In a Sprawling Collaboration, an Artist and Her Subject Craft His Identity | Hyperallergic

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — We live in a time that challenges easy distinctions on the subject of identity. Gender has become fluid as never before in Western society, and art-makers find themselves remarkably unconfined by medium in an era that values ideas articulated by the most effective means possible rather than with a more traditionally rigid separation between disciplines. This freedom to maneuver is fully evident in Him, a project Liz Cohen developed over the past year as artist-in-residence and head of the photography department at Cranbrook Academy of Art (a position she has held since 2008). Cohen worked intensively with her subject, Eric Crosley, a male-presenting, self-described eunuch who has engaged in radical physical transformations in his search for a body that he feels appropriately reflects his identity — a topic he captures movingly in his own poetry. Cohen, who considers herself a documentary artist, uses her photographic eye to ...

Tagged: Liz Cohen

Simple Forms, Stunning Glazes featured in KnightBlog

If the title to the ceramics show guest curated by Anders Ruhwald for the main gallery at Pewabic in Detroit sounds a little on the hippie side, that’s because it’s a snippet of text lifted from the introduction to “Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and Person” by M.C. Richards—a potter, poet and essayist who taught at the Black Mountain College in the 1940s. Ruhwald’s show, “This Is the Living Vessel: Person. This Is What Matters. This Is Our Universe,” seeks to show work that embodies some of the concepts outlined by Richards in this text, ideas about the latent capacity for creativity in all humans, and our common experience as unlocked by certain art forms. The show presents an impactful collection of works by seven different ceramic artists living and working in America (with the exception of Howard Kottler, a posthumous contributor to the show). Each of these artists leverages the ceramic ...

Tagged: Anders Ruhwald, Ceramics, Pewabic Pottery

Artists’ Books that Break with Traditional Bindings | Hyperallergic

DETROIT — I’m an inveterate lover of books, so you never have to bother arguing with me about the continued relevance of print as a medium. Books are not just the sum of their words and ideas, but lovely standalone objects — a concept aptly demonstrated by two book-based shows going on in the Detroit Metro area. At Holding House is TURNOVER A SPREAD — a survey of artists’ books and limited edition texts by local Detroit publishers and print artists, including Toby Millman, Lynne Avadenka, Laura Beyer, and Ryan Standfest. At the Cranbrook Museum of Art is Read Image/See Text, which borrows its title from an iconic poster titled “See/Read,” a treatise on communications design, by former artist-in-residence and co-head of the Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Katherine McCoy. This hands-on investigation of books as art objects mixes the work of hometown heroes like Susan Goethel-Campbell, Megan Heeres, ...

Tagged: Read Image See Text, Shelley Selim

Cranbrook Academy Art Presents Alumni Achievement Award to Vivian Beer

Bloomfield Hills, Mich., February 10, 2016 – Cranbrook Academy of Art has named Vivian Beer (Metalsmithing ‘04) the 2016 recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award. This is the fifth time the Academy has bestowed the award, which seeks to recognize alumni who have achieved excellence early in their career. Sonya Clark (Fiber '95) was the first recipient in 2011, Susan York (Ceramics ’95) received the award in 2012, Laura Heyman (Photography '98) received the award in 2013 and our last recipient was Fabio Fernández (Sculpture ’02) in 2014. Beer was selected based on her significant accomplishments and thriving studio practice. Her sleek, abstracted metal and concrete furniture combines the aesthetic sensibilities of contemporary design, craft, and sculpture to create objects that alter viewers’ expectations of and interface with the domestic landscape. With a strong foundation in contemporary furniture design, her recent research into the history of American industry, architecture, and transportation—supported ...

Liz Cohen, Eric Crosley & the Politics of the Self | Lecture and Reading Accompany Artist’s Latest Exhibition

Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Feb. 9, 2016 -- On February 28, 2016, Liz Cohen and Eric Crosley will present the combined lecture and reading, "Liz Cohen, Eric Crosley & the Politics of the Self," at 4pm at Cranbrook Art Museum. Liz Cohen is an Artist-in-Residence and Head of the Photography Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her solo exhibition, Him, a project by Liz Cohen, is currently on display at Cranbrook Art Museum through March 6, 2016. Liz Cohen’s artistic practice is rooted in both photography and performance. She is perhaps best known for her project BODYWORK, in which the artist adopted both gender roles—the auto mechanic and the show car model—of low-rider custom car culture. The exhibition launches a new body of work for Cohen that draws from her continued interest in exhibitionism and acts of belonging. Her point of departure is an ongoing collaborative research project with Eric Crosley, a ...

Andrew Blauvelt interview | SLICE Ann Arbor

Andrew Blauvelt serves as director of the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a position he assumed in September 2015. In this role, Andrew oversees the Museum’s collection, exhibition, and education programs. Prior to this, he served as senior curator of architecture and design at the Walker Art Center, a contemporary arts museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During his tenure there, he also served as chief executive overseeing the design, marketing, public relations, education, and new media departments. A graphic designer for more than 25 years, Andrew has received over 100 design awards, including the 2009 National Design Award for Corporate Achievement for his work at the Walker, the first non-profit to win the award joining the ranks of Nike, Apple, and Target. While at the Walker, Andrew curated numerous exhibitions, including Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life (2003) and Some Assembly Required: Contemporary Prefabricated Houses (2005), and with Ellen ...

Tagged: Andrew Blauvelt

Liz Cohen | Downtown

Part photographer and part performance artist, Liz Cohen uses both mind and body to focus on issues of transformation and belonging while also heading up the photography program at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills. "Generally, I tend to focus on issues around belonging and acceptance because those are big human issues that we all face," she said. "In all of my work, there is an examination of belonging and what it means to be in or out of a group, or what it is to be left out when you have something to offer. My work has also dealt with radical transformation and modification." Amongst Cohen's work is a decade-long project titled, "Bodywork," in which Cohen transformed an East German automobile into a Chevrolet El Camino. To complete the project, Cohen apprenticed in an auto shop and learned how to reconstruct the vehicle into a custom lowrider. At the ...

Tagged: Liz Cohen

Cranbrook celebrates city, art and feminism with new series | C & G Newspapers

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Last year, the Cranbrook Art Museum welcomed home a member of its family for a widely acclaimed photography and performance art event. “Nick Cave: Here Hear” connected Cranbrook to the city of Detroit like never before, and now there’s no going back. The museum is in the midst of yet another exhibition, called “The Cranbrook Salon,” which explores the history of salon-style art displays, and to complement that, they’ve arranged a series of salon events with a decidedly Detroit — and even feminist — flare. “The Cranbrook Salon,” according to Curator of Contemporary Art and Design Laura Mott, is a peek into the history of exhibition design, highlighting the salon-hanging technique that dates back to 17th-century Paris and features paintings hung floor-to-ceiling. But in the art world, Mott explained, there’s more than one meaning for the word salon. It’s also a way to describe social gatherings that double as interactive ...

Tagged: Cranbrook Salon, Detroit Bluestockings Crew

“The Cranbrook Salon” Seeds Lively Discussion Among Detroit’s Thinkers | Knight Blog

Women throughout history have gathered for the purposes of discussion, education and communication on subjects that range from the intellectual to the highly personal. Cranbrook Art Museum Curator Laura Mott and Assistant Curator Shelley Selim decided to emphasize this tradition as they assembled “The Cranbrook Salon,” the second of three installations that are surveying and celebrating the permanent collection at Cranbrook’s multiple facilities. The exhibition draws together a multitude of elements for consideration, and is accompanied by a program of active participation executed by a collective known as the Detroit Bluestockings Crew, which was formed specifically to facilitate this series of salons. Aside from Mott and Selim, the Bluestockings Crew is comprised of a compelling cross section of luminary women from Detroit’s art and cultural scene: Maia Asshaq, founder of DittoDitto; Samantha ‘Banks’ Schefman, co-founder of Playground Detroit; Meaghan Barry and Lilian Crum, designers at Unsold Studio; artist Ingrid LaFleur, founder ...

Tagged: Cranbrook Salon, Detroit Bluestockings Crew, Exhibition

“Artist Nick Cave Embraced Detroit, And We Hugged Him Back” |Detroit Free Press

The art world often can be too esoteric, too insular, too out there to capture the attention of any sizable swath of the public. But that’s no such problem for Nick Cave. Beginning this summer, the Chicago artist was the subject of a sprawling, months-long exhibit centered at the Cranbrook Art Museum. The “Here Hear” presentation did everything we might expect of the arts. It was aesthetically dazzling. It was provocative. It was thoughtful. It had big, even confrontational, ideas in mind. But it wasn’t protected behind a glass case, or adorned with DO NOT TOUCH signs. In fact, it was more like a joyful embrace. And gosh darn if Detroit didn’t embrace it right back. Largely composed of Cave’s trademark Soundsuits – outsized, dramatic costumes built of a wide array of materials, from twigs to ostentatious fabrics – the Cranbrook installation was a mesmerizing sight, and worthy of celebration and contemplation on ...