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art review

River Gallery showcasing imaginative landscapes of U-M's Endi Poskovic

“A View From the Black Mountain in Green and Yellow Mist with Blue (for Joseph Albers)” by Endi Poscovic

His “big triumph|majestic land,” a compilation of his 2003-2013 “La Souffrance et L’Aventure” and “Majestic Landscapes” series with additional lithographs drawn from his “Crossing” series of the same period, feature imaginative sceneries with a hermetic flamboyance.

As Poskovic says in his River Gallery artist’s statement, “Through the representation of familiar imagery my work proposes a range of eventualities, from hybridized narratives to unexpected scenarios, invoking a sense of place and time, and exploring ideas about displacement, memory and reconciliation.

art review

Chelsea River Gallery showcasing talented artists under 40

Chelsea River Gallery got curious about what young artists in the region are making, so they put out a call for submissions—only the second they have ever done—to artists under the age of 40 from Michigan and the Midwest.

The 10 examples selected for "10 Under 40," on display through Dec. 22, reveal how diverse art making is across a generation. Some opt to experiment and invent new ideas, while others explore traditional and well-tread artistic territories with a fresh pair of eyes.

Three of the 10 were awarded cash prizes after a jury of avid art patrons voted for their favorites. First place was a tie. Martin Thoburn and Chris Sandon's highly contemporary collaboration, "Exquisite Motion Corpse," is an interactive video installation that the audience can control, while Helen Gotlib's aesthetically masterful botanicals and female nude explore traditional subject matter in new ways. In second place, Brian Spolans' drawn and painted imagery creates an entire universe of characters, situations, and environments.

art review

River Gallery showcasing multimedia work of Larry Cressman

"Landlines" by Larry Cressman

“Line continues to be the focus and driving force of my work,” says Cressman in his River Gallery artist’s statement. “Whether physically derived from the landscape of Michigan through the manipulation of sticks (dogbane, raspberry cane, daylily stalks) or drawn with pencil on paper while traveling by train through the landscape of Italy, I have not exhausted my interest in the expressive qualities of this basic element of drawing.”

Right. What’s most intriguing about Cressman’s display is the seemingly inexhaustible interest he takes in his gallery-large installation art as well as his now intently obsessive intimate drawing.

art review

River Gallery showcases the lifetime achievements of U-M's Richard Wilt

“Two Boys Fighting, Gun, Red Background” by Richard Wilt.

Avoiding these errors has made “Richard Wilt: Legacy (1915-1981) A Museum Gifting Exhibition”—at Chelsea’s River Gallery—an unusually successful survey of this longtime University of Michigan art professor’s oeuvre.

As Robert Inglehart, Ann Arbor News art critic, wrote on Feb. 15, 1981 (shortly after Wilt’s death), he was at that time considered Ann Arbor’s “painter laureate.” And this is high praise, considering the level of local art in the last-half of Ann Arbor’s 20th century.

exhibit review

River Gallery exhibit displays process, potential of comic art

Untitled comic by Kasey Van Hise

Oh, yes they are. The talents comprising this lively invitational exhibition of original comic book art are Brandon Dayton, Anne Drozd, Jerzy Drozd, Luis Escobar, Matt Feazell, Jannie Ho, Kim Holm, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, and Kasey Van Hise. Among them are multiple prize-winners as well as illustrators for ancillary entertainments as diverse as Walt Disney productions and “The Simpsons” television series.

As such, the exhibit—comfortably wrapping itself around the spacious River Gallery first floor gallery as one of a number of programs taking place in Chelsea for that city’s District Library and Center for the Arts-sponsored “Kids Read Comics” event—runs from kid-friendly art to adult-oriented comics. Each talent here is a master. Although the art varies widely, all the artists share a dedication to this remarkable form.

art review

River Gallery showcases 2 artists' refined landscape explorations

"Spring" by Lesa Chittenden Lim

Lesa Cittenden Lim’s and Meighen Jackson’s art displays supremely nuanced observations of the world. These artists’ gestural abstraction in Chelsea’s River Gallery “Observation, Gesture, Interpretation” is easily some of the most refined art we’re going to see this year.

These artists’ subtly crafted art illustrates abstract expressionism’s enduring strength as a unique art form where the artist’s touch is as unique as his or her fingerprint.

art review

River Gallery exhibit finds creativity and meaning - in shopping bags

"Acme Mercantile" by Jaye Schlesinger

Contemplative pop art meets a meticulous photorealism in Jaye Schlesinger’s compact exhibit “Thanks for shopping here!” at Chelsea’s spacious River Gallery.

The exhibit marks an interesting transition in Schlesinger’s work. Her previous March 2010 Gifts of Art exhibit, “In Praise of Physical Labor” at the University of Michigan Hospital System, was a similar celebration of photorealism — albeit one devoted to tools and appliances, while the focus of new new exhibit is shopping bags.

She said of that earlier UMHS exhibit, “The origins of my work lie in observing the world and taking note of visual elements which I find worthy of further consideration. I look with intensity at subjects that intrigue me, and I try to portray them in a way that allows them to become symbolic, metaphorical, or provocative in some way.”

slideshow: SculptureWalk Chelsea switches to second round of public artworks

"Rocket Man" by Rick De Troyer.

The first edition of SculptureWalk Chelsea has concluded, and the effort has swapped out its initial round of 10 large public sculptures to make room for 10 new ones. The new temporary landmarks will be on display at locations throughout downtown Chelsea for a year.

The new sculptures are already in place at outdoor spots spanning from the Chelsea Center for the Arts, the southernmost point, to Jiffy Mix and the Clock Tower Complex, north of the railroad tracks. Sculptures are located near key anchors like the Chelsea District Library and the Purple Rose Theater, and sprinkled throughout downtown’s main drags.

SculptureWalk Chelsea maps will be available at businesses around Chelsea and Ann Arbor or you can download a 2010 map on the River Gallery website, coming soon.

art review

with slideshow: Wendel Heers' spectacular sculpture on display at his home and River Gallery

"Other Orbits" by Wendel Heers

University of Michigan emeritus art professor Wendel Heers’ River Gallery-sponsored “Site and Surround” presentation is as rare as any artwork we’re going to see locally this year — or for many years to come.

A large part of this is because the exhibit is at Heers’ residence, and open only during guided tours. But more so, it’s the scale of the art that Heers is exhibiting that makes “Site and Surround” a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; this sculpture couldn’t be relocated without monumental effort. Many of these sculptures are simply too big to be shown elsewhere.

Ann Arbor area entrepreneurs using creativity to rebuild economy

Amid the stories of lost jobs and declining industries, there are encouraging signs of economic vitality. Area entrepreneurs are using their innate creativity to grow small businesses that could lead the way to a new economic flowering for the greater Ann Arbor area. Let's a take a quick tour of the county and some of its creative entrepreneurs.

Sculpture submissions wanted for Chelsea event

The River Gallery in Chelsea is seeking submissions for the 2nd annual "SculptureWalk Chelsea."

The selected sculptures will be placed in high-profile locations, outdoors in the heart of historic Chelsea. Artists are invited to submit up to 3 works. Each artist selected will receive a $300 compensation. A "Best in Show" of $500 will be awarded by the jurors.

The postmark deadline is April 30. The event will launch June 17, 2010 with a reception at River Gallery Fine Art. The application is attached and can also be found at the Chelsea River Gallery web site.

art review

with slideshow: River Gallery digs up fascinating "notes from a quarry ... "

The title of Vince Castagnacci’s “notes from a quarry….” fits his Chelsea River Gallery exhibit to a T. But it may also be one of those instances when the show’s title is a bit too snug.

An Arthur F. Thurnau professor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design, Castagnacci produces work marked by what his artist’s statement calls a “principle of variational development.” That is to say, the work bears what he calls a “personal geometry” through which he “communicates a strong sense of tectonic values.”

art review

"Material Matters" in show at Chelsea's River Gallery

"Beat," white stoneware, industrial ceramic pigment by Susan Crowell. On view in "Larry Cressman/Susan Crowell: Material Matters" at River Gallery in Chelsea.

courtesy of the artist

Featuring the work of U-M Residential College art instructors Larry Cressman and Susan Crowell, the exhibit makes a virtue out of less and less by illustrating how more and more can be made out of nearly nothing through the diligent application of material.

Ann Arbor last saw Crowell's abstract biomorphic ceramics in September 2007 when she exhibited “Oneiric Artifacts” at the U-M Residential College Art Gallery. Her sculptures in this exhibit — like the ceramics in that earlier display of art — have unceasingly interesting curves that seemingly shape themselves.