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Get Surreal!

Ann Arbor's "Exquisite Corpse"
exhibit is more than a body of art.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to The Jewish News

V

iewers of Ann Arbor's
"Exquisite Corpse" art
exhibit won't need any han-
kies. For sure, they won't
shed any mournful tears.
All to the contrary, they probably
will get some laughs. There even will
be a chance to tap into talents perhaps c
not yet realized.
That's because the exhibit is part of
a collaborative arts event based on a
game enjoyed by surrealistic artists,
whose fantasy images suggest the
world of the subconscious.
Besides the display of 60 works cre-
ated especially for this show, the event
includes lectures, films and group
exercises to create other "Corpses."
Richard Rubenfeld, an art history
professor at Eastern Michigan
University, came up with the event
theme.
"I've always enjoyed fantasy art,
and I suggested the idea during a
brainstorming session,"'said
Rubenfeld, who is one of the speakers
during the Feb. 12-March 15 program
sponsored by the Ann Arbor Art
Center (AAAC). "The emphasis is on
experimentation."
The "Exquisite Corpse" is played
with three to four artists or writers
and originally took place in the infor-
mal atmosphere of parlors and
Parisian cafes in the 1920s. Each artist
works on a part of the body and con-
1
ceals that part before passing it on to
' , ---_
the next artist.
The concept of body parts is
abstract, and the artists are encouraged
to radically depart from conventional
definitions. After each player has fin-
ished a part, the entire body is
revealed and the "Exquisite Corpse" is
born.
Rubenfeld believes this event will
give insight into the liberating forms .
of art developing in the 20th century
and recall the work of surrealists such
as Andre Breton.
"The 'Exquisite Corpse' shows all
sorts of ways artists work," Rubenfeld
said. "There are works that nobody
could predict made by artists experi-

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77.
ddecr
ha
a rpkee sY ' avaie
enore Gimpert an
lock-like head plus
seen-onion legs
designed by Deborah
Friedman.

•;idgaiWZSIENNe'r..44.11111.1011111EEK

This Barkey/Friedman/
Gimpert collaboration
shows a blue square head
with children's figures, a
fruit and vegetable basket
for the torso and a valentine
heart and stockings.

2/6
1998

92

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