Lansing and East Lansing Michigan are having a summer arts
event called Arts Night Out, a good chance to explore the many art venues in
the Michigan capital city area. Our first and very impressive stop was Saper Gallery
in downtown East Lansing, a truly fine art gallery. The second stop was at a
venue called ArtShare. We had the opportunity to see work from regional artists
and for us the star of this show was Amy Wellington who displayed a delicate
collage of fine artist papers presenting a sensitive wedding portrait.
On to the next venue the famed Broad Art Center with its
distinctive design and cutting edge art presentations. The building design is a
big draw to many annual visitors and the art that is presented is always worth
a lot of consideration. The evening visit was not disappointing. On entering
the first gallery my reaction was the art display was not completed because
there were a lot of unfinished surfaces lying around. A few years ago we
visited an art center in Nova Scotia and saw what looked like a remodeling of
the building. We looked at it a long time waiting for workers. We never did
determine if it was an art installation or construction work in progress.
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| Activity or The Brain on Art by Joel F. Ellis |
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| Inside Out by Joel F. Ellis |
In the Broad first gallery I did ask the guard who was
watching over the gallery if the display was completed. Her response, delivered
in a very sincere manner was –Yes. So we walked over to the pedestal with a
name tag entitled Nude something and of course there was nothing on the
pedestal.
Trying not to feel left out of the artist’s meaning or attempt at
evoking a serious discussion on what-is-art, I approached the guard again and
asked if the artist trained her for this assignment. She said she met the
artist and was told what to say to folks like me. So we went back and looked
like we were actually seeing something on the pedestal. It worked. We actually
heard ourselves making the sound and motions that go along with viewing art
even though it was not visible.
I do know how it feels to be, well, let’s say, misunderstood. I learned a few years ago not to walk behind
visitors to a gallery opening who were discussing the changes in my current art
direction. To venture from the expected can be a little tenuous at times but a
little shake up can do wonders for responses to art.
Check out your own regions for such art explorations this
summer. You may be surprised how much enjoyment art can bring.
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| Reprieve by Joel F. Ellis |
Joel
Paintings included
in this blog by Joel F. Ellis are shake-up projects that rarely get into exhibits.
