arts & entertainment

Life During Wartime

Hometown artist/musician Niagara unveils exhibition of new paintings.

Rick Manore

Special to the Jewish News

D

ubbed the "Queen of Detroit"
and the "High Priestess of Punk:'
Niagara, the enigmatic and sultry
chanteuse who fronted the bands Destroy All
Monsters and Dark Carnival, has often been
imitated but never equaled. Lester Bangs, the
late dean of rock criticism, in 1980 called her
the "only real woman of rock 'n' roll."
As a painter and provocateur whose
fierce depictions of noir-ish, seductive
femmes fatales have taken her from cult
status to artistic force worldwide, she still
remains quintessentially "Detroit!'
So it is only fitting that on July 14, "War
Paint:' an exhibition of Niagara's newest
paintings, will open at Midtown Detroit's
Re:View Contemporary Gallery.
Her first exhibit in Metro Detroit in more
than eight years, "War Paint" explores the
roles of women during wartime, specifically
World War II, in Niagara's trademark com-
ic-panel narrative style. Although a depar-
ture from her famous "Bad Girl" motif,
these "women at war" are still about power,
beauty and violence — albeit this time in
a "more morally acceptable" setting.
Growing up in a middle-class Jewish
family in Oak Park, Niagara was given her
name as a child by her older sister, whose
teasing would bring on a torrent of tears,
"like Niagara Falls." The moniker stuck to
become her actual legal name (preferring
to retain an air of mystery, she chooses not
to reveal her birth name).
An introspective child, Niagara loved to
read and draw and mostly found ways to
stay inside, she says. "My parents always
begged me to go out, socialize. Well, I
eventually took their advice, became an
art student and joined a rock band. I don't
think that's what either envisioned —
their worst nightmare she laughs.
In the mid-1970s at the University of
Michigan, Niagara co-founded the proto-
punk art collective Destroy All Monsters
(DAM) with fellow art students Cary Loren,
currently co-owner of the Book Beat in Oak
Park, and soon-to-be art stars Jim Shaw
and the late Mike Kelley. DAM morphed
into a serious band when legendary Stooges
guitarist Ron Asheton joined in 1977.
It was Niagara's work for this trailblaz-
ing art/noise experiment that helped pave
the way for many women-fronted groups
that flourished in the '80s and '90s. With
her purposely detached vocal styling and
deadpan delivery, Niagara and DAM were
the alternative to the alternative.
As a visual artist, Niagara began to
slowly but surely create a "post-pulp"
rogues gallery of dangerous dames and

IF YOU
DONT LIKE
TO FIGI-IT

I DONT
WANT YOU
AROUND

TREAT
EM
ROUGH,
BOYS

Niagara: If You Don't Like To Fight,
2012, acrylic on linen.

Niagara: Treat 'Em Rough, Boys,
2012, acrylic on linen.

Pink Pump/P2 owner Tawny Thieu, who
Dionysian iconography that prompted
launched a line of Niagara-inspired appar-
painter and Juxtapoz magazine founder
el in 2010.
Robert Williams to say, "Niagara is the
Niagara graciously answered a few
embodiment of the 'pop' image and the
questions for the Jewish News as she pre-
`empress' of the one-liner."
pared for her exhibit:
Niagara's collectors read like a "who's
who" of the blue-chip arts and entertain-
IN: "War Paint" is your first home-
ment world.
town exhibit in eight years. Why the
Locally, Gil and Lila Silverman owned
long wait?
several of her pieces, which for years
N: I have had art shows here and there
greeted viewers at the entrance to the
— in New York, LA and every other year
Silvermans' famed Fluxus collection,
in Australia, England, Paris. But I especial-
which has been donat-
ly missed having shows in
ed to the Museum of
Detroit.
Modern Art in New
I was with CPop Gallery
York. Filmmaker and
in Detroit for a long time,
fashion vanguard
but it closed. I couldn't
Liz Goldwyn and her
find the right gallery here,
father, movie mogul
from the precious few
Samuel L. Goldwyn
available, until I found
Jr., also own Niagara's
Re:View Contemporary
work. New York's
Gallery.
Museum of Modern
Art recently acquired
IN: War. What is it
Niagara: The "Queen of Detroit."
a collection of DAM
good for?
multimedia collabora-
N: I started reading
tive work for its permanent collection.
books on Winston Churchill — and books
Niagara, today a resident of Dearborn
he wrote. I fell hard for him. Because he
Heights, is coming off an eventful 2011.
was so tied into World War II, I started
She was honored and singled out for her
getting more interested in it.
groundbreaking work with DAM last
Then, I began reading about George
November in Los Angeles at Prism Gallery.
Patton — I first had to know what he
Already a subject in three books that feature
looked like. And he sure didn't look like
her work, she'll also be induded in Detroit's
George C. Scott. He was very tall, slender
Greatest Female Artists (History Press) by
and fair. He was more beautifully dressed
Suzanne Bilek, coming out next month.
and polished than anyone. I read anything
Of late, she has graced the pages of Art
I can get on him. He had such a classy
Forum and Art News, as well as Juxtapoz,
sense of humor, very well educated. Always
and made a huge splash here and abroad
interesting.
with clothing designs for Detroit women's
This led me to the individual cam-
boutique Pink Pump and the edgy and
paigns, battles and details of the war —
trendy Japanese fashion house Hysteric
and the soldiers' stories. Because there
Glamour, where — still beautiful — she
is always a theme threaded through my
also doubled as a model.
shows, this was it. You only can paint
"Her work is both empowering and
what's on your mind.
timeless',' says fashion collaborator and
Besides — it seemed perfect; my

Niagara: Hotbox Camouflage, 2012,
acrylic on canvas.

women are an intense lot. Righteous,
opinionated, smart, ready to fight, gun tot-
ing and cigarette smoking — all what a
good soldier is about. They could put their
prodigious talents to work for their rights,
their freedoms and for their country. U.S.
citizens really worked together during
WWII. And I liked that.

IN: Has it felt strange to be honored
alot lately for work you basically did
years ago in art school?
N: Strangely enough, I had to be talked
into it. I dug up my art from the mid-'70s.
It was good that the LA show was in the
prestigious Prism Gallery, which would
make even lousy art look good — and
sometimes does.
When you have "young art," nobody
much takes it that seriously at the time it
was made. But now, well, the reviews were
astonishingly complimentary.
Of course, rightly so! But it took long
enough. I'm used to the art world being
screwy. But it's cool when it's screwy in a
good way.

IN: What is the intent of your current
show?
N: There's always going to be someone
who wants to take away your rights. You
just have to blink, and suddenly there's a
"war on women." The middle class has
been stripped of its money and some of its
civil rights.
Patton once said that Americans like to
fight, they like the sting of battle. Day-to-
day life can be a battle. This show reminds
the citizens to be alert. Be ready. And do
your damnedest always.

❑

"War Paint" opens on July 14 and
runs through Aug. 4 at Re:View
Contemporary Gallery, 444 W. Willis,
Unit 112, in Detroit. (313) 833-9000;
www.reviewcontemporary.com .

July 12 • 2012

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