Liberal Arts Gallery
Through April 28, 2007

ARTISTS TALK: Saturday April 14 at 2pm

As our tagline states, “unearthing a great American city one story at a time,” one of the most satisfying parts of covering the arts in Detroit is the perpetual journey of discovery. In places off the beaten path and out of sight, Detroiters have carved out some truly unique spaces and made them vibrant despite their surroundings. Such is the case with Duane Belin’s Liberal Arts Gallery on Gratiot not far from the Eastern Market. I’d heard rumors of it for some time, but so far it’d escaped being covered in these pages. But what a pleasant surprise to finally walk through those doors and be greeted by a beautiful and spacious venue. While Belin’s been at this for about 15 years, exhibitions have been somewhat infrequent. We hope that greater attention is drawn upon this space he’s created and it begins to play a more consistent and prominent role in the Detroit arts scene.

Sprawling over the bi-level space is a two-man show featuring Donald Anderson and Victor Pytko, who’ve shown together often before. Perhaps, it’s best described as being more than a two-man show, as Pytko is ever the chameleon, never appearing as the same artist twice, often within the same exhibition. (For past words about Pytko and his constant reinvention and exploration see here and here.) In aping the styles and techniques of his peers and mentors, and incorporating them into his own ever-fluctuating one, he is always enriching his own education as a painter, and it seems is capable of having his own group show. Here we see traces of fellow painter Jack Johnson through the incorporation of writing, trash, and dripped painting in the work. Another distinctive body of paintings offer a nod to Marvalisa complete with an almost puzzle piece abstraction of people and cityscape drawn with heavy outlines and each piece composed of bright, primary colors. There’s even an homage to his teacher Charles McGee with works referencing biomorphic forms composed with a strong sense of rhythm in their design, built through a collage of multiple layers of drawing, painting, newspaper and other fibrous materials. The diversity of the work can come off as uneven, and perhaps this range never allows the viewer to settle in enough to really engage with the individual pieces. If there’s a statement to be had for Pytko here, it’s always about the exploration – and learning. As the viewer, part of the intrigue is in awaiting just what he’ll tackle next.

Anderson’s approach to painting is more consistent, though his bodies of work float between observational and more abstracted, expressive works. Here he works with abstraction, with circular, flowing design patterns, somewhat reminiscent of Gilda Snowden’s tornado paintings. Fish serve as the guiding theme as pattern – with eyes, scales, spines becoming elements of composition, as well as a series of puns for titles, “stream of consciousness”, “bait and switch.” “Catch of the day” is a similarly painted sculpture made from trash – the piece and the cleverness work. He exhibits a nice use of color – picking up on the iridescence – reds, purples – of fish scales, good movement through movement through the work, and consistently expressive use of paint, whether working loosely and quite painterly or when leaning toward more cartoonish painting. It’s a solid theme, that while perhaps not yielding Anderson’s strongest paintings to date, as with Pytko, the avenues of exploration they offer will bear rich rewards going forward.

These are two active and strong Detroit painters given a great space to showcase a large body of work. Check it out, catch their talk on April 14 to find out what makes them tick, and look for more shows in this space soon. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com