Ellen Kayrod Gallery
June 23 - August 4, 2006

The Ellen Kayrod Gallery presents its third annual Intergenerational show, which features a pretty eclectic body of artists, with little or no direct connection to one another. One aspect of viewing such an exhibition is in trying to interpret or manifest such linkages between the artists, for this is not a theme show but strictly a grouping. Despite the individual artist’s differences, they seem to share a common thread of exploring the curious spaces, offering the viewer perspectives not quite front and center. It’s all just a bit quirky.

Take Ellen Stern's "Tie Dress," a sharp assemblage of ties hung together to create a very cool and quite functional dress (check it out on a model on her website here), or Harlan Lovestone's painting, "We Do Chicken Right," part-collage, part-abstraction, part social commentary. Brian Taylor offers up wildly metaphorical philosophical landscapes in watercolor as Vito Valdez and his student Ana Maria Duperron-Fong make toy like figures from brightly painted scraps of wood. Kelly Darke's abstract paintings are at once environments but also infused with a quite visible personality, while Rachelle Guenther shows off her elegant ceramics, all drawn upon with abstract, organic forms that might have leapt out of a Guindon cartoon.

Robert Quentin Hyde’s densely textured paintings are a sea filled with a multitude of female faces at varying scales. This is a dream, a memory of loves lost and perhaps to come. The roughness of the surface gives it all a certain grit to accompany the more raw drawing style. Yet within this almost ugliness, there is a definite beauty and a sweetness that he captures.

Rachel Timlin explores the surreal environment that is the modern workplace. In "Armor" we see a typical rolling office chair, upon it sits a suit coat stuffed to indicate worn made of the same material as the chair covering, as if to suggest the suit, the chair, are all part of a single force consuming the sitter – the worker. Her other piece, "De-Feeted" is a ceramic foot, whose fleshy heel becomes a stiletto-like heel. The top of the foot is cut open and inlaid with velvet as if to suggest this is a slipper for some modern day Cinderella, ready to escape the drudgery of the modern office to a place where she can kick her shoes off. It’s smart, surreal stuff, and thus strong imagery.

Teresa Petersen is everywhere of late. This extremely prolific artist’s assemblages – a mix of old fashion illustrations, science texts, and wildlife imagery – seem to be growing in complexity with every showing. It’s certain these are all variations on a single theme. A Teresa Petersen is instantly recognizable. Yet this chosen realm has allowed her to really explore and play within it, and she most certainly has. She’s building three dimensional scenes, many of the pieces have greater, and more significant means of interaction – they move and the movement is not just novelty, but enhances the possibilities within the art. Even if you’ve seen a number of her works, it’s always exciting to see what she will come up with next.

Azucena Nava-Moreno offers several delightful, quirky, terrifically engaging pieces. The primary piece is a story told in windmill blade shaped panels displayed across the wall, all designed to fit within a small, antique Hoover vacuum cleaner which also contains the final sequence of the story. She’s transformed the vacuum itself into an animal of sorts – the neck has the head of the dog and inside is a detailed spinal column. It’s a curious creature to say the least, but works perfectly as the final panel and resting place for the rest of the story which chronicles the journey of an animal cracker from inside its box with the other animals to someplace else. It’s a deliciously whimsical and gorgeously illustrated story – carried out with a mix of children’s book illustration, yet with a definite adult edge.

Nava-Moreno has two other pieces on display as well. A clever contraption part yo-yo, part bagel, and part dog leash, with a delicately painted portrait of dog and owner in each half of the donut shape’s center. There’s humor with titles referencing yo-yo tricks and dog care – "rock the cradle" and "walk the dog" – with accompanying linear depictions of the paths of such a yo-maneuver. She’s also built a doghouse/altar – complete with chew toy, a portrait of the dog secreted away behind a hole in a bone – quite cleverly lit, the Victrola dog on a medallion and more delightful and somber touches – canine constellational references. It’s all quite beautiful, and done with great care. I recall seeing a book a few years back at Gallery 555, which I believe was done by Nava-Moreno, and remember being quite taken by it then. She apparently doesn’t show much, so when the opportunity arises to catch this work – it’s not to be missed, and this is a great opportunity to see a broad spectrum of her work, along with several other strong, active Detroit artists.

As run by Mary Herbeck, the gallery has been showing consistently strong shows – but due to it being a venue for artists age 60 and over, it’s likely some folks fail to check it out. Hopefully this exhibition which includes a few younger folk, will bring a lot of new faces into this consistently strong gallery, and keep them coming back the rest of the year. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com