A thoughtful look at "Pathways" from the Metro Times and contributor Andrew Klein, available here:
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12584
Here's an excerpt: Pathway: Consistency and Change isn't just about how and why we make art; it makes a strong case for art as a legitimate method of communication. In the interviews, some artists aren't so eloquent and not terribly animated, but what we see and hear are honest accounts of personal growth that make for fascinating accompaniments to the displayed art. It connects the audience to the artists on a human level. ....
Some words about the show courtesy of Michael Hodges of the Detroit News, available here: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080221/ENT05/802210434
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Exhibit shows MFA students' growth
Michael H. Hodges / The Detroit News
Cutting-edge art from Master of Fine Arts candidates around town takes over the University of Michigan's Work:Detroit Gallery in an exhibition, through March 22, titled "Pathways -- Consistency and Change." Continuing its mission to bring the Ann Arbor and Detroit art worlds together, "Pathways" highlights 15 artists from four distinguished institutions: Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the University of Michigan.
What particularly intrigued Work:Detroit director of exhibitions Nick Sousanis was the way the artists' works morph over time.
"The whole premise was to watch people's evolution," he says, "which I think is as interesting a piece of art as the artworks themselves." To this end, Sousanis created a short video in which each artist explains, in two or three minutes, the trajectory of his or her work -- offering unexpected insight into what's on the walls or hanging from the ceiling.
Among the works is an intriguing video by Cranbrook ceramic artist Katie Caron.
Projected onto a small pool of water in a dark room, "Animation #7" -- a stop-motion animation work -- features a luminous, "creepy-crawly thing," in Sousanis' words, "that manages to be quite primordial."
Equally compelling are the family portraits by EMU's Gypsy Schindler, which are life-size and highly realistic. They are painted on suspended sheets of plastic, and encountering them is a bit like bumping into a hologram or a surprisingly vivid ghost right in the middle of the room.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Pathways - Dialogue, Wednesday February 20, 6:30-8
INTERSECTIONS: PATHWAYS
An ongoing series of dialogues among makers of creative work
Join us Wednesday, February 20, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 8 pm for a conversation with participants from the current exhibition “Pathways.”
About the exhibition: In “Pathways,” MFA candidates from the University of Michigan, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Eastern Michigan University, and Wayne State University exhibit work together at the new UM Detroit Center School of Art & Design exhibition space, Work : Detroit, in a juried exhibition focusing on the theme of consistency and change.
In addition to showcasing current work from each of the artist-designers, the exhibition also includes interviews tracing the evolution of each individual’s work from undergraduate experiences, to post-graduate experiences, to current work from graduate school. These interviews, displayed on DVD at the gallery, allow visitors to see how threads of work have developed, and how new paths have been explored and adopted or abandoned, all offering insight into the creative process.
The “Intersections” Dialogue Series offers a unique opportunity to participate in a dialogue with makers of creative work and contribute to the new discoveries that emerge along the way.
Featured exhibitors include:
Katie Caron (Cranbrook), Tim Eads (Cranbrook), Charles Fairbanks (UM), Robin Grice (UM), Anna So Young Han (Cranbrook), Jessica Harvey (Cranbrook), Megan Heeres (Cranbrook), Nicole Marroquin (UM), Leyla Munteanu (WSU), Seth Papac (Cranbrook), Gypsy Schindler (EMU), Mark Sengbusch (Cranbrook), Adrienne Vetter (UM), Sadie Wilcox (UM), and Xueni Zhang (EMU).
Pathways runs 9 February – 22 March 2007
Hours Tuesday – Saturday 10am to 5pm
Work : Detroit Gallery, 3663 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201
Reception Desk: 313 593-0527
http://www.art-design.umich.edu/workdetroit/
Exhibition and artist information: http://www.pathwaysumdetroit.blogspot.com
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Exhibition Opening Images
Lots of excitement and good energy, as participants in the show came together, along with arts enthusiasts from the Detroit area to catch the opening of "Pathways."
Exhibition Essay
Consistency and Change
When we encounter a solitary work from an artist and are moved, engaged, provoked – struck by it, it is of course by what we see or experience directly. But, its power to touch us springs largely from what we don’t see, the depth that lies behind the work, the experience that went into it – that thing that we see is only the tip of the iceberg.
Every work is an accumulation of experience, resting squarely on the shoulders of the journey of creation that the maker has traveled. It’s a journey of twists and turns, jagged edges and smooth expanses, forking paths that split apart and long and winding roads that return together – a river flowing to the sea, lightning arcing from sky to earth.
From the perspective of the present looking past, this course of development, this evolution of idea and approach, is one of consistent patterns punctuated with dramatic changes. These pathways traveled are shaped by new ventures attempted – some continued while others abandoned, and some threads once left behind picked up all over again. What seems disparate and disconnected one day may play a significant and essential role another, as these strands are woven together on the artist’s loom.
The journey is not some tightly laid-out design, some perfectly ordered crystal, nor is it random and chaotic. Rather it’s a delicate balance between planning and circumstance. Each decision necessarily eliminates potential pathways, yet in doing so brings forth into existence new possibilities branching ever outward.
Bearing witness to the journey not only sheds light on that single piece, allowing for deeper understanding of the work, but what a fascinating, rich work that journey is in and of itself! It’s a living, breathing construction of mixed and time-based media. In “Pathways,” as we look at those who’ve journeyed some distance, know too, that these are not end points. They’re more akin to marks on a closet door recording a child’s changing height. Some time hence, these serve as reminders of where we’ve been and how much we’ve grown along the way. What unfolds for these individuals on this continuing journey – a dance between intent and accident – is and will be something to behold.
Nick Sousanis
Director of Exhibitions, Work : Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
February 9, 2008
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