The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 1 1995 - 11
Art Works' features 50 ears of
A's new exhibit includes Guston, arho1, de
ming and Richter among its showcased artists
holly Jo sparkes Twombly. These are co-
ts Writer with pop and minimalist w
S onday October 29 marked the artists Richard Arschwag
ng of "Art Works: The Flavin, Donald Judd, Gerha
m bberCollection ofContem- Art Works: The ter and Andy Warhol.
Masters at the Detroit Insti- Themes from these per
e A.rts." The exhibition, which PaineWebber to emphasize the artificialr
nsorks from this firm's ac- Collection of art -rejecting and challen,
rmed collection, surveys artistic ditional modes of paint
de over the past 40 years. The Contemporary sculpture. Works such
aineWebber Collection aims to Lichtenstein's "Post-Visual
present a wide range of stylistic aers and Alexis Smith's "Seve
d intellectual schools - from Ab- Detroit Institute ofArt ders" (1988) depict imaget
ract' Expressionism in the mid- October 29- December 31 mass-media, exploiting ele
40s to still-emerging trends of graphic design, advertisemt
e 7990s. found-objects. The interio
PaineWebber Group Inc., one of contemporary art reflects signifi- of "Post-Visual" refers to
t nation's leading full-service cant and stimulating trends in our of advertisements publishe
curities firms, initiated the society, and that truly outstanding man telephone directories.
aineWebber Art Collection in works sometimes suggest the future neric layout mimics com
71. The collection, which con- -- a particular benefit to us since displays. The painting als
ins approximately 650 works, is our business tries each day to an- several visual allusions to
rrmanently housed at the firm's ticipate tomorrow. The collection art, including a geometric
orld headquarters in mid-town began from the happy confluence of one wall reading "POST V
anhattan. Although the company my personal and long-held interest - a pun on post-modernis
s° often shared works from the in art, and the company's desire to Concurrent with Pop Ar
ilection through loans to special integrate art into the workplace." opments were made in hyr
Arranged stylistically, the exhi- ist painting - or New Illu:
Ve PaineWebber bition opens with post-war Abstract These works embrace ana
Expressionist works by Philip of photographic reality.+
ollecti on Guston, Robert Motherwell, Willem Richter's "Helen" (1963
de Kooning and Louise Bourgeois. what appears to be a photo
ipreSents a Although these artists have little in a woman. The original ima;
. . common, their art contains a com- ever, is enlarged and distor
tylistic range mon theme, spontaneous assertion phasizing the fact that this is
rem Abstractof the individual, which is essential ing of a photograph - not,
to Abstract Expressionism. tograph itself.
-on®J ji in an untitled work by (luston In addition to the exhibi
(1953), vertical and horizontal DIA offers public guided to
!e id-'40s to scribbles dash across the page, as if ducted daily at 11:30 a.m
the lines struggle to fly from the p.m. Also, there is an video
ile ergingcanvas. Many Abstract Expression- ing in the 1980s," showns
ist works strove to break free from ously in the Prentis Court
onds of the '90s. geometric restraints, and - as sev- ing Room.
eral later works by Susan "Art Works: The Paint
thibitions, "Art Works: The Rothenberg show - images are Collection of Contempora
tineWebber Collection of Contem- liberated using rich colors, jagged ters" continues at the DIA
)rary Masters" is the first exhibi- cropping and tilted spaces. In a stun- December 31. Exhibition at
on to survey, through 70 selected ning serial of murals, designed spe- is $4 adults, $1 children,
orks, the variety of this larger cifically for the PaineWebber's dents, members free. The
Ilection. headquarters, Rothenberg depicts located in the University
Donald B. Marron, Chairman and dancers of varied poses in a frenzy Center at 5200 Woodward
EO of the PaineWebber Group of color and motion. in Detroit; hours are Wec
c., stated in the exhibition's in- Works of the late 1950s and early Friday I1 a.m.-4 p.m.; wed
oductory notes, "The 1960s depict growing themes in in- a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Monday
tineWebber Art Collection has ternationalism. Among the artists days and some holidays. F
en assembled over the past 25 included in this section are Joseph tional information call (3
ears with the conviction that good Beuys, Robert Rauchenberg and Cy 7900.
art
mingled
works by
er, Dan
ard Rich-
ods tend
nature of
ging tra-
ing and
as Roy
"(1993)
n Won-
ry of the
ments of
ents, and
r setting
a series
d in Ro-
The ge-
mercial
o makes
modern
sign on
ISUAL"
m.
t, devel-
per-real-
sionism.
aesthetic
Gerhard
) paints
graph of
ge, how-
ted, em-
s a paint-
the pho-
tion, the
urs con-
n. and 2
, "Paint-
continu-
Screen-
eWebber
ry Mas-
through
dmission
and stu-
DIA is
Cultural
Avenue
dnesday-
kends 11
ys, Tues-
or addi-
13) 833-
Those loveable moppets the Rentals made one of the best albums of the year. However, they do have a staring problem...
RECORDS
Continued from page 10
The Rentals
Return of the Rentals
Maverick/Reprise
Well, itlookslike Madonnafinallyhas
a real winner of a band on her label. The
Rentals, ledby Weezer's bass-man Matt
Sharp, manage to walk the fine line be-
tween cool and cheesy, hip and popular
with such adeptness that their album"Re-
turn of the Rentals" will probably be a
huge hit not only with the mallternative
crowdbut withpeople wholike fun, fresh
pop music.
And fun, fresh pop music is just what
"Return of the Rentals" has in spades.
From the first dizzy Moog synthesizer
riffs to the last buzzing guitar, the Rent-
als' music doesn't sound quite like any-
thingelseoutthere.ThoughSharp'ssongs
do sound a little like that of Weezer's
(particularly"Brilliant Boy)theyalsoowe
a lot to the synth-drone and la-la backup
singing of Stereolab and the sludgy tem-
pos of the Jesus and Marychain - and
Sharp's somewhat nasal, detached sing-
ing voice also recalls the Marychain's
Reid brothers.
However, the unadulterated fun that
shines from "Return of the Rentals" is
entirely unique. The contagious single
"Friends of P." is about palmistry of all
things, and the band revels in their inno-
cent, idealistic nerdiness, as song titles
like"TheLove I'm Searching For,""Na-
ive" and "Sweetness and Tenderness"
hint. While there's more than a touch of
irony in the thick glasses that all the
bandmembers wear, and in the Russian
subtitlesin their video for"Friends of P."
there's loads of affection as well.
Also cool about the Rentals is their
"supergroup" lineup: Along with Sharp,
Weezer's drummer Pat Wilson and Petra
and Rachel Haden of that dog. appear as
Rentals. Petra Haden's violin and vocals
(along with Cherielynn Westrich's vo-
cals and Moog playing) in particular give
the Rentalsa distinctive sound that mixes
the experimental with the prefabricated
in an appealing way. Hopefully lead
Weezer Rivers Cuomo will take a few
songwritinglessons from Sharp,or better
yet let him have some songs on the next
Weezer LP. "Return of the Rentals" is a
terrific collection of retro-modern pop.
Get it now before it's played to death.
- Heather Phares
Greta
This is Greta!
Mercury
So "This is Greta," huh? Well, it's
definitely the Greta of today. Yesterday
(1993,actually)theyreleased acollection
of metal tunes disguised as grunge called
"NoBiting,"seen inusedrecordshops far
and wide to this day. They were a mane-
tossing, dress-wearing abomination of a
bandthatdeservednevertobeheardfrom
again.
However, much likeadead fish, Greta
have resurfaced. This time, having tom'
off their frocks and shorn off (most of)
their locks, they're a pseudo-altema-pop
band. Surprisingly enough, they manage
to make half of "This is Greta!" listen-
able, even catchy. Not surprisingly, the
band still suffers from problems that will
take more than a makeover to solve.
First, the good news. The first four
songs, "About You," "Some People,"
"Cal Cool" and "Silver Blue" have kind
of a cool, jangly Byrds feel to them, and
singer/songwriter Paul Plagens' voice
soundseerily likelate Byrds' singerGene
Clark's. "Stained" and "Everything's
Fine" also have thatnifty '60spop feel to
them. Fair enough.
As for the bad news, let's not dwell on
it, OK? Lyrics like "Mentholated mayon-
naise." Song titles like "Warm Disease."
Heavyrookin' songslike"RockingChair"
that get weighed down in their own turpi-
tude. Enough said.
Ultimately, Greta are a band with a
serious identity crisis. They want to be
hard and grungy at one moment, and soft
andsensitivethenext. Butthey'rejustnot
capable (as of yet) of handling so many
dimensions. Variety'sgood,butnot when
every song on your album is of variable
merit. Until they can say "This is Greta!"
and mean it, they're doomed to be used
record shop mainstays.
- Heather Phares
Career opportunities
at J.P. Morgan
for (University f Michigan
Liberal Arls students (undergruduale) &
Business sftident' (udergraduale) interesled ii,
IEquity Research Associate
Ilulan lResources
Inlvestimnt Banking
Municipal Finance'
Please plan to ath'nd our
information presentalion on
Thursday, No'enber 2
Phelps Lounge
4:30-6:00 pan
:.ll mrajor s urelconme
Reach your goal.
Study abroad.
he choices you make
today build your
prospects for tomorrow.
Choose to study abroad. An expe-
rience in another country will help
you to visualize, define and reach
your goals. Take the first step.
Apply to study abroad next semester.
CAMPUS VISIT
by Leann Schmitz, Program Representative
Wednesday, November 1
Information Table:
11 AM to 3 PM, Student Union
Student Meeting:
4 to 5 PM
International Center,
next to the Union in the West Quad
Australia " Austria * Greece " Ireland
Great Britain i Mexico " Peace Studies
Beavcr( 'C ,{ k.'s 800.755.5607
cea@beaver.edu
Center for Education Abroad http:/www.beaver.edu/
JPMorgan
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.1,R Nfo)rgitm isam equal appsxrtixmiti employert'
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