Subject and Subjectivity: A Selection of Perceptual Paintings
January 16-February 27, 2016
Galleries A & B
Opening Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, January 28.
Curator Talk at 5:00 p.m.

Perceptual painters do, in some sense, have a mannered approach to their work. The mannerism is related to their sensing and becoming increasingly aware of the visual character of sensing light, form, color, focus, and space; these are the core subject matter of the perceptual painter. An area of light may become as dense and impenetrable as stone. A solid form may be seen as diaphanous as atmospheric space. These are but two examples of the syncopated intersubjectivity of our senses.

The focus of this exhibition is object studies—perhaps singular, perhaps in tableau, perhaps figurative—that are aimed not at the slavish presentation of the appearance of objects but rather find their true subject in the scanning, flashing, point-to-point-yet-all-over arrangement of visual and material phenomena. These works move beyond the notational or the schematic to embrace an experiential subjectivity.

Exhibiting artists include Matt Ballou, Anne Harris, David Jewell, Catherine Kehoe, Matt Klos, John Lee, Aaron Lubrick, Carolyn Pyfrom, Erin Raedeke, Christian Ramirez, Brian Rego, Shannon Soldner, Peter Van Dyck, and Thomas Walton.

Matt Ballou, The Chrysanthemum Powder (Portrait of CaiQun), 2014, oil on panel, 16 x 16 in. Image courtesy of the artist. oil on panel.

The Thing Of It Is
January 16-February 20, 2016
Gallery C
Opening Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 4.
Artist Talk at 5:00 p.m.

Mark Holmes' work sympathetically but skeptically takes up the visual and philosophical problems of reductive abstraction. In one way or another, it points to the conflicts that arise when our knowledge of the ‘ordinary' world is ‘enchanted' by unstable experiences involving space, light, or color. Whether they are insubstantial objects on the wall or densely weighted columns, Holmes wants his sculpture to be faithful both to the weight of things, and the transience of experience.

Mark Holmes teaches sculpture and chairs the Department of Art and Art History at Knox College. He is a graduate of Hope College, and holds an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University. From 1990 to 2004 he was the owner of -ism Furniture in Chicago, where he made custom furniture and turned scraps into art. His work has been exhibited mostly in Chicago and its surrounds.

Mark Holmes, Krosswize, 2013, wood, gesso, acrylic and pencil, 16 x 16 x 7 in. Image courtesy of the artist.

Jeffrey Abt: The Visual Culture of Museums
February 27-April 9, 2016
Gallery C
Opening Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 1.

Jeffrey Abt's work focuses on the ways museums inadvertently resist viewers, museums as machines for study and reflection, and museums as sites of transience. He explores these topics through three interrelated bodies of work.

The Gallery View series contains views of museum interiors—at such institutions as the Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Metropolitan Museum of Art—from which works of art have been removed. Depending on how long the removed works were once displayed, or the conditions under which they were installed, their absences can constitute presences of a particularly distinctive and evocative kind. The Museum series reflects the visual parallels the artist finds between galleries and sacred spaces, particularly religious sanctuaries—both are environments created to foster contemplation, whether for the purposes of inspecting artworks or spiritual introspection. The parallels include interiors so large they dwarf visitors, the uses of natural and artificial light, and the articulation of architectural expanses to guide a visitor's attention. The pieces of the Wandering Gallery project are based on a much less visible aspect of museums—the behind-the-scenes, never-ending cycle of unpacking and packing, installation and de-installation, and documentation and interpretation associated with changing exhibitions. Two works are self-contained mini galleries designed to receive viewer comments, possess their own travel records, and means of conveyance. Others bring these notions down to a personal level, translating the structure and hardware of an airline-style, carry-on roller bag or briefcase-style shoulder bag into portable artworks.

Jeffrey Abt is a Professor in the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History of Wayne State University. He has a BFA degree from Drake University and he studied at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem before completing an MFA at Drake. Abt pursued curatorial and exhibitions work at the Wichita Art Museum, the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago, and the University's Smart Museum of Art, before coming to Wayne State. He's an artist and writer, his artwork is in museum and corporate collections throughout the United States, and he has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in America and abroad. Abt's writings include A Museum on the Verge: A Socioeconomic History of the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1882-2000, published by Wayne State University Press in 2001, his most recent book is American Egyptologist: The Life of James Henry Breasted and the Creation of His Oriental Institute, published in 2012 by the University of Chicago Press, and Abt is co-editor the Museum History Journal published in the United Kingdom.

Wandering Gallery project (workspace), multiple media and oil on panel, 2013. © 2013 by Jeffrey Abt.

Those of Us Still Living
March 5-April 23, 2016
Galleries A & B
Opening Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10.
Artist Talk at 5:00 p.m.

James Arendt explores the shifting paradigms of labor and place. Influenced by the radical reshaping of the rural and industrial landscapes he grew up in, he investigates how transitions in economic structures affect individual lives. The body of work in the exhibition is made from reclaimed denim–often donated by those depicted–to bring a stronger bond to Arendt's content and the people portrayed. Arendt explains his work by saying, "Art making is a way for me to explore how we relate to work. I've paid witness to the demise of opportunities to engage in meaningful work and seen cities ravaged by the absence of industry. As the landscape of work and labor continue to shift around us, I use art making as a way to investigate how the division of labor and alienation from work has impacted individual lives. Casting the people I know best into the center of my work, I explore how the changing landscape of work and labor has defined them, not as they were or are, but as I know them to be. I choose materials seeking to create a greater relevancy between content and form. Denim was created to be abused, worn out, patched, stained, and burnt through. Its characteristics are mirrored in the individuals I choose to represent. Yet, jeans remain supple, and with the right pair of boots can still go to the ball. I like that. Still, it's hard to make pictures out of it. I guess I like that, too."

Jim Arendt is associate professor and gallery director at Coastal Carolina University. He received his BFA from Kendall College of Art & Design and his MFA with a concentration in painting from the University of South Carolina. He has studied art in England and Spain and participated in residency programs, including The Fields Project in Illinois and Arrowmont's Tactility Forum. He has also been an instructor at Penland School of Craft. Recently, Arendt was short-listed for The 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art. His work was awarded the $50,000 top prize at ArtFields, Best in Show at Hub-Bub Gallery's Emerging Carolina, and was included in the 701 Contemporary Center for the Arts 701 CCA Prize 2012. He was awarded Best in Show during Fantastic Fibers at Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY. His work will also be included in Fiberarts International 2013 in Pittsburgh and the 2013 Museum Rijswijk Textile Biennial, Netherlands.

Department of Art Annual Juried Student Exhibition
April 23-May 12, 2016
Gallery C
Opening Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28.
Juror Talk at 5:00 p.m.

This annual exhibition showcases student work produced in ceramics, drawing, graphic design, metalwork, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculptures courses.

Department of Art Bachelor of Fine Art Exhibitions

Artists to be announced
April 30-May 12, 2016
Galleries A B
Opening Receptions: Dates to be announced