Page 24-Wednesday, July 19, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Artist psyches up for big debut
By SUE WARNER
On the left, the black lines curve
gracefully in thin, smooth strokes. In
the center of the canvas they transcend,
forming harsh, almost geometric
blocks of light, and to the right, heavy,
dark, yet subtle shading dominates.
The eye moves across the canvas, notes
the changes in texture and tone and ab-
sorbs them.
"For me,.it's a lot of discovery," says
Nancy Natow of the work she has
created. She moves a paint-splattered
fingertip across the patterns on the left,
"See. . . it looks like a drape, but if you
look again you see different things.
Here's a long pair of legs . . . a tush
... a human figure.
"I just do it (draw) and it reminds me
of something," says Nancy who is a
senior in the University Art School.
"It's like when you look at clouds and
you see different shapes. Your percep-
tions keep changing."
Most University students spend a lot
of time expressing their ideas and
opinions, whether it is through writing
essays or computing complex physics
problems. For Nancy, thoughts take
shape in the images of her drawings
and paintings.
"I have all these ideas floating in my
head that I want to express in visual
terms," she says. "Sometimes it's like
playing-I pick up a pen and the idea is
there."
But at other times, Nancy says, she.
sets out to convey a specific idea or
concept through a deliberate plan.
Today, her abstracts and landscapes,
Nancy Natow, smiling because she's al
which she has readied for her public exhi
matted on cardboard backing and
wrapped in an accetate film, are on
display in a booth on Main Street. And
Nancy wants to know what others think
about them.
Nancy says she has been looking for-
ward to showing her works in this
year's Art Fair, "in terms of experien-
ce-seeing people's reaction" to her
most through preparing for the Fair, inspects some of her paintings and sketches
bit.
This week The Ann Arbor Film Caopertive
presents FREE MOVIES
Wednesday, July 19 ADMISSION FREE
DEMON LOVER
(Donald G. Jackson and Jerry Younkins, 1976) 7 a 9-Aud. A
A horror picture from Jackson, Michigan! An occultist unleashes a hideous
horned demon on his wayward followers. An unusual cast headed by Gunnar
Hansen, Leatherface in THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and Marvel Com-
ics artist Val Mayerick who created "Howard the Duck." Not for those with a
weak stomach. Don Jackson, the filmmaker, will speak after the first show.
Thursday, July 20 ADMISSION FREE
MANPOWER
(Raoul Walsh, 1941) 7 only-Aud. A
Edward G. Robinson and George Raft want Marlene Dietrich and the sparks
really fly in this rip-roaring adventure about the hazards faced by men who
risk their lives daily repairing high tension lines. "The sadness of its triangle
lovers, scenes of the most homely daily order, the amount of material on
sexual ignorance, impotence, and hysteria make this a primitive movie with
subtle directing."-Manny Farber.
Friday, July 21 ADMISSION FREE
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
(Charles taughton, 1955) 7 only-MLB 3
A unique American film. A thriller about the battle between "good" and "evil"
forces as seen thru children's eyes. How religious superstition pervades life
in a small town. The only film directed by Charles Laughton, it provoked quite
a stir but was never widely-released in this country. Robert Mitchum stars as
a sinful preacher in the best role of his long career. Visually it is an excellent
representative of the "film noir."
Saturday, July 22 ADMISSION FREE
ROXIE HART
(William Wellman, 1942) 7 only-MLB 3
"Wild Bill" Wellman, known for his work in action features, made a series of
black comedies beginning with NOTHING SACRED that are highpoints in
American movies. In what is probably the best courtroom satire on film, Roxie
Is a flapper who has the time of her life while on trial for her life. A loving
look at speakeasies, floozies, and tabloids of the Jazz Age with a first-rate
cast. Iris Adrian as Two-Gun Gertie ("Got a butt, buddy?"), Adolphe Menjou
(Roxie's simple, barefoot mouthpiece"), Phil Silvers, Spring Byington (as a sob
sister) and Nigel Bruce (as a theatrical agent). Super script by Nunnally
JohnsonWith Ginger Rogers.
The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative has exhibited films In
16and 35 mm at the Universityof Michigan since 1970
work. This is the first time she has
exhibited her drawings in the fair and
up until now her only critics have been
teachers, friends and other art studen-
ts.
Certainly, Nancy would not object if
adoring hordes of art patrons flock to
the booth she shares with another
student painter, but she is also
prepared to facea lack of interest in her
work among the browsers.
- "I don't care if they don't like it," she
says. "I do want to see if I sell, but I
won't feel bad if they don't like it. I like
it!"
But whether the passersby like her
work or not, Nancy says she hopes they
will take some time to discuss their
reactions toher drawings.
"I don't think people really consider
the process of drawing or painting,"
she complains. "They just look and
there it is-either they like it or they
don't..
Although she wants to learn from in-
tgraction with the Art Fair crowd, Nan-
cy has attended the fair before and
knows the 200,000-plus mob can be
somewhat unruly. "I couldn't stand the
crowds last year," she admits. "I was
almost panic-stricken." In addition,
Nancy is carrying 12 credits and
holding down a job. She is prepared for
a hectic, exhausting week.
As a newcomer to the fair, one of the
most difficult aspects of Nancy's
preparation was pricing her work.
"Basically, I think artists tend to un-
derprice their time. If you work for 20
hours and charge $10 that's less than a
dollar an hour-nobody works for
that."
This year, Nancy says, she fixed her
prices rather arbitrarily, charging
more for drawings she particularly
likes, using her own judgment as to
their worth. She says that with ex-
perience she'll be able to better
evaluate what her time is worth. "But,"
she adds, "I don't think artists should
price art out of the market so people
can't buy it and enjoy it."
A member of the Artists and Craf-
tsmen Guild, Nancy says she is one of
relatively few University art students
participating in the fair, but adds that
the Guild is working to increase student
involvement. She explains that Art
School faculty members encourage
students to concentrate on the type of
art that could be shown in galleries,
which she says is usually of higher
quality than that normally found at
summer art fairs. However, Nancy
says both varieties are "art in their own
way. They each have their own validity.
"I don't like the idea of art having to
be in a gallery," she states. "I like the
idea of bringing it to the general
populace."
Yet Nancy does concede that she has
"mixed emotions" about the quality of
the art at the fair, and says that as a
resident, she understands why some
Ann Arborites object to the Art Fair's
annual traffic-clogging intrusion.
But overriding these points, Nancy
says she feels the fair is worthwhile as a
means of exposing a wide range of art
to those who don't make gallery-
hopping a regular pastime.
"Ann Arbor always has a lot of art
going on," she says. "There are always
new exhibits or shows, but again, that's
gallery art. Even though I'm an art
student I don't always have time to see
every show and spend a lot of time in
galleries. The advantage of the Art Fair
is that it brings art right out into the
streets to the people."
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