Gigi Boldon-Anderson military cemeteries) was the reason I created Advertising Design Military Cemetery: Homage to Greenham; Manager Nelson Smith however, “ being there” was not my reason, Editorial Board Doug Aikenhead Allie McGhee nor would it have been enough. Only con­ James Kirchner Gretchen Wilbert sciousness of living in a nuclear age world MaryAnne Wilkinson whose dominant priorities have historically Sales Manager Jeanne Poulet placed the military, “ national security” and Bookkeeper Cathy DeMay profits above human needs and lives would Typesetting & Printing Grigg Graphic Services propel me to spend more than three years working on a statement that could com­ municate the need for change. The writer’s defeatist notion that an artist would try to Detroit Focus Quarterly is published four times compete (and of course be doomed to per year (March, June, October, and December) by Detroit Focus, 743 Beau­ failure) with “ the real” experience bien, Detroit, Michigan 48226. Copyright © 1988 by Detroit Focus. Contents in whole or part may not be reproduced without written permission. The opi­ (whatever that is), and her dismissal of the nions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the audience as too “ numb and detached” to be gallery. Address all correspondence to Detroit Focus Quarterly, c/o Detroit challenged are frustrated views of people Focus Gallery, 743 Beaubien (third floor), Detroit, Ml 48226. Manuscripts which are familiar weapons used against must be typed double spaced, and accompanied by a stamped, self- addressed envelope. Ad salespeople receive 20% commission. those who actively promote social justice. To infer that this effort is impossible or outdated is to give up, at best; in bad faith, at worst. The fact that nobody would read all the Contents In this issue names on the bones is not the point; the Interview:Tom Parish Contributing authors comparison with a bronze plaque is con­ Barr’s Spatio-Temporal ExperienceGary by Carol Jacobsen tradicted by the writer’s own “ curiosity” S. Vasilash Roberta Litwin about the use of bones as material for art, I Barbara Siwula and her identification with “ the Asians” Gilda Snowden whose bones they may originally have been. Gary S. Vasilash Identification with the bones and the names Reviews Sandra Yolles of former real human beingsis the point — Betye Saar at least it’s meant to be the point of entry into Tom Bills Contributing photographers one’s thinking — and I’m very glad that the Sybil Oshinsky Lucy Bates writer made that connection. The anger ap­ Douglas Bulka Robert Hensleigh parent in Dolores Slowinski’s response in­ Art on the Move John Luke dicates that the work struck home. I, too, Yolanda Sharpe/Nadine Slowik Karen Sanders felt deeply angry — that was and continues Art and Architecture of the Birdhouse Gary Vasilash to be my fuel. But I was also expressing op­ Sarah Wells timism and options: the dedication to Greenham Common is an homage to thousands Letters to the Editor of women worldwide who are protesting through both civil disobedience and creative Editor’ s Note: direct actions, the Anglo-American patriarchal The last two issues of theDetroit Focus machine and its use of brutality as a means Quarterly have included some controversial of dealing with the “ weak” and the “ dif­ reviews and articles which took challenging ferent” . The reference to Kathe Kollwitz in approaches to the subject matter. the tape and elsewhere in the installation is It is our intention to invite responses on another endorsement of a way to protest: the part of interested parties, artists or through one's art. It is these kinds of observers. The stirring up of debate would courage and commitment which give me be a welcome result of the appearance of direction and which I struggle most of all to certain controversial views, and the lively in­ communicate to an audience at a time when terchange of theoretical and practical opinion resistance to military and multinationals and is one of our goals. mass media dominance is critical. Please feel free to respond in print to — Carol Jacobsen issues in these pages. — The Editor M H

Tom Parish is professor of painting at Wayne State University. In the last few years he has had major shows in New York, painting was on its way already. I began toTP: Yes, Kiefer to me is enormously impor­ Chicago and Detroit. He received an Artsthink that maps and aerial views are similar tant. I feel refreshed from the Kiefer show (in Foundation of Michigan Award for 1987.things; maps are drawn and aerial views areChicago); some quality of force and meaning Parish’s one-person show opens at thephotographed . . . and also I thinkThe that and power is back into someone and that per­ Detroit Institute of Arts on December 17, Medium is the Message, Marshall MacLuhan’s son is giving it to me. I like the way Kiefer 1988, and runs through February 1989. It is book was around, and I read it a few yearsseems to feel about things. He said, for exam­ the first one-person show offered by theafterward, and then I was reading aboutple, that Europe is a declining place and it’s Ongoing Michigan Artists Program at the DIA. comic books and films and how media inter­the archipelago of the East, a very powerful This interview was recorded in March of relate . . . idea. Another thing he said interested me: 1988. My earlier pictures got so flat that you the job of the Western painter is to create couldn’t really tell the top from the bottom. rules and break them at the same instant. I 0. I see that the new paintings are quite dif­0. They didn’t tell a story though. thoroughly enjoy those kinds of thoughts. ferent than the show you had last year at theTP: Those were the dull stories. That’s what As far as influences are concerned, one Detroit Artists Market. caused me to change. has to know what one’ s modus system, and TP: Yeh. Q. You got bored? I thought (the pebble pic­gestural system, and sense of things is all 0. Is there something about storytelling intures) of the 1970s were about abstraction.about. From that I am going to make some­ the pictures? TP: They were. It was a very dull thing to be thing and it’ s going to have sim ilarity to TP: Every picture tells a story . . . In the last about. Because all pictures are abstractions.something else. But influences? Specific in­ few years I began to think about making theIf you don’t have an abstraction, you haven’tfluences? I was Cezanne for two years, then stories a little more fun. Then the picturesgot a painting . . . I discovered Georgio Morandi. I then went to became a little more fun to do. 0. What are your feelings about the terms(Morris) Blackburn (When I was a student at As far as them changing, they’ re con­realism and surrealism in terms of your own the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Blackburn stantly changing. I think the whole thing iswork? was on the faculty) with my Morandi paint­ like taking a shot at a moving target. As longTP: A lot of art education is lost on people ing and explained thatthis was what paint­ as the target's moving, it’ s worth shooting.like me with those words . . . I am aware of ing was all about. He just looked at me and 0. They have a hint, an air of mystery aboutways in which my work is coincidental with said, “ You’ re simply going to have to paint them. Do you fantasize the story out? Do youother things . . . I feel that it is a sheer acci­ your way through all of that.” picture yourself there? Do you think aboutdent that the painter Balthus has a vague So while these influences may occur-for a the characters as if it were a novel? sim ilarity to me. Lately, I have been enjoying young artist, we get into them and out of TP: I am never there. I actually don’t exist. looking at Sandro Chia’ s paintings. . . I just them almost equally as rapidly. We just go The picture w ill outlive me. I probably madefeel a kind of cohesion there. Anselm Kieferthrough them. Something consistently the picture, but the relationship betweenscares the hell out of me. I think he’s the seems to reveal itself. I’ve been interested myself and the picture doesn’t exist. Of greatest painter alive right now. At least I lately in Gerhard Richter. W hat’s interesting course, all stories are autobiographical andsee the differences between myself andto me about Richter is that he’ ll do an aerial all paintings are self-portraits. Those areAnselm Kiefer, but Kiefer, is a neo-Expres- view of a city one day and then he’ ll do a sort givens and there is nothing we can do aboutsionist. . . and someone else is a surrealist of photorealist painting, and then he’ ll do it, so there is nothing to think about then. . . . I don’t know what the labels are. some completely abstract painting. 0. There is something about the aerial per­ I’m not a realist, because if I have reality, 0. That used to be thought badly of. spective that implies the omniscient observerthen, in my mind, reality is just fine; I don’t TP: It’s probably some marketing system as the voice of the artist in the pictures. need to make a picture of something that al­which caused us to try to believe that it’s a TP: I had a psychiatrist once who accusedready exists. I like the idea that a picture is bad thing. Nonsense. I think that style is me of my need to be omnipotent. Actually,of something that doesn’t exist and whatsomething that we don’t create. You don’t what that was really about was that backmakes a painting alive is that I am giving to stylize yourself. You don’t plan how you around 1962, I was thinking about what the I viewer something that they can’t getwalk across the room, because it would be was doing, and I was looking at what I wassomewhere else. A photorealist to me is not an affectation, and if your painting is simply doing. I was looking at painting that was be­even an artist. affectation, you’ re in trouble. You have to ing done, this word flatness was in my mind,Q. Of the people who are working now whowork from yourself somehow or other. And I and it was in the air, and everyone was talk­you think are important, you’ve mentionedguess style just takes care of itself if there is ing about flatness . . . of course, color fieldKiefer. anything there.

3 0. You work from sketches done in advance TP: I got diabetes when I was seventeen. in I Mexico. And if you buy a Toyota, you’ re of the painting? have the juvenile kind, the dangerous stuff.buying something made partially in America. TP: In order to get an idea, I do as much pre­We all have our cross to bear, that’s mine.I think that my sense of the world is like that. liminary drawing as necessary at the moment. So that exists I think, a sense of mystery andThe idea of Detroit art is absolutely appalling 0 . As I look at a painting, I seem to think that danger, and emergency somehow in myto me. you have a whole story in mind. That youwork . . . and a sense of emergency about0. So there is not such a thing as New York could tell me a whole story about the subjectworking itself. I want to be able to work asart either? of each canvas. . . about this villa in Venicelong as I can see . . . and operate and thatTP: No. . . . or this woman who’s waiting to catch a will come to an end, and hopefully, I’ ll pro­0 . Italian art? train. duce some stuff. I’ m working on it. I’ m TP: No. TP: I have my own private story clear working on it and I’ m working on it. 0. It’s all international now? enough, and simple enough and direct0 . Do you worry about losing your sight? TP: Yes. Those distinctions are dissolving. enough. That woman waiting there happensTP: Well, not really. I think that all people0 . So what do you think about Detroit? Peo­ to be my daughter and the train happens whoto are alive worry about dying. So whileple in the world seem to think it’s just about be in Berlin. The name of the painting iswe're alive, we ought to do something withthe worst place in the country . . . and yet B erlin. It comes from a trip across to East our lives. we live here and we live relatively productive Berlin that we took one afternoon. It was a0 . There’s such a strong, rich sense ofartistic lives here. frightening and terrifying experience. As wemystery in all your pictures. TP: People who somehow live at the base of were coming back to West Berlin, the sun TP: It’ s probably because there is a richan avalance don’t move away. They stay was setting, there was a sense of flight, a mystery everywhere. If I look out the win­there. So Detroit’s the same thing. sense of angst in the air, and also a sense ofdow, it’ s there. The mystery is there. Each 0. Is Detroit as bad as they think it is out poetry . . . the sun was setting, the shadowswindow is a different mystery. So in this there in the rest of the country? were long, and I said right there, this orangeroom there are twenty-two windows, so I’veTP: It’s worse. But I don’t care. To me, it’s and this structure, and this . . . I’ve got a got twenty-two ever-changing mysteries.kind of a flat workshop. There isn’t too much Berlin painting. I drew and fooled aroundThen if I look across the floor, there’sto do here. You can’t have too much fun with it for a while and gradually put it another mystery . . . It’s all that way to me. here. You’d better paint. That’ s what I like together. The painting was much worse off0 . There are European images in this work.about it. prior to the way it is now. It was weak on the TP: Pretty much, yeh. I think that like auto­ upper right hand side, so I made that arch­mobiles, things are internationalizing. If youThis interview was conducted Sandra by Yolles, way there and pulled the whole thingbuy a Ford, you really aren’t buying Ameri­Editor. together, and made it better. That’s wherecan; you’ re buying something made partially Photo: Lucy Bates composition comes in. 0. There wasn’t a tunnel there in the first place? TP: No. I’ m always changing according to some kinds of combinations of emotional and pictorial needs. The emotional needs are get­ ting clearer to me . . . and the pictorial needs seem to be following the emotional needs better. Q. There was a whole series of paintings of a boat being tossed around on the sea, or in a mist, that I saw last year at the Artists Market . . . is there an existential or philo­ sophical statement that you had in mind when you made those paintings? TP: There is. The symbolism is clear to me. The tenuousness of one’s life is certainly there. We’ re just lucky to be alive, I’ m aware of that. It’s there and it’ s serious. The thrill of it, the danger of it . . . Actually, before I got diabetes, I was planning on do­ ing a walking survival trip in the jungles of South America. I was going to go down and learn how to survive in dire circumstances living on ants and various kinds of vegeta­ tion I studied very carefully in my boy scout

manual. I was going to learn how to survive oil on canvas, 1988. on nothing. I was going to test myself.

Then I got diabetes and decided that I’d Berlin, have to spend the rest of my life as a house plant painting pictures. So it’s that tenuous­ ness that I think is there in my work.

Q. How long ago did you get diabetes? Tom Parish,

mm For the past few years, archeologists It’s all the more ironically time bending given As you move within or around the work have been scratching around in the dirt and that the William Kessler-designed building the pattern of poles constantly shifts and brush on Beaver Island located in Lake that Polaris Ring fronts is known as the State shadows fall on different cylindrical sur­ Michigan, northwest of the tip of the little of Michigan Historical Building. It will be the faces. The columns are painted with colors finger of the mitten that forms the lower por­ state’ s main library and museum. As the that make a gradual, almost infinitesimal, tion of the state. As they worked, they foundwork of those on Beaver Island’ s does for transition from a light blue on the east side to post holes, rocks and other signs that seemedtheir time, Barr’ s work may stand in mute mauve on the west. A column seen in isola­ to indicate that there were native people on testimony to who or what we were after we tion is clearly one color or another; the total the island who were doing some fairly so­ are passed. arrangement provides a smooth subtlety that phisticated astronomical work — that is, as But what is it now? puts the eye in a pleasant repose. in Stonehenge — long before the “ experts” It is a 40-foot diameter ring consisting of The vertical plane ofPolaris Ring thrusts had thought that there was anyone there, to 50 columns ranging in diameter, in 6-inch upward; it projects far above the building to say nothing of anyone with the ability to increments, from 6 inches to 30 inches, and the North Star. At least Barr claims that the create a celestial tracker. 10 rugged boulders of various sizes. The two major columns provide a siting position. For the past three years geostructurist boulders seem to be the result of glacial Chances are, few inclined individuals will artist David Barr has been working on his chance, deposited like jacks by a giant hand take advantage of the neo-neolithic sextant. own series of posts (though these are ofof flowing ice that once swept this terrain. Nonetheless,Polaris Ring is Barr’ s most ac­ steel) and boulders that he arranged on a The columns are an entirely different matter. cessible — physically and, perhaps, aes­ plot of dirt on the western edge of downtownThey are ranked in a series. Starting from thetically — geostructurist-related work that Lansing. Just about the time Barr was fin­ either edge of the circle, facing the pieceresidents and natives alike should experi­ ished withPolaris Ring, which he says he from the south, there are five 6-inch col­ ence, now and in the future. completed in late June 1988, the Beaver umns, eight 12-inch, six 18-inch, four Island archeologists announced what they 24-inch, and two 36-inch columns. The ar­ Within days of completingPolaris Ring had been up to. Barr, a student of henges rangement is such that there is open space Barr flew to Wales, Alaska, to install the and other manifestations of the reaching-out so that a person doesn't merely stand out­ U.S. half of his Arctic Arc. Wales is the spirit of ancient native peoples that have side the ring but enters it and moves around. closest inhabited continental point to Eurasia somehow been preserved through presenceThere is active compulsion. The spacing of across the Bering Strait. It is thought to be (e.g., sculpted or piled rock) and absence the columns is based on a pattern codified along the route that ancient Indians took as (e.g., geometrically arranged holes once by a 13th-century Italian mathematician, they migrated east on the tundra. Some ended used to support some locating elements), Leonardo Fibonacci; it is the pattern that up on Beaver Island. found a personal bit of satisfaction in know­ nature uses for such things as pine cones ing of the august precedence of his work.and Nautilus shells. Gary S. Vasilash is an editor of Lightworks. FTe is working on a biography of Barr and another on artist Henry Melrose.

Photo: ©Vasilash

David Barr’s Polaris Ring: The past, present and future intersect in Lansing. Tyree Guyton'sDoors (“ Simply by open­ ing or closing a door, we can change the perspective and reality of our lives” ) was a ■ “ Art on the M o ve” kind of lonely-looking sculpture in the big empty space of the Kern Block. Guyton has 1988 Artist Residencies received national attention as well as local July 29-31 and Aug. 5-7/88 press coverage for the installations, sculp­ tures, paintings and found objects with For the third year in a row, the Detroit which he transforms his near East side Recreation Department sponsored a summer neighborhood, creating on abandoned build­ festival of artist residencies, offering artists ings on several streets protean ever-evolving the financial resources to create large scale works of art. He surprised many in this pro­ temporary art works in downtown Detroit ject by giving us — for him — a rather formal parks. piece. Although it is made of found objects, This year co-sponsors for the project doors, which he has brightly colored, the were the Michigan Council for the Arts, lines and presentation of the work are those WDIV-Channel 4, The Detroit Artists Market, of a single, formal sculpture that might grace and the MetroTimes. In addition, two cor­ an urban square or a museum courtyard. porate co-sponsors* were credited at each The piece itself is successful but would be site, and additional support for the entire better suited to a smaller, less wide open, project was credited to the Detroit Festival of setting. the Arts, the Southeast Michigan Arts Lastly, in Grand Circus Park, A Garden of Forum, the Central Business District Associ­ Earthly Delights, by Lulu Cameron and ation, the Detroit Chapter of the American In­ Barbara Holmberg, was “ a whimsical stitute of Architects, and the Detroit Trans­ botanical garden” containing some large (8’ portation Corporation, expanding the founda­ x 4% ’) imaginary plant forms which looked tions of the program to a broad base of parti­ like sculpted and coated papier mache. cipation by business and community leaders. The best one or two of these combined The program in 1988 consisted of seven some Star Wars imagining with a true sur­ artists chosen to create works of art on five formation on the upper level of Hart Plaza. realistic sense, and at least one — the one sites, at five parks situated at stations along The viewer could walk through the rows of set apart on the corner of Woodward — was the route of the Detroit People Mover. banners as they were dramatically whipped an artwork I would enjoy seeing again The works themselves were conceptual, about by the wind. Although the same palette somewhere in a more permanent installation. gutsy and imaginative. Most showed evi­ was used in all, each of the banners was an Among the artists who were most suc­ dence of a great deal of work, many, many individual painting in and of itself. Shown cessful in utilizing the space were those who hours and a lot of material expense. One of together, mounted like flags and flying in the were granted their second artist residencies the problems encountered in outdoor work wind,is the effect was dramatic — and poetic. this year, Linda Hedden and Robert the unexpected vastness of the space. It The interplay of abstract expressionist art in Vandervennet, who had perhaps learned takes more materials to make an impact in its outdoor context and in the elements was from previous experience how much plan­ an outdoor setting than the inexperienceditself an insightful comment in visual terms ning and material was necessary to impact eye will estimate. In any case, most of the on the nature of the assignment, to fill the the outdoor space; Keith Piaseczny and Rolf artists in this year’s exhibition made excellent outdoor space with art. Wojciechowski each also had experience use of varying complex spatial situations. Robert Vandervennet’sTime Squares in over the last year with large scale works In Flarmonie Park, Keith Piaseczny and Times Square Park (a little-noticed triangle which probably contributed to the success of Rolf Wojciechowski, two photographers, col­ of land opposite the Michigan Bell Building their work with scale in this project. laborated onPeople Pictures In the Park, life- downtown), although clearly the most con­ The temporary nature of the artworks size cutouts of black-and-white photo­ ceptual of the five pieces, shared with Linda poses certain issues. It seems a shame to graphs, mounted to stand in the lifelike Hedden a quality of thoughtfulness about the see some of them come down so quickly. postures of human beings scattered project that was brought into the finished Perhaps in the future, installations can be throughout the park: seated, standing, talk­ work. Vandervennet’s approach was the designed and constructed to stay up for a ing on the phone, lying down, children,more intellectual, giving us an architectural period of three to four weeks. That would bums, businessmen, pets, photographers. piece strong in design, which added an ele­ give more people a chance to see them, and The photographs were finished on bothment of strength to the exhibition as a whole. the downtown community a longer oppor­ sides, back and front, adding humor to the Planned to be seen from the moving train tunity to enjoy them. candid quality of the figures. The two col­ above, the work was constructed close to laborators evidently had thought about the the ground over a wide area of the park. A ‘ Site co-sponsors: Smith, Hinchman & space and used it well.People Pictures in wooden base constructed on a gradual slope Grylls Assoc., Inc., John Madden Company, the Park stole the show as far as theater, upward from the ground was like a huge Charles S. Davis & Assoc., Inc., Zachary, humor and liveliness was concerned. billboard lying down. Squares of mirror tile, Solaka and Associates, Schervish Vogel Linda Hedden'sCircadian Rhythm Project seen from the vantage point of the train Merz, Preston Burke Galleries, Inc., Rossetti showed the many hours of work that must above, traced a pattern that, according to Associates, David Whitney Building, Albert have gone into its execution to such a suc­ the artist’s explanation, is an ancient mytho­ Kahn Assoc., Inc., Days Inn Detroit. cessful conclusion. Fifty large banners of logical symbol: a double spiral which is the hand-dyed fabric were erected on frames six pattern that the sun makes as it falls on a Sandra Yolles is editor of theDetroit Focus and one-half feet high, mounted in geometricsingle point on the earth. Quarterly. ■ DOUGLAS BULKA ■ YOLANDA SHARPE Permeable Obstruction NADINE SLOWIK Paintings 1987-1988 Broadway Gallery Cantor Lemberg Gallery June 30-July 30/88 Birmingham May 21-June 11/88 This show at the Broadway Gallery pairs Douglas Bulka’ s paintings at the Cantor-deal. That’ s the theme of all the work in thistwo artists who are friends and whose work Lemberg Gallery are grounded in realism andexhibition.” (Douglas Bulka) complements each other. Both use paint in a the narrative. They demonstrate an ethereal sensuous tactile way to explore texture. story-telling experience, using potent imageryRoberta Litwin Is a D etroit-area p a inter Yolanda Sharpe sings with paint. Her which compels the viewer’s participation. voice is clear and resonant. She names Photo: Robert Hensleigh There is a mood of mystery, a clarity of Matisse as one of her most important influ­ images, a rich vocabulary of color, a surreal­ ences, especially his jazz series, the cutouts istic quality without the romanticism which and collages done in his later years. sometimes accompanies it. There is nothing Two of Sharpe’s works in this show are tentative about this strong work. three-dimensional floor pieces: one is an Bulka’s larger paintings — diptychs and angled diptych she callsZest, 56” x 62” , triptychs — are complex and dramatic. using cutouts in painted wood, that could be Bulka works as a preparator at the Detroit translated to larger outdoor versions. Institute of Arts; it may be that in handling The artist, always looking to the future, masterpieces he has developed the rever­ implies that larger three-dimensional works ence for art which is evident in his work. His are a possibility. paintings are works in the classical tradition: Slowik’s imagery is biomorphic. The he incorporates a sense of the compressed shapes in her paintings refer to the sea and space of the Renaissance with a clearly auto­ sea creatures. Tubular, segmented coils biographical iconography. Demonstrating a represent pods, snails and shells. Light virtuosity with the brush, he orchestrates comes through as if reflected off the shapes. elements cohesively in the complex vision of While Slowick deals with her images sub­ the larger paintings. stantially, grounding them in the sea, The influence of Caravaggio is present. Douglas Bulka, Convicted, oil on paper, Sharpe floats her images like musical notes In Skeptical Luring, on the upper left section 28” x 22” , 1988 in space. of the triptych, he uses the image of St. — Roberta Litwin Thomas poking his finger into the wound in Christ’s side. The image creates a feeling of perversity and supernatural illuminated vision. Along with Caravaggio, Bulka names Max Beckmann among his influences, spe­ cifically for the sense of metaphor and the use of symbols in a more expressionistic vocabulary. For many years Bulka painted land­ scapes, mostly dealing with water, based on his observation from nature. He abruptly shifted to “ working more with the visualiza­ tion of seemingly abstract concepts, ideas, thoughts and beliefs (in which) the land­ scape became almost like a stage set.” He still uses many references to water, sharks and other creatures of the deep. Bulka creates exquisitely moving space; us­ ing his balanced use of color as a field for the exploration of transparent surfaces. The smaller paintings themselves have an unset­ tling perspective of being tilted forward. The exhibiton callledPermeable Obstruc­ tion represents the work of the last year. “ The title of the exhibtion has to do with the concept of seemingly small and unimportant

things that happen to us in life and how they Photo: karen Sanders oftentimes become major events. SometimesYolanda Sharpe,Zest, encaustic on wood, 56” x 6 2 ” , 1988. Courtesy of Broadway Gallery we experience the consequences right away, sometimes down the road. On the other hand, seemingly big events that we think are so important, tend to wind up being no big Courtesy of Susanne Hilberry Gallery. ■ Photo: Karen Sanders ue 4Jl 30/88 3 24-July June YI OSHINSKY SYBIL Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Birmingham Birmingham Gallery, Hilberry Susanne Paintings and Watercolors Watercolors and Paintings S y b il O s h in s k y , , y k s in h s O il b y S 0 2 1986. , 22” x 30” Self Portrait, Self watercolor, watercolor, ters. At first you wonder whether the sitters sitters the whether wonder you first At ters. hs faky efrvltr wrs a all superficial. can way some in works seem others the self-revelatory frankly those her in mannish almost is plain selves in younger opacity studied of woman young self-portraiture. was — work the of half than genius Her audience. devoted a has theless older self it is clear that only in contrast to to contrast in only that clear is it self older com­ in But self. younger Oshinsky’s as ery beneath eye an of cut sidewise the chin, defiance some at canvas hints large Another the attacks. before she squat her of determined One poses. aggressive and colors on going else something is Well, there But odel.” m yes. available has most the am Oshinsky I " said specialization more and this — explain To heart its but two, or life still particularly not but competent wonderfully of n li back. laid ing ae h sne ht h hs eoie her memorized has she that sense the have her of portraits the to paintings these paring the of tilt the in — explicit made never — here. a and sitters, various of portraits revealing series a included impact, maximum for hung Everywoman. as herself paint to ability an is ite teto ad esfm, u h never­ who but fame, less and attention attracting little decades, several for away painting ed ak wr a gadd gis discov­ against guarded as were back, held sit­ her of images the in repeated is portraits be­ of verge the on just ear an brow, raised The opaque quality of her early self- self- early her of quality opaque The sisys alet efprris hw a show self-portraits earliest Oshinsky’s Here is a woman who has been steadily steadily been has who woman a is Here t s h ltr ok, ane atr you after painted works, later the is It Her recent show at the Hilberry, closely closely Hilberry, the at show recent Her orey f rawy Gallery. Broadway of Courtesy N a d in e S lo w ik , , ik w lo S e in d a N ueom Cluster, Tubeworm eri ou Quarterly. Focus Detroit abr Swua s rglr rbut t the to r to u trib n o c regular a is ula Siw Barbara evs n h sl Ohnk rvas o us. to reveals Oshinsky self the in mind, selves your haunting images her the from with away come work you reason the finally, because there is something of our own own our of something is there because is, That it. about commonality intrusive. compelling somehow feeling without ex­ to amine personal too almost understanding self watercolor leaves the face in a fog, the body body the fog, a in face the large One leaves oil. dark watercolor of blocks in or watercolor — emotion this neither but lips, behind and hover eyes to the seems defiance youthful the u te ef nweg se ans a a has paints she knowledge self the But honesty. precise and hands beautiful folded of with pair rendered the but unmaterialized, eyes of some of these selves is a reflection reflection a is selves these of some of eyes otat ae eey itd t n lse of blushes in at hinted merely are self- the of Some portraits emerges. — other any nor of remnant a disappoint­ others In of — acceptance. and ment materialized quite not — and again in muted colors, unglamorous unglamorous colors, muted in her again fashion; and and pretense and artifice of in working whether masterly, decades, two poses, self-effacing costumes. Behind the the Behind costumes. self-effacing poses, again worked is it as classic becomes image evokes that — or vulnerable herself and matured bare her — paints painting she self way the is it watercolors, others; or oils something at getting is and absolutely face response. ing. Her technique is, as it should be after after be should it as is, haunt­ technique Her finally, are, ing. that it, beyond or behind The woman in these paintings is stripped stripped is paintings these in woman The n l tee ae sl-otat tee s a is there self-portraits later these all In oil on canvas, 43” x 36” , 1988 1988 , 36” x 43” canvas, on oil ■ BETYE SAAR “ Art and Architecture National Conference of Artists of the Bird H ouse’ ’ David Whitney Building The Detroit Artists Market at April 30-June 4/88 Galleria Officentre May 30-June 11/88 Betye Saar’s world is drenched in sym­ habitation of a pearl-eyed fish and coral fan. bol, mystery and meaning. She works in a Her Secret Place was a tiny installation in a As a fundraising project, the Detroit dynamic space that never seems to rest, but triangular niche in the room. Filled with Artists Market, adapting an idea that was spirals on the ancestral past of the black ex­ green moss, dyed green gloves holding a used in New York City, organized a Spring perience around to the personal and political seascape, and blue hourglasses it required invitational show called A rt and Architecture biography that she lives. Her creations are the viewer to peek into its illusion. of the Bird House. Forty-seven artists and/or collaged, assembled, installed all with the Saar’s slide lecture also gave us a glimpse representatives of architectural and design intimacy of a secret story. Sometimes her of her large scale installations, and this is firms submitted entries of original con­ message asks us to suspend all belief, to what we can hope to see when she nextstructed birdhouses which were auctioned enter a place of fantasy and dreams and travels from California for an exhibition in off at the annual Detroit Artists Market Garden tales of magical times. But in her slide lec­ Detroit. Her Mojo Tech was a subversively Sale in June ($30,000 was raised for the ture and film, sponsored by the National humorous installation at MIT in which she DAM at this benefit.) Conference of Artists, Saar also presented "d ro p p e d ” computer technology into an The surprise was the artistic quality of the powerful works that have long preceded African/Mexican jungle. The racial, intellec­ this event, which was the sleeper of the her visit to Detroit: the angry images of an tual and emotional messages in her juxtapo­ year, and the number of artists, sculptors unsilenced voice. sitions were loaded with irony and scathing and designers who took the assignment as In the Civil Rights Movement of the ’ 60s, imagination. seriously as they did, producing so many Saar’s work felt the tumult; with the murder In Spirit Catcher: The A rt of Betye Saar, works of real integrity. of Dr. Martin Luther King her “ derogatory a WNET film by Suzanne Bauman, we were Notable works were too numerous to image” works began. The most widely re­ able to see Saar’s process and sources. The mention. produced of these was herAunt Jemima flea markets and swap meets in Los Angeles An excellent catalogue was printed with assemblage, but there were many others are her main haunts for materials, and her the support of the Galleria Officentre which which dealt with the survival and deaths of studio brims over with the collected and pictures all of the works in the exhibition. black people in this country, pieces like created treasures. — Sandra Yolles Sambo’s Banjo and Black G irl’s Window. As an artist who is ‘ ‘ not about objects for Her show in the David Whitney Building sale, con games, money . . . nor interested seemed only a taste of this powerful artist’s in power over someone” Betye Saar gave work, and left us wanting more. The walls the audience a clear and generous overview were scattered, high and low, with pieces of what she is about. Her experience as a from herFragmented Visions series, hand­ black artist is made visible in her work, even made and encrusted paper-objects and tiny when the message is painful or ugly or slices of moon. She calls them songs, day­ angry. Much of the time it is rather about the dreams, ideas. Some are like aerial night wonder of things and the humor and beauty landscapes or underwater scapes, such asA we each hope to share — she does share — Sign in the Sky in which a black hand with with others. shiny red nails reaches into the deep blue — Carol Jacobsen Photo: Photo: Mary Schroeder James Atkinson, Postmodern Birdhouse, wood, 15” x 14” x 8%".

Betye Saar, posing in front of her installationFragmented Visions Photo: Mary Schroeder J o s e p h W e s n e r , , r e n s e W h p e s o J ofn sige, 3 4 4 . 24” x 24” x 73” shingles, roofing orey f il alr, Birmingham. Gallery, Hill of Courtesy Aetos,

welded steel, wood, wood, steel, welded TM BILLS TOM ■ ue 5Jt 2 88 /8 29 25-Juty June the artistic past, present and future as they they as future and present past, artistic the under­ thus and civilizations past with ally their of Part future. the of harbingers created as faces Those Island. statu­ Easter enigmatic on the in ary found that to mystery of kind a similar exhibits work the and small compact, Relatively feel. totemic and ancient the pure drama of the lone, frozen figure, figure, frozen lone, the of of drama favor in pure disappear the to seem almost format mind, spectator’s the in more pictures form to together vivid come medium the of down Pared make art. always communicative most doesn’t the for verbiage visual cess visual, the as well as literary the consider spiritu­ our connect to we so listen minds and to us hearts own teach They within. sages act also and glories past of us tell ago long monumentally a with expression visual rary Feigenson/Preston Gallery, Birmingham Birmingham Gallery, Feigenson/Preston n icsaty rbd H i bud y cir­ by bound is He examined, probed. studied, — incessantly and amber He in caught situation. fly overwhelming trapped an sides, in his to forever solidly pressed arms minimalist the and scale as size, given example, for titles at looks the one When using clues. when especially part a as naturally existing color and shapes to us forces the at Gallery display on Feigenson/Preston work new The own. our stand mes­ the grasp our use fully to must order in we that imaginations fact the in lies power T o m B ills , , ills B m o T usac; atcpn napryta s no is that party a in participant a cumstance; the and artist/observer the layperson. both to relate becomes a spiritual sibling of the prehistoric prehistoric the of sibling spiritual a becomes of Feigenson/Preston Gallery. This large-scale Tom Bills sculpture is located in Prospect Park, Park, Prospect in located is sculpture Bills Tom large-scale This Gallery. Feigenson/Preston of roln Nw York. New Brooklyn, o Bls supue ace contempo­ matches sculpture Bills’ Tom hs eooia wrs rv ta ex­ that prove works economical These otos Sculpture, Boathouse h Conventioneer, The

reinforced concrete, 140” x 96 ” x 24” , 1988. Courtesy Courtesy 1988. , 24” x ” 96 x 140” concrete, reinforced

than Tom Bills. His work has a clean, pure pure clean, a has work His Bills. Tom than elegance that is the perfect metaphor for the the for metaphor perfect the is there that elegance show, inaugural the As was that visually. displayed work gallery other tion hw a t od y alr i Spe ber. Septem in Gallery ay roadw B e th at show enterprise. new choose to artist better a been have couldn’t men­ to not entity, separate a as piece each child’s a tethering like of kind — absurd the C enter fo r C reative S tudies, had a one-w om an an om one-w a had tudies, S reative C r fo , den enter w C no S Gilda work makes for an interesting juxtaposition- juxtaposition- the interesting of an for makes physicality work anchoring heavy, the with young naive a of enthusiasm The happy a of-call? of think you when mind to comes is piece this in lead of core inner The tal. trapped in an arena of his own choosing, choosing, own his of arena an in trapped not a part of this exhibition, that intruded intruded that exhibition, this of part a not new gallery made it somewhat difficult to see to difficult somewhat it made gallery new cable. steel five-inch a with balloon on bordering almost concept and form of ing coupled title the of levity The middyshirt? com­ of realities the seen he’s before recruit port- exotic some in liberty Weekend sailor? of humanity is best illustrated through the the through illustrated best is pathos and humanity power of the that knew: Rodin and a? ee el i wie elotm ad a and bellbottoms white in Kelly Gene bat? bisected so it resembles a grasping form. form. grasping a resembles it so bisected Sailor, individual. lone the of struggle private longer any fun. By showing this Everyman Everyman this showing By fun. any longer But again, going beyond description, what what description, beyond going again, But Bills shows that he knows what Giacometti Giacometti what knows he that shows Bills The decidedly intimate atmosphere of the the of atmosphere intimate decidedly The A sense of humor is evident in evident is humor of sense A

hc rss n sek ea pedes­ metal sleek a on rests which a rtis t and fa c u lty m em ber at at ber em m lty u c fa and t rtis a The Happy The

Photo: ©Sarah Wells 1988 DETROIT REPERTORY THEATER GALLERY

DANIEL DINGLER EXHIBITION SEPT.1 O-OCT. 23 >, » s3 HAROLD % SPECTACLE, MEDIA, Hi AND THE PUBLIC r=> j

A D E L E D U C K OCT. 29-DEC. 12 FTf/ty ' /?0. JOHN CLARK: B ,tO O K FIGURATIVE 3312 PAINTINGS DEC.17-FEB. 12 op \ n r JlUSEi SAARINEN IN FINLAND U h j NOV. 15-JAN. 8

4 4 5 RIVERSIDE DRIVE WEST CRANBROOK CONTEMPORARY NOV. 15-JAN. 22 WINDSOR. ONTARIO N9A 6T8 AGW RECENT ACQUISITIONS ART GALLERY OF WINDSOR [519] 958 711 1 NOV. 15-JAN. 22

ARTPACK Services & A.I.R. Inc. JJ Madonna Farmington • Michigan 48024 College fo r • Custom Packaging & Crating A rt • Short & Long Distance Transportation • Domestic & International Shipping • Restoration • Art History • Corporate & Private Installation • Commercial Art • Studio Art • Video Documentation • Short & Long Term Storage Day and Evening Classes FINE ARTS 81 ANTIQUES Call Admissions (313) 591-5052

HjO| (313) 478-8946 [m/m MADONNA 36600 SCHOOLCRAFT ROAD UVONIA, MICHIGAN 46150 313-591-5000 Ted Lee Hadfield Wendy MacGaw 12 See Art History Make History In Cincinnati 400 years ago the great European Masters were except for Saturday and Wednesday evenings when creating some of art history’s most memorable works, general admission is free. Get your tickets now at “Masterworks from Munich” features 62 master- all Ticketron outlets in the U.S. and Canada. Or, call pieces from 48 of Europe’s most famous 16th-18th cen- Teletron at 1-800-225-7337 and charge your tickets to tury painters—great artists like Rubens, Rembrandt, MasterCard or Visa. No refunds or exchanges. El Greco, Veldzquez, Brueghel, Titian and more. (For information about special rates for stu- Don’t miss your once-in-a-lifetime chance to view dents, senior citizens and groups of 10 or more, call this splendid exhibition on special loan from the Alte 1-513-721-5204.) Pinakothek in Munich, Germany. The Cincinnati Art , , I t - k • a l Museum is the honored site of the exhibition’s secondJVlHStCrWOrKS iTOIIl MUniCH. ^A d^^^dM etonly.Pricepa- CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM person is $3.25 plus general Museum admission of $2, October25 thrujanuary8.

Organized by the Cincinnati Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. □ The national tour is supported by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, The German- American Cultural Fund, Inc. and by indemnity from the U.S. Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Lufthansa German Airlines is the official carrier for the exhibition. □ The Cincinnati presentation is made possible through the generous support of The Central Trust Company and The Procter & Gamble Company, and by a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts.

13 WORKSHOPS/COMMISSIONS/EXHIBITS H E L E N s '—'l C U N N I F F

STUDIO-GALLERY George Graveldinger Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, 9-6 / Thurs 9-8 Sat, 10-5 Opening Receptions: Friday, October 7, 1988, 6:00-10:00 p.m. Sunday, October 9, 1988, 2:00-6:00 p.m.

I ne^ Dick Blick 1 M B Art Store mmmwmwmm jm m m m m m m ■■ 14339 Michigan Ave. 59 South Broadway, Lake Orion, Ml 48035 (313) 693-1910 in Dearborn, between Greenfield & Schaefer, 581-7063 Hours: Mon.-Sat. — 10:00-6:00 PM Sun. — 1:00-4:00 PM

E X H IB IT AT

Cranbrook Academy o f A rt Registrar CAA 500 Lone Pine Road PO Box 801 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Graduate Program 4B013 Architecture Ceramics Design 22266 Michigan Avenue. Fiber Dearborn. Ml 48124 Metalsmithing Cranbrook 313/277-1141 Painting GALLERY| Photography Limited Enrollment Resident Artist Faculty W O R K S BY Pnntm aking First year financial aid available Sculpture for qualified students KIT, MAUREEN & SHAWN CARSON SEPT. & OCT. 1988 R.S.V.P Jeanne Poulett 313/464-6914 Maureen Carson 313/459-1879

Quality Papers fo r Quality Craftsmanship

ITteod merchants Papec Packaging, Supplies

DETROIT FLINT KALAMAZOO LANSING SOUTH BEND 313-931-1200 313-239-7633 616-329-1338 517-484-6224 800-253-9854

14 HELP SAVE FRESCO!

ART AUCTION AND RECEPTION FOR LUCIENNE BLOCH AND STEPHEN POPE DEVUTROFF AT THE HOME OF DENNIS AND VICKY KAPP 1:00 P.M. - SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 13,1988 (Refreshments will be served.) SPONSORED BY: FRESCO FRIENDS OF PUBLIC ART, COMMUNITY UPBEAT, NORTHWEST BLUE PRINT, NORGRAFIC INC. AND THE LOCAL CREATIVE WORLD STORES.

DONATIONS $25.00 PER PERSON ALL DONA TIONS AND PROCEEDS OF ARTWORK SALE WILL GO TO FRESCO FRIENDS OF PUBUC ART.

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: FRESCO FRIENDS OF PUBLIC ART 13450 FARMINGTON RD. LIVONIA, MICHIGAN 48150

FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE CALL JEANNE POULET PHONE: (313) 525-1990 OR (313) 464-6914

FRESCO FRIENDS OF PUBLIC ART “FRESCO THROUGH THE AGES” Producer: Denise Swope Director: Terry Kelley (video in progress) an interview with Lucienne Bloch and Stephen Pope Dimitroff with speakers Deb & Rick Zuccarini The Art Gallery of Windsor Friday, October 21, 1988 - 7:00 p.m. Lawrence Institute of Technology Tuesday, October 25,1988 - Noon

BIOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN KROLL

IN THE 1930’S, LUCIENNE BLOCH, THE DAUGHTER OF ERNST BLOCH, THE COMPOSER, CAME TO SEE DIEGO RIVERA PAINT THE FRESCO AT THE ROCKEFELLER CENTER IN NEW YORK, AND TO PHOTOGRAPH HIS WORK. STEPHEN POPE DIMITROFF ALSO CAME TO WATCH DIEGO RIVERA WORK, AND HE BECAME AN APPRENTICE TO RIVERA. THE DIMITROFFS HAVE LIVED AND WORKED TOGETHER FOR OVER FIFTY THREE YEARS. THEY HAVE PAINTED FRESCOES, MURALS AND CONSTRUCTED CERAMIC AND TILE IMAGES IN MANY OF THE CHURCHES AND PROMINENT BUILDINGS IN MICHIGAN (FLINT, ANN ARBOR, DETROIT) AS WELL AS OREGON, WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT AND SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

DEAN MARJORIE LEVY, OF THE SCHOOL OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BROUGHT THE DIMITROFFS TO ANN ARBOR FOR A SUMMER WORKSHOP AND LECTURE. DEB AND RICK ZUCCARINI WERE APPRENTICES IN THE PROJECT. THEIR FRESCO CAN BE SEEN ATTHE UNION STREET GALLERY IN DETROIT, AND THE MURAL OF ROBERT KOEFF CAN BE SEEN AT THE MANSION GALLERY IN DETROIT. ISSUES ENCIRCLING ART DETROIT A seriesof lectures and panel discussions FOCUS Exhibition Presented by the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit GALLERY 1988-1989 in cooperation with the Education Department of the Detroit Institute of Arts Schedule

October 15, 1988, 3 p.m. On Cultural Democracy 743 Beaublen at Lafayette Third Floor Wed-Sat 12-6 PM (313)962-9025 Cultural Democracy is the struggle lor a relationship between artist and audience that is communal; creating shared visions and activating community members in the building of their own cultures. The Exhibition Title, Juror/Curator panelists will address specific aspects of this struggle as it exists within and m opposition to a dominant culture, lose Carza. Moderator Graphic Artist and Wruer Nora Chapa Mendoza. Artist # Oct. 14-Nov. 11 Commercial Art: Illustration, Graphic and Invitational Industrial Design: Edward Fella, Chuck Gillies, James A. Houff, Jonathan R. Teasdale

• Nov. 18-Dec. 22 Artists Choose Artists November 19, 1988, 3 p.m.Censorship: The Invisible and The Taboo The panel w ill discuss the ways in which censorship is used in the art world to exclude from public view politicaland sexual imagery and ideas which are oppositional to the dominant culture. Issues of gender and race are central to this topic and will be a focus of analysis. Slides and specific examples 0 Jan. 6-Feb. 3 Abstraction/Group Exhibition All Media of individual, institutional and art literary censorship w ill be presented. Juror: All Loving Entry Deadline: Sat., Dec. 3, 1S

Review Committee: Harold Allen. Clarke Ellis, Marianne Letasi. Wendy MacGaw, Ursula Moustardas, Lynne Resch

CLASSES FOR ADULTS

February 5, 1989, 3 p.m. State of Art Criticism CHILDREN AND This panel discussion and forum w ill explore many of the dilemmas of contemporary art criticism from SPECIAL POPULATIONS varied points of view. Critical theories, history and specific problems and plans of action within thi local art community w ill be addressed. AFRICAN DANCE • Nelson Smith, Artist. Moderator Vincent A. Carducci, Critic and Regional Editor of the Bob Caskey, Arii>i BALLET • TAP • JAZZ •

Susan Crc md Edu< I Foci IMPROVISATION « TAI- CHI CHUAN • THEATRE March 12, 1989, 3 p.m. Art is Big Business o CREATIVE ARTS Speaker Deborah Bright. An.si/Cnli. MODERN DANCE Deborah Bright's presentation \ I examine the changes in the funding base for museums and other ult ol increasing corporate funding during the 1980 s. and the way 9 6 5 / 5 4 3 7 s on public art exhibitions

I All presentations will take place at Ihe Detroit Institute o f Arts, |______5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan______J Open discussions will follow each presentation Center for the Arts NO ADMISSION CHARGE 1437 RANDOLPH » DETROIT For information contact Steven Benson 1313) 399-9770 or Deanna Spe/ka (313) 965-8442 &

Detroit Focus Non-profit Org 743 Beaubien Bulk Ra,e Detroit, Michigan 48226 u s - Pos,a9e Paid Detroit, Mich. Permit No. 2960

Michigan Council tor the Arts