ghost land detroit
Snapshots of Detroit are a trendy fascination at the moment. Actually any photographs are fascinating, for a while at least. But images from a ruined city fascinate because in their graphic directness they strike a primordial chord that seems held on sustain throughout the current news cycle. Like pictures of car accidents, they are effective communication. They hook. With the advent of digital cameras and scanners, gritty images of struggling Detroit artists are now seen as a new form of urban porn. And by a lot of people.
No surprises, you would think with the Internet.
This new series by Jef Bourgeau peels away at these layered stereotypes to the extent that, well, the images are just brighter and more poetic. They are pushed and tinkered toward art, but not at all dragging their feet. One is still looking at hard core snapshots of a forgotten city, but perhaps this time in their proper context: without the usual hype and with the lights turned on.
And yes, this work has been thrown back into the very public display that these times seem to crave for such invasive acts. Maybe there is little difference between an artist showing images of city life in a staged death throe and the actual thing. We seem to be living in an age of exhibitionism, driven by a compulsion to be "bad" and to display all that makes us peculiarly so to an unsuspecting, but insatiable, public.
GHOST LAND DETROIT
New work by Jef Bourgeau
@ the Art Room
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 19th from 6 to 9pm
Located at 7 North Saginaw St., Suite A – ground floor, Pontiac.
This new series by Jef Bourgeau peels away at these layered stereotypes to the extent that, well, the images are just brighter and more poetic. They are pushed and tinkered toward art, but not at all dragging their feet. One is still looking at hard core snapshots of a forgotten city, but perhaps this time in their proper context: without the usual hype and with the lights turned on.
And yes, this work has been thrown back into the very public display that these times seem to crave for such invasive acts. Maybe there is little difference between an artist showing images of city life in a staged death throe and the actual thing. We seem to be living in an age of exhibitionism, driven by a compulsion to be "bad" and to display all that makes us peculiarly so to an unsuspecting, but insatiable, public.
GHOST LAND DETROIT
New work by Jef Bourgeau
@ the Art Room
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 19th from 6 to 9pm
Located at 7 North Saginaw St., Suite A – ground floor, Pontiac.
