DC is a longtime contributor to the MCB.
She can be reached at DC.in.Detroit [at] gmail.com
College for Creative Studies
Student Exhibition Opening & Sale
11 May 2012
A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education, Detroit
Saturday, May 12 – Friday, May 25
Hours:
Saturday - Wednesday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday - Friday 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
If you have questions, please contact the Events office at (313) 664-7464.
This is the second year MCB has attended Opening/Preview Night for the CCS Student Exhibition at the still-new Taubman Center. And two out of two years, we've been blown away.
Four full floors of the Taubman Center were barely enough to hold all the exhibits, just crammed with beautiful, curious, and exciting works. We ate up as much viewing as possible, and in three hours, were lucky to have seen half. So when you go, make sure you get a map of the exhibits and prioritize! For us, it was Fine Arts first (which just happened to be on the same floor as the food and drinks -- what a lucky coinkidink!), then Graphic Design and Product.
Looking at these student works, one is reminded of the difference training makes. I confessed my prejudice against photography, intended to make short work of the Photography area. But just skirting the edge of the gallery, I recognized the quality of ideas in the works. I'm a big fan of self-training -- without it, I couldn't be the well-rounded renaissance woman that I am. But after seeing my thousandth scantily-clad woman in a Detroit ruin in the past couple of years, it's hard not to scream and/or write off photography as something for people with no patience for "real" arts. Not so with the CCS exhibit. I was immediately impressed with the concepts as well as the executions -- no cliches or easy subjects here, clearly the results of talent being righteously directed and moulded.
There were plenty of digital pieces that I was quite taken with, but maybe it's the old-skooler in me... I'd always rather have an actual painting or sculpture. That said, I found my piece and it was, of course, a pencil drawing. Aside from it including two creatures for which I have a great fondness -- tigers and foo dogs -- the drawing was also a study. Below the finished drawing were several others, including all of the perspective lines and character sketches. I really like that aspect, and have already planned a method of display that will keep the pages leafable.
 |
| My acquisition, which doesn't get to come home until after everyone has had a chance to put their grubby fingerprints all of it, like the animals you are. |
MCB's Chief Bossman also saw a few things he liked, and took particular note of some of the artists:
Names worth noting: Yasmine Ramoni, Kelsy Beckett, Brad Lawrence (WOW!), Amberly Babcock, Danielle Styles, Elena Noelle (troublemaker), Lauren Hilliker, Bailey Smith, Caitlin Fagan, Crystal Vinson, Karli Cooper (Yeah!), Hannah Lee Stockdale and Brent Forrest.
And, of course, being a primarily visual experience, I tried to take a good representative sampling of what's an offer, but MAN there's a lot of work on display! Best thing is to really go yourself, see all of our up-and-comers while you still can.
