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ALL MONSTERS WELCOME: Universal Metaphors of Anxiety November 12 through December 18, 2005
Artists: Diana Alva, Tim Burke, Carlos Bruton, Michael Canich, Patrick Dodd, DMC, Roger Hayes, George Higham, Jack Johnson, Diane Kramer, Andrew Lewandowski, Math,
Maugre, Eric Mesko, Kelly Moore, Rick Petrea, Karl Schneider and many more...
The monster has always been an outward visualization of our primal fears and inner demons. We carry our fears with us and the monster remains the most effective tool for visualizing and confronting them. There are over 16 artists in this show confronting their dreams, exploring their
subconscious minds, grappling with self control / repressed desires, and other nightmares. Another monster has emerged in modern times: that of the political monster who wages war from a computerized distance on unsuspecting civilians.But for the artist who can read between the lines and search
for the truth there is a never-ending supply of horrific material and content to use. This exhibit includes diverse works, from the monster bunnies of Tim Burke to the political monsters of Eric Mesko, from the colorful anxieties of Catholic priest Andrew Lewandowski to the "Neighbors Dog" by Diana Alva.
We've even got a short video clip from Fijidog on youtube.
RELIEF: Wood & Lino Prints by Brett Colley & Eric Skoglund September 16 through October 30, 2005
Eric Skoglund and Brett Colley use linoleum and woodcut techniques to highlight the vulgar injustice of recent history. For the people of Chile, September 11 has held importance since 1973. That day brought Augusto Pinochet to dictatorial power, and brought death to Salvador Allende. The United States helped instigate the rise of Pinochet, which caused the end of democracy in Chile, killed tens of thousands of people, and left the people of South America in terror for over seventeen years. May 1 of 2003 saw President George W. Bush landing on the deck of a navy aircraft carrier declaring that the Mission Accomplished in Iraq, yet almost two and a half years later we continue to spend billions of dollars trying to accomplish that same mission. In both cases Skoagland and Colley ask the simplest of questions: For what?
The haunting prints of Mr. Skoglund hang like ghosts. "Henry" looms as
a reminder of the CIA's
complicity in the coup díetat of 1973, while "The Palace" appears as a
gallows waiting for the on-looker. His etchings of the people and places hold significance,
both to Chileans and Americans (if they would remember), against the
mist of that September day, fixing them in the memory with chisel, ink, and wood.
Mr. Colley's work is much less ephemeral. The naked power wielded by
the current U. S. administration is deftly reflected in his work, as Dick Cheney lords over Iraq's oil-fields, and Condoleeza Rice
prepares to stuff oil-barrels in her voracious maw.
LE MINOTAURE LIVES: Jacques Karamanoukian Retrospective May 14 through June 26, 2005
“What excites me is the unknown. I like to be surprised.” – Jacques Karamanoukian
This is the second exhibit constituting our tribute to the man who guides the spirit of the Zeitgeist, Jacques Karamanoukian . This portion of the exhibit will consist entirely of works by Jacques, held privately in individual collections from around the world.
OUTSIDE/OUTSTATE: Work by Mikael Lovich and Bill Santen March 26 through May 1, 2005
The Zeitgeist Gallery is pleased to present the work of two renowned “outsider” artists from outside of Michigan: Mikael Lovich from California, and Bill Santen from Kentucky. This show will feature work from across their respective careers, with a focus on more recent works.
Mikael Lovich is a true child of the “art brut” movement. Born in Detroit in 1940, at age four he was accidentally responsible for his older brother's death. His parents, unable to forgive him for this tragic event, inflicted emotional and physical abuse on their younger child. Mikael turned to drawing to cope with his deepening depression and escape his parents' torture. He eventually joined the army, where he continued to draw his dark and often disturbing “scribbles,” as he called them. After a failed marriage, he joined an ashram and in a symbolic catharsis destroyed all of his artistic work. It was his second wife who convinced him that his art could help begin healing his pain and anguish. His colorful and chaotic work is an expression of Mikael's struggle to pull himself from the depths of mental illness into an artistic realm of self-discovery and spiritual growth.
Bill Santen began creating artistic figures of animals or people from wood at the age of seven while growing up on the family farm in rural Kentucky. He likes to portray the “interactions” between things in simple, unambiguous, if somewhat incongruous terms. This simplicity conveys particular mood or thought, or just something “random or funny.” He often obtains used canvases and discarded oddly tinted paints for his work, as he finds a human connection with items that have already served some purpose. “New supplies feel very sterile and are difficult to use,” he says.
LE MINOTAURE LIVES: A Friends' Tribute to Jacques Karamanoukian January 29 through March 12, 2005
Zeitgeist Gallery is honored and humbled to curate this tribute to the man who guides the spirit of this space, Jacques Karamanoukian. This first exhibit in this two part presentation features new and old works by the artists who knew and loved this gifted and giving friend. The second exhibit will consist entirely of works by Jacques, held privately in individual collections from around the world.
Zeitgeist's tribute will feature works from European artists including Gerard Sendrey, Claudine Goux, Sanfourche, and Jaber; from artists working in the United States, including Michael Loverich and Leif Ritchey; as well as artists from the metro Detroit area, including Mary Ellen Croci, Francine Rouleau, former Zeitgeist curator Karl Scneider, Vito Valdez, and DMC.
Jacques Karamanoukian was born and raised in Paris, and moved to Michigan in the late 1960’s. While teaching high school French in Ann Arbor he began to exhibit a variety of artists from his native France, bringing an eclectic group to the attention of audiences and critics here. He created Le Minotaure Gallery as a space to showcase the work of friends and companions from Europe and, as
his circle of friends and companions grew in Ann Arbor and Detroit, the United States as well. Like Jacques, most of these artists were self-taught, working outside of the established schools and gallery systems, both here and in Europe. In addition to Le Minotaure, Jacques began to throw open the doors to his home as a gallery space, inviting artists and musicians for an evening of music, talk, poetry, and
above all, ART. Tyree Guyton, Faruq Z. Bey, Ron Allen, George and Chris Tysh, Maugré, Arwulf, Thom Jurek, and Mikhail Caldwell were just a very few of the people who came to express themselves through art, and who, along with any given audience, relished the openness and freedom with which Jacques furnished this space.
The opening reception for this momentous event is Saturday January 29, 2005 from 7:00pm until midnight. Special guest musicians will play beginning at 9:00pm.
THE TREE OF LIBERTY EXHIBITIONS: "Reviving the Tree of Liberty": October 30 thru November 13, 2004 "Restoring the Tree of Liberty": November 20 thru December 18, 2004
"Reviving the Tree of Liberty" opened just prior to the 2004 presidential election, and was the brain-child of curator Eric Mesko. Artists included Mesko, Nick Sousanis, the Fifth Estate,
Jerome Ferretti, and Mary Lerado Herbeck. Included in the show were "George's Bunker" & a group of artistic voting booths/ Performing at the opening: political puppets & others.
"Restoring the Tree of Liberty: A Post-Election Artistic Critique" was the second part of the "The Tree of Liberty" exhibit organized by the Zeitgeist, and featured performances by The Constitutional Collective and The Don't Look Now Jug Band.
This show is the second of a two-part exhibit featuring works AND OPINIONS, AND IDEAS by artists from Southeast Michigan as they respond to the election of George W. Bush this past November 3rd. As Nick Sousanis said about the first part of this exhibit, “Democracy demands our participation. Inaction in the face of injustice makes us participants to it.” (See www.thedetroiter.com, the week of Novermber 1st for the full article) ZeitGeist Gallery and the ARTISTS will again participate in a broad and COMPLICATED spectrum of political and social discourse that falls outside the NARROW and PREJUDICED bounds constructed by the mainstream media in the U.S.
This exhibit will include paintings, drawings, sculptures, performances, & installations by individuals, as well as collaborations between two or more artists. ENGAGED ARTISTS include: Diana Alva, DMC, Maurice Greenia jr., Mary Herbeck, The Fifth Estate, M-80, Jerome Feretti, Vito Valdez, Jean Wilson, and others.
As part of the evening’s alterNATIVE CONstructs: THE CONSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIVE presents A Live Film Performance at 8pm
Music by “DON'T LOOK NOW JUG BAND" and Frank PAHL begins at 9pm.
The closing night event featured poets, an angry puppet show by Maugre, and a very special "Mesko Rants".
VISUAL JAM SESSIONS III August 14 thru September 4, 2004
TOUGH TIMES IN THE USA June 5 through July 24, 2004
Eric Mesko explores political, social and military issues with a sarcastic and biting humor. Performing at the opening: a drum circle.
Saturday July 24: Artist Talk Detroit based artist Eric Mesko will give an artist talk at the Zeitgeist gallery at 7:00 p.m. His exhibition/installation “Tough Times in the U.S.A.” is currently on view at the
Zeitgeist, and will serve as a background as he discusses his art, the current military and political situation, and aspects of popular culture. Widely known for his own style of political art presented with both irony and sardonic humor, Mesko continues to zero in on
today’s headlines with a hot off the press immediacy.
This event closes out his current show with not only a discussion, but with an offering of wine and cheese as well. As a closer to his exhibit, this event will include a poster signing and light refreshments. Known for his humorous banter, a good time is guaranteed.
GENDER X March 27 through May 15, 2004
Recent artwork by Shaqe Kalaj and Jean Wilson. Performing at the opening: the Space Band, Tuka, Wade, and Susan Sunshine.
GERARD SENDREY: French Master of Line January 24 through March 13, 2004
Zeitgeist invites you to an exhibition of a master of line from Begles, France in the Bordeaux district. (This was a special exported solo exhibition.)
