Please join us for the opening reception
of a new exhibit, Object of Desire on Friday,
November 21st, 2008 from 5:00 – 8:00
p.m. at Community Arts @ Paramount Gallery.
The exhibit runs from November 17th through
January 2nd and features artwork by local
high school teachers and students from
the Detroit Metro area. Juror, Christopher
Schneider, will be presenting awards at 6:30
p.m. Following the awards, is a reading by
Michael Stone-Richards from his book “Thresholds/Seuils”.
The awards are sponsored by Cranbrook Summer
Art Institute and College for Creative Studies.
Object of Desire is an open call multimedia
juried exhibition of work that is investigating
characteristics of the desirable and revealing
the artists personal reflections on this subject
matter. Submitted artwork employs fantasy,
play, consumption, memory and mystery, as
well as moral, economic and social codes.
The artists in the exhibit have created objects
that are not concerned with limits, but are
defined by their desires.
Juror’s remark: “Craftsmanship may
be alive and well among the youth of today!
Amid concerns that attention to detail and
pride in the handmade will be lost to the
generations raised with ever-increasing levels
of instant gratification and disposable mass
production, the work in this show seems to
suggest that those concerns may not be justified.
In art history, the Detroit area is primarily
known for its contribution to the Arts and
Crafts movement. Whether the homage to the
Arts and Crafts movement was intentional or
not, whether students are aware of the influence
that this industrial region has on them and
their teachers or not, it is good to see history
repeat itself in such a surprising way. The
teachers who involved their students have
a lot for which to be proud.”
Christopher Schneider received his MFA in
Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art.
His work has appeared in numerous exhibitions
nationally. He has been teaching Photography
at various institutions in Detroit Metro Area,
including Lawrence Technological University,
Oakland Community College, Washtenaw Community
College and College for Creative Studies.
He founded and directs the Cranbrook Summer
Art Institute - summer art program for high
school students. Chris Schneider also is a
founder and chairman of non-profit art group
Hatch: A Hamtramck Art Collective, based in
Hamtramck. Most of his photographs are taken
on the road as he travels all over the U.S.
Some of them are preconceived and staged,
but mostly he searches for specific situations
or is inspired by what he unexpectedly encounters.
Michael Stone-Richards is a scholar-writer.
His poetic work has been part of interdisciplinary
performances, music and painting, as well
as chamber readings. His translations from
the French - Surrealism, Reverdy, Martine
Broda, Blanchot - as well as translations
from English to French -Prynne - are an integral
part of his poetic practice. He is preparing
a collection Thresholds/Seuils from which
his reading is selected. Stone-Richards is
currently Associate Professor in the Department
of Liberal Arts at CCS, a founding member
of the Program Committee of the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Detroit, and a member of
the board of the Friends of Modern and Contemporary
Art at DIA. Before his arrival at CCS, Stone-Richards
taught creative writing and modern and contemporary
literature at Stonehill College, Boston.
