Fine Arts

Home Sweet Home

Clay Plus

The Detroit Artists Market
and the Michigan Potters As-
sociation are exploring the re-
lationship of clay to .other
media through the exhibition
Clay Dominant. While clay is
the outstanding component of
each of the works represented
in the show, the 'artistic objet-
tine is combination creativity,
the wAys in which clay is used
with other materials.
Juror St. Clair Cemin has
selected works by 21 area
artists to include in the dis
play, which runs through June
20 at 300 River Place, Suite
1650, Detroit. Cemin's own
work has been shown at pres-
tigious galleries including the
Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden in Wash-
Sean Evans: Fire, clay, low fire.
ington, D.C. (313) 393-1770.

Show and Scholarsh .

I

udy Eliyas' parody photos always vant and useful models for domestic liv-
feature her as model, which means ing."
she will be seen by viewers at the
In contrast to Eliyas' photos are those
Cranbrook Art Museum exhibition of Carla Anderson, who captures the fa-
"Far From Home: New Definitions cades of homes in the rural South. Trav-
of Domestic Living."
eling on state highways and back roads,
An indoor setting shows her with a Anderson spends weeks at a time ex-
washer and dryer getting ready to spin ploring the southern landscape and the
lettuce. An outdoor setting has her plac- unique structures that house the poor.
ing rocks around freshly planted artifi-
"Dilapidated homes, shacks and trail-
cial flowers.
ers are among Anderson's subjects," Hof-
"I found it hard getting people with the mann explained. "As rundown as these
right look," Eliyas explained as her rea- dwellings look to outsiders, those who
son for choosing herself as subject. "I put live there appear to possess a great sense
the camera on a timer and do a lot of of community and pride in their homes."
planning."
Eliyas is one of 11
Michigan-based
artists exploring
how economic, cul-
tural and social
changes have im-
pacted domestic
lives and reshaped
living spaces in the
late 1990s.
Concerns about
security and home-
lessness, responses
to an increasingly
nomadic culture and
re-evaluations of the
"American Dream"
home are addressed
through both two-di- Carla Anderson: Hwy. 61, Valley Park, print.
mensional and
three- dimensional forms exhibited May
Landscaping gestures outside a run-
31-Aug. 31.
down trailer, a decorative metal entrance
"As the new millennium approaches, feature and a sign advertising "Coun-
we are caught between a desire to em- try Cabin" rentals all reveal the charac-
brace the future and a need to cling to ter, creativity and domesticity of these
sentimental fantasies of an idealized do- residents.
mestic past," said Irene Hofmann, exhibit
"I've been interested in architecture
curator.
and literature of the South," Anderson
"Economic developments, social explained about her subjects. "My work
changes and astounding advances in is very much about the way we use-place
technology all have greatly altered our to define our lives."
lives and left us searching for more rele-
Anderson, a Cranbrook graduate, has
a regular assignment for the National
Park Service that re-

Catherine Smith: lates to her artistic pro-
Untitled Installation, jects. ShkphotOgraphs
mixed media.

Suzanne Bauman: Wilder Moon Child, mixed media collage.

The Palette and Brush Club, established in 1935, will hold its 62nd annual
spring exhibition, Point of View, at the Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Associa-
tion, 1615 S. Cranbrook, Birmingham.
The club, which offers a yearly scholarship to an art student at a local uni-
versity, presents this year's exhibition May 31-June 14. (810) 626-1398.

Suzanne Chessler is a freelance writer who compiles and writes our "Hang-
ing Around" Fine Arts pages. If you have information about art happen-
ings you wish to have considered for our Fine Arts section, including show
openings and ongoing exhibits, please send your information, including
photos or slides, three weeks prior to publication date, to Gail Zim-
merman, Fine Arts Editor, c to The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Road,
Southfield, MI 48034; information may be faxed to (810) 354-6069.

historic buildings about
to be demolished.
Others in the,Cranbrook:show inchide
Joe Crachiola, Amy Kelly, Peter Lynch,
Lisa Olson, Catherine Smith and Stu
diozONE (comprised of Julie Ju-Youn
Kim, Paul Kevin Matelic and John P.
Biggar). El
•
"Far From Home: New Definitions of
Domestic Living" runs May 31- Aug.
31 at the Cranbrook Art Museum. As-
sociated activities include a gallery
talk by the curator at 7:30 p.m. Thurs-
day, June 5; hands-on Family Day
with children's activities to person-
alize the exhibit between 10 a.m. and
2 p.m. Saturday, June 7; and a bus
tour to showcase homes between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, June 14.
For information, call (810) 645-3323'