The artwork for 2016’s Juried Art Competition has been on display outside of Beanster’s at the Michigan League since the beginning of this month. Tomorrow, the exhibit begins. It’s from 3-5pm at the Hussey Room of the League. Refreshments will be served!
The winner of the competition as a whole as well as the recipient of the Student Choice Award will be announced.
I’m super excited to review this event because I have a photo print in the competition. Feel free to stop by tomorrow and check out all the other awesome works of art!
What do you get when you combine theater, popular music, drag culture, Elizabethan fool, activism, and history? TaylorMac!
Taylor is a theater artist with a powerful presence, heavily invested in queer and feminist performance, and interested in mining feminism, gender, race, sexuality, and queer identity through a project called “A 24-Decade History of American Popular Music“. Also, it’s one of few shows on U-M campus that challenges the gender binary (man/woman). Taylor, who uses the pronoun “judy,” will be doing two performances of the 1956-1986 era from “A 24-Decade History of American Popular Music.”
It’s hard to describe judy and judy’s work without visuals. Here are a few:
(Yup, that’s me talking. I got to work with Taylor Mac over the summer, for an internship with UMS and SMTD. Here’s my story.)
The shows will be on this Friday and Saturday, February 5-6, at 8pm. It will be at Lydia Mendelssohn Theater inside Michigan League — the lobby of which is being decorated by Machine Dazzle, artist who has done extensive work on installation art and also the costume designer for Taylor! (I got a sneak peek of it; it looks freaking awesome. It’s hard to miss.)
Tickets are sold online at UMS’s website, or you can buy them in person at the Michigan League Ticket Office. Just like other UMS shows, students tickets are as cheap as $12!
Are you still there? For more fabulous interviews, check out the following videos too.
Let’s hear from performers themselves:
…And finally, directly from Taylor:
I hope you can make it. You might find me in costumes doing dandy things for Taylor those nights. 😛
As I expected, today’s trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts was phenomenal! It’s such a beautiful building, filled with an extremely diverse collection of art ranging from medieval times to modern and contemporary exhibits.
My favorite non-artsy room was definitely Kresge Court (which deserves to be its own exhibit because I was tempted to spend all my time there).
Aside from Kresge Court, however, I got to see some of the most amazing art. Take, for example, my favorite painting, called Interior of Saint Peter’s, Rome by Giovanni Panini. I was incredibly excited to return. It was wonderful to see again, and to show my friend!
Part of Panini’s “Interior of Saint Peter’s, Rome”
Aside from that painting, I saw enough of Panini’s work at the DIA to officially declare him as my favorite artist. Some of the other works by Panini present at the DIA include View of the Roman Forum (pictured below) and View of the Colosseum (1735). Panini’s work and mastery of depth is really astounding.
“View of the Roman Forum” (1735)
After Panini, we moved onto some other incredible paintings. In no order, here are some of the works that I enjoyed:
“Culebra Cut” by Jonas Lie (1913)“Indian Summer” by Jervis McEntee (1860-1)
There was also one particularly humorous work of art ingeniously titled “Bread With Egg” by Jeff Koons (tempera over hydrocal). It was nothing more than a glass case containing three differently-colored egg yolks atop three croissants. My friend and I especially liked that one.
We also managed to pose beside some of the artworks, which inspired a couple conversations with other museum-goers. The image below this was perfected thanks to a passing couple who instructed me on how to hold my head:
I was really excited to be returning to the DIA. Even though I have been there a few times now, I got to see a few new areas of the museum (like Kresge Court and “Bread With Egg”) and revisit my old favorite: Panini.
Even though I’ve been to the DIA a few times now, I’m always excited when there’s an opportunity for me to return. My favorite painting that I’ve seen so far is called Interior of Saint Peter’s, Rome by Giovanni Panini because of its color scheme and depth.
There are also new exhibits that I’m excited for. These exhibits are namely Fifty Years of Collecting: Detroit Institute of Arts’ Friends of Prints, Drawings and Photographs Anniversary Exhibition and a drop-in printmaking session. As someone who’s particularly interested in photography, the former exhibit sounds intriguing. As for the latter, I studied at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp awhile back and did some printmaking – I’d like to see if I’ve improved!
I’ll be at the DIA from 1-6pm tomorrow thanks to the Markley Residence Hall Council! Can’t wait!
The RC Student Juried Art Show features several student artists and will run until the end of the semester. Three artists included in the exhibition that I’d like to feature are Casey Jong, Heather Barnell, and Samantha Marks. Their contributions to the exhibition include pen-and-ink pieces, pottery, and sculpture pieces, respectively. The other exhibited artists worked with mediums such as painting, photography, and intaglio printmaking.
Jong’s pen-and-ink pieces, Piece 1 and Piece 2, hang side-by-side on the wall. The former piece features a female figure with a melancholic facial expression sitting on a chair next to a small end-table that supports a vase of flowers. She rests her face on her hand and stares into the abyss. The curve of her head resembles the curve of the end-table. Piece 2 features another female figure. She stands alongside a coat-rack and she raises her arms as well as secures her feet in first-position. The curves of her arms resemble the curves of the nearby coat-rack. Jong in Piece 1 and in Piece 2 combines female figures with everyday objects such as end-tables and a coat-racks. The pieces exemplify these combinations of figures and objects in visually-interesting ways.
Barnell’s Untitled consists of an engraved rectangle of clay. The artist engraved the words “Once a kid” and “Always a kid” on adjacent sides of the four-sided piece alongside childlike silhouettes. The other sides of the rectangular piece feature more adultlike silhouettes without the additions of words. The greyish, goldish, and purplish tones of the piece itself were visually-appealing. Untitled, however, was insufficiently lit as well as insufficiently positioned. The viewer struggles to read the engraved words of the darkly-colored piece. Additionally, the piece sits on its table at hip-level rather than at eye-level. The piece, however, still entices and interests the viewer regardless of the fact that viewing the piece at eye-level in a well-lit area would’ve been more ideal.
Finally, Marks’ life-size piece, Say Yes to the Debt, consists of tape, paper, and printed money. The artist sculpted these materials into the shape of a wedding dress. The title of the piece echoes the title of the well-known reality television series (Say Yes to the Dress). Wedding dresses sometimes cost thousands of dollars and the sculpture reduces the dress to its monetary value. The sculpture signifies conspicuous consumption because dress may indicate wealth. Certainly, the wearer of Say Yes to the Debt would conspicuously display his or her wealth. Ultimately, Say Yes to the Debt attracts viewers because of its life-like size as well as because of its surrealistic nature.
The RC Student Juried Art Show runs until December 17th. Additionally, the Residential College Art Gallery is open M-F 10am until 5pm. Catch the exhibition while you can!
The opening reception for the RC Student Juried Art Show will take place tomorrow afternoon. The show will run until the end of the semester if you’re unable to make its opening reception. Additionally, the show does not appear to have any kind of theme.
I’m excited to view student work, which might seem less polished than the work of professional artists. Students are learning rather than perfecting their crafts. It’s exciting to witness and I’m interested in acquainting myself with the work of my fellow students.
The Residential College Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday 10am until 5pm.
Aside from Kresge Court, however, I got to see some of the most amazing art. Take, for example, my favorite painting, called Interior of Saint Peter’s, Rome by Giovanni Panini. I was incredibly excited to return. It was wonderful to see again, and to show my friend!
