A Look At This Month's Art Scene .. Wendell Minor: Everglade. • When Metal Meets Bark T SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS PHOTO BY NORMAN WATKINS wo distinctive art- ists share space at the Sybaris Gallery in Royal Oak this month. Metal is the primary material used by ROY, a jew- elry maker who alludes to cul- tural issues through her wearable art. Bark is the pri- mary material used by Linda Bills, a sculptor whose works can be variously positioned for different effects. "We are drawn to both artists because their works speak to us," said Arlene Se- lik, who owns Sybaris with Linda Ross. "Their works of- fer a visual language." ROY, at Sybaris for the first . Above: Linda Bills: Untitled, 1995, pine bark, birch plywood, paint. PHOTO BY DAVID SMITH Left: ROY: Jamaican Beat tambourine bracelet, 1995, fabricated and oxidized brass, reused bottle caps. centrates on the issue of home- lessness in a mix of cardboard Ware. Bills, a repeat talent at the with metal. The "Rhythm" series gallerY;'-ev:aked from basketry features bracelets crafted from bottle caps that resemble tam- to abstract sculpture. "I think it's great to show met- bourines and jingle when shak- al and wooden pieces together en. Travel through the Greek because I think of wood as the Islands influenced the imagery opposite of metal," said ROY, in these musically inspired who makes a womanist state- pieces. "If I can have viewers reach ment by discarding a surname passed down by men. "Metal outside their usual thinking needs fire to fabricate form, for even two seconds, I will while wood is a hands-on re- have achieved my goal," ROY said. source." Bills communicates about re- ROY often incorporates found objects in her sculpture, build- lationships and their changing ing on the way they look, the nature as well. "We tend to see people in cer- meanings they convey or the tain circumstances without events they recall. Offthe wearer, her jewelry be- thinking of other ways they can be seen," Bills commented comes sculptural objects. A recent group of her pieces, about the intent of sculpture titled "In God We Trust," con- .that can be repositioned. "I'd time, started her metal artistry DETRO IT JEWISH NEWS 1>Tereating hiiiloware and flat- LU 08 like people to think about seeing things in more than one way." Bills, a three-time National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, enjoys working with bark because she believes it is visually handsome and because it draws her outdoors. "I like the reference of something from na- ture, but I want it to transcend its naturalness," she said. "I like to combine natural and man- made materials, such as bark with plywood." Bills' latest works are far re- moved from the plaited bark forms of a few years ago and are not as intricately crafted as they often had been. The new structures often possess solid bottoms connected to vertical elements and can be perceived as representing either human forms or inani- mate objects. Some, particular- ly her cable and twig pieces, are meant to be seen as drawing and sculpture, where the outlines of shadows simultane- ously seem to verify both a drawn and three-dimensional presence. Di 1 23 "Visual Language," fea- turing the works of ROY and Linda Bills, will be at the Sybaris Gallery, 202 East Third, Royal Oak, through April 20. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Satur- days. (810)544-3388. ;Artwork from children's books usually fills the Elizabeth Stone Gallery, but April brings an important exception. With the dis play of illustrations by Wendell Minor comes artwork for adults as well That is because Minor has designed for both audiences. His latest children's book is Everglades, and the art from that will be available. His latest release for mature readers, Art for the Written Word, features illustrations he has done for contemporary book jackets. Minor's pieces will be on view starting April 12. There will be an artist's reception 6-8:30 p.m. April 19. The gallery is at 536 N. Woodward, Birmingham. (810) 6477040. Many of Felix Braslaysky's paintings have traveled with him from Russia. Some have found homes at the Warsaw Art Mu- seum, Lathy Art. Museum in Finland and the Morayska Gallery in Czechoslovakia. Since moving th the United States, Braslaysky has continued working with acrylic and oil on canvas to capture cultural and emotional moments of the past. The Posner Gallery, 523 N. Woodward, Biriningham, is show- ing, through April 10, paintings brought with him from St. Petersburg and new ones created in the U.S. (810) 647-2552. Suzantie Chewier is a freelance writer who compiles and writes our "Hanging Around" Fine Arts pag- es.-If you have information about art happenings you wish to have considered for'our fine-arts section, including shou: openings ,