Author: Maggie Watson

Maggie Watson is an artist pursuing her BFA at Stamps School of Art & Design. Her creative focus is on illustration and narrative art, and she loves telling stories with both words and images. She’s been to UMMA so many times she could give you a tour, and always knows which new exhibitions you should see. She’s also a former theater kid with an enduring love for the stage, especially anything musical theater.

REVIEW: Arbor Glyph

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The Student-led Exhibition Committee is a newly-formed group of Stamps students, faculty and staff who aim to provide more opportunities for undergraduates to exhibit their work. The SEC’s inaugural exhibition “L’Assemblage” was displayed last winter in the Stamps building, and the committee has now brought student work to the walls of the Stamps Gallery with “Arbor Glyph.”

Tucked away in a small side room off the main display space of the Stamps Gallery, “Arbor Glyph” is an understated but cozy exhibition. An inviting semicircle of wooden chairs filled with soft pillows faces the single, large-scale artwork. A carpet softens the tile floor, and black fabric covers the walls. Calm instrumental music, mixed with birdsong, plays softly. The environment feels calm and secluded, a comfortable hiding place.

The artwork itself is a combination of painting and projection, spread across three tall paper panels that form a single image of a chaotic, colorful forest. The painting was created collaboratively by about a dozen Stamps students who attended a painting event in October. Their only direction was the prompt “depict a tree.” This spontaneous method of creation is apparent in the wide range of styles that share space on the canvas, from bold streaks of ink to carefully placed brushstrokes.

As I approached the work to take a closer look, I realized that where my shadow fell onto the wall and blocked the projection, the colors disappeared. I had been aware that there was a projected element to the artwork, but it was so well integrated that I had failed to notice that the painting was composed with only black ink. The colors of the piece are an illusion produced by the projector overlay, bringing vibrancy to the shades of gray.

Arbor Glyph, detail. Shadows cast onto the artwork reveal the shades of gray beneath the colorful projection.

The longer I looked at the piece, the more small details I noticed. Apples among a tree’s scribbled branches. Birds in the sky. Animals lying beneath the trees, sheltered by their branches. Mushrooms growing in the undergrowth. These details added subtlety and life to the scene. I also noticed that the colors of the projection seemed to shift over time, particularly the sky, which cycled through blues, greens and purples.

The artwork and the space encourage this kind of contemplation—I found the chairs comfortable and the music very calming. The small room felt like a peaceful refuge, and I was content to spend a long time with the piece, watching the colors slowly shift.

I enjoyed the exhibition itself, but to me, the most valuable aspect of “Arbor Glyph” is the mission it represents. While there are existing opportunities for Stamps students to exhibit their artwork in the Stamps Gallery, such as the Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, those opportunities tend to be very selective and set a high bar for entry. There is value in recognizing exceptional work, but there is also value in creating space for work that might not otherwise have the chance to be publicly displayed. The Student-led Exhibition Committee is creating exhibition opportunities that are more accessible for students, and for that I applaud them.

“Arbor Glyph” is on display at the Stamps Gallery until November 16th.

REVIEW: Silver Linings

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Spelman College is a historically Black women’s college in Atlanta, Georgia, which holds an art collection spanning over 100 years of African American artwork. “Silver Linings” brings a sampling of this historic collection to the walls of UMMA.

The exhibition includes 40 works from the Spelman Collection, a wide sampling that represents a slice of the history, experiences and aesthetics of Black Americans in the last hundred years. It features a few local connections as well, including several works by Beverly Buchanan, who spent the later years of her life in Ann Arbor.

There are some truly illustrious artists included in the exhibition, both historical and contemporary. I was excited to see a piece by Faith Ringgold, an artist whose work I have studied in depth. She is well known for her “story quilts” and similar pieces combining painting with textiles, often inspired by her childhood in the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. “Groovin’ High,” titled after a track by famous jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie, is a rhythmic and joyous scene of Harlem nightlife. It also serves as a demonstration of the artistic and historical significance of this collection.

The exhibition is largely organized into categories such as photography, portraiture and abstraction, with some works standing alone. I found the effect a bit disjointed, with no clear path to lead me through the gallery and no overarching story connecting different areas of the exhibition. However, a collection as broad as this one is best displayed with a diverse range of works and topics, so it is understandable that curatorial emphasis was placed on several smaller groupings of work around different themes.

Of all the works in “Silver Linings,” I was particularly drawn to the ornate mixed media works of Lina Iris Viktor in the “Portraiture and Subversion” section. Her work combines photographs with ink, paint and pure gold. She captures Black female bodies in lush, dark compositions, filled with deep shadows, with only soft highlights and bright accents of gold to distinguish the figures from their surroundings. These were visually stunning celebrations of the beauty of Blackness, skillfully subverting racist and colorist tropes.

Betty Blayton, “Vibes Penetrated.” 1983, acrylic on canvas. Image via Neil Kagerer and UMMA.

I also enjoyed the works in the “Abstraction” section of the exhibition. Betty Blayton’s “Vibes Penetrated,” the huge circular painting used in marketing materials for the exhibition, is even more stunning in person. The exhibition text references Blayton’s intention to create a “meditative pause,” which I felt as I lingered in front of it—the composition is active yet calm, and I felt that I could have stared at it for hours. Another highlight of this section were the luminous paintings of Michigan alumna Lucille Malkia Roberts (MFA 1939). Her works “Out of the Blues” and “Winter Sun” used beautiful complimentary colors and expressive brushwork that felt joyful and bright.

I did not love every single piece in “Silver Linings,” but I found several that spoke to me. Any exhibition with such a broad variety of work can never be a perfect fit for one individual’s taste. That breadth, however, means there is room for many different kinds of people to find an artwork they connect to. Others may find that their favorite works are very different from mine, but there is something for everyone in “Silver Linings.”

“Silver Linings” is on display at UMMA until January 5th. An exhibition tour by guest curator and History of Art professor julia elizabeth neal will occur on November 10th.

REVIEW: Hey, We Need to Talk!

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Through its Vote 2024 suite of programs, the U-M Museum of Art has asked the campus community, “How can we strengthen our democracy?” Visiting artist Philippa Pham Hughes answers this question with the title of her exhibition: “Hey, We Need to Talk!”

Hughes, the current Visiting Artist For Art & Civic Engagement at UMMA, is a social practice artist who works to create a flourishing society through human conversation and connection. With the presidential election approaching and politics an increasingly divisive subject, it’s harder than ever to communicate with those who disagree with us. With “Hey, We Need to Talk!” Hughes encourages us to sit down, break bread, and talk honestly about our fears and hopes for America.

The second-floor Crumpacker gallery has been transformed into something that is part curated art exhibit, part interactive experience, and part community gathering space. Brightly colored wallpaper (designed by artist Louise Jones, also known as Ouizi) covers the walls, bursting with beautiful illustrations of the nation’s fifty state flowers against a pastel pink background. Groups of comfortable chairs and low tables form places to sit and converse in small groups. The space feels instantly joyful and welcoming. The works of art hanging on the gallery walls are well curated, chosen from UMMA’s collection to provide discussion prompts about American life and values, but they take a back seat to the social artwork of the exhibition as a whole.

The exhibition’s Gallery Guide describes it a “social sculpture,” and invites visitors to “complete the artwork” by making social connections with others in the space. It gently encourages discussion with other viewers, and provides a series of open-ended questions about the artworks as a conversation starter. There is also a tear-away card in the back of the pamphlet, asking participants to write their answer to the question, “What does it mean to be an American?”

 

A selection of answers to the question “What does it mean to be American?” written by visitors to the exhibition. Photos by the reviewer.

I found these cards to be the most compelling part of the exhibition. Large photo albums filled with them are placed on tables around the room. I sat and flipped through one, reading the answers, which ranged from silly to profound. Some were clearly written in elementary schoolers’ handwriting, some in other languages. They expressed a wide range of sentiments, from gratitude and hope to frustration and despair.

Throughout the period of the exhibition, numerous events focused on fostering dialogue about American democracy will be held in the gallery space. This includes the weekly Common Sense Diner events, where people with differing political viewpoints share a meal and guided conversation. Participants are not asked to reach an agreement or change their views—only to ask questions, listen, and try to find care and common ground if they can.

This exhibition is unlike any other I have experienced at UMMA. It goes beyond artwork on gallery walls, fostering genuine delight, comfort and connection. If we want to build a stronger nation where everyone can flourish, maybe all we really need to do is just sit down together and talk.

“Hey, We Need to Talk!” is on display at UMMA until February 9, 2025.