29 September 2010

ArtPrize 2010 Day Eight, Top Picks

Day Eight! Amazing. Downtown is packed tonight as people are scrambling to see the pieces they're hopefully voting for! I took the Italian Motor friend downtown and met up with my friend A and two of her girls. They had only seen a few pieces on the main floor of the Van Andel Public Museum, so we started there. We were packed in like sardines in the third floor main gallery, but it was worth stopping in for a second look.

No new photos tonight since they'll be announcing the Top 10 tomorrow. There are about two more hours to vote! If you haven't voted for anything yet, but are registered to do so, get to it! Click here to get down to business.

I have high hopes for the Top 10, but just in case some of that kitsch gets in, I'm making my own Best of ArtPrize list to share with y'all who have been following along with me. In no particular order (except for the first two, they're my top two!), here are my favorites:

Koen, David Dodde, showing at the Van Andel Museum Center
Have you ever looked really closely at a photo in a magazine? You'll see that super tiny dots make up the image. This hand printed serigraph of the artist's son was created using the same process magazines use, only on a much larger scale and with fluorescent inks! The guy's got talent and after seeing him with his son tonight, it's evident that his heart is with his son and totally poured into this piece.

Vision, David Spriggs, showing at GRAM
Upon turning the corner to view this piece in its own private area within a larger gallery at the GRAM, I was taken in. I actually sat in front of it for a while just looking at it and watching others experience it. The execution is not like anything I've seen before, sheets of acrylic hung within a case to create a 3-D image. I wanted to touch it. Extra points for the overall quality of the piece, right down to the case the sheets were hung in.

Detroit Forsaken, Ryan Spencer Reed, showing at DeVos Place
I'll just get this out of the way, I'm partial to photography. These photos were begging me to climb inside so I could look around a little more. I loved that it's an entire series, not just one image. It tells a story. In my mind, that's what good art should do, tell a story or help you imagine one of your own.

Deep Breath, Pam Moxley, showing at GRAM
Ms. Moxley had a piece in last year's ArtPrize. It was at WMCAT and I loved that one as well. Again, photography, so yes! Black & White, yes! Creative execution/style that I've not seen before except in her work. To me, her work hints at high end fashion photography, but is clearly fine art photography. I spoke with her on opening night, she was lovely to chat with. I would love to own a piece by her.

Cavalary, Chris LaPorte, showing at GRAM
Before I even saw this piece I heard the plan for it. I couldn't have imagined how incredibly detailed and lifelike this piece turned out to be. Mr. LaPorte is a hardworking artist, who just happens to call Grand Rapids home. We're proud to have him in town and he's another delightful artist to talk to.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones Memorial, Michael Murphy, showing outside WMCAT
There a few pieces I've seen multiple times and this is one of them. I've seen it day and night and it's equally compelling any time of day. Apparently this is just the prototype to the actual memorial that will be installed in Cleveland . Imagine how much more cool the actual piece must be. The fact that it commemorates the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio is pretty sweet too!

Lure/Forest, Beili Liu, showing at UICA Fulton/Division
This is so simple, yet so complex. On the surface, it's just tons of little discs of of spun red thread and needles paired together. Deeper though, it symbolizes the Chinese legend of the red thread that is with you when you're born, connecting you to the one you're fated to be with. Come on, who doesn't love a story of fate? I'm in!

WaterPrize, Clausen, Bell & McNeil, showing at G.R. Ford Museum
This is one of the first pieces I saw, on my sneak peek the Sunday before ArtPrize opened. So much to like about it. The image itself is so memorable. The placement in the pool feeding the museum fountain is spot on. And, the cause for clean water is one that needs more attention.

Is anyone else going to the Top 10 announcement tomorrow? I'll be there!

2 comments:

Regina White said...

Def have to see Detroit Forsaken, Ryan Spencer Reed. Thanks for posting this.

RTL said...

I think it would be cool to do something along the lines of Dave Dodde.s Koen. But of course with L.E.D. Lights. and they would be the color changing ones. I would need full control. Or it could be interactive (controlled by the viewer) so the piece could morph and transform into many different looks while remaining its original image (whatever it might be)
There's always next year.