Hamtramck, MI (November 2)
Atomic Café presents "Phase III: the Sky's Gone Out," an eclectic mixed media group art exhibition by offbeat local artists, showing November 7- November 28. Opening weekend is Friday, November 7th and Saturday, November 8th, 7PM-Midnight. The Gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays in November, from 7pm to Midnight, with live music, art demonstrations and other festivities during the gallery's open hours.
As Daylight Savings Time enforces shorter days and hastens black nights, Atomic Café's exhibition makes a sardonic acknowledgement of the season's dark shift with "Phase III: The Sky's Gone Out." Year's end conjures remembrances of previous apocalyptic predictions and wry forecasts of a twisted future. Many of the works reflect that imagined reality. Atomic Café is a Hamtramck gallery of local outsider artists, exploding with weirdness and wonder in art of all mediums. After Phase III, the lights will go out at Atomic Cafe until March of 2015 and this will be the last chance to experience the gallery's bombshells of art and events.
There will be entertaining interactions on all open nights of the gallery, including live music performances. Opening night, on Friday, November 7th will include sounds by DJ Liquid Underworld. Atomic Artists at Work, Friday, November 14, from 7-10pm, will feature live demonstrations by participating artists, including encaustic painting by Lindsey Harnish, using hot wax and a propane torch. On Friday, November 21, the Atomic Emporium, a pop-up Artist's Market, where artists will sell smaller works, prints, greeting cards and other handcrafted goods, from 7-10pm will dominate the space.
The exhibition includes works by Luke MacGilvray, Glen L. Allen, Lauren Romanowski, Hilary MacGilvray, Holly Hock, Bridgett Davenport, Hand Group Studios Featuring Pete Coe and Curtis Kloss, Marty Winters, Tim Pewe, Lindsey Harnish, Steve Czapiewski, Chisanarobotto Baburuikakiti and Jason Cockram .
The art ranges a full spectrum from gritty realism to ludicrous imaginings populated with zombies and aliens, including works in encaustic wax, wood carvings, blown glass creations, encaustic paint, digital prints and more, including a sculptural installation by Joe Lapham. A sardonic wit contrasts the more traditional themes of the holiday season and a disturbing, yet cheerful tone pervades much of the art.
All of the artists are from Michigan, many from the metro Detroit area, who frequently exhibit. Their subjects are quirky, their palettes are bright, their methods unconventional. These seasoned artists create well-crafted work that would traditionally be overlooked by juried fine art exhibitions.
"Now that Atomic Cafe has shifted gears from a nomadic pop up concept to a more permanent location, it has allowed us the luxury of stepping up to including art installations as well as the traditional art mediums," remarks founder and curator, Luke MacGilvray. "'Phase 3: The Sky's Gone Out' is our most ambitious yet. I am determined to keep pushing this crescendo of creativity until I hit the wall and cannot go any higher. Either it will be an Icarus moment or the summit of Everest. Knowing me it will be a twisted amalgamation of both."
Atomic Café is a project founded by members of the Hamtramck Contemporary Arts Alliance (HCAA), founded as a pop-up in an vast empty storefront on Joseph Campau and bursting into an massive, established gallery of surprises.
Gallery Dates Hours:
Opening Weekend: Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 - 7PM-Midnight.
Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15 - 7PM-Midnight.
Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22 - 7PM-Midnight
Closing Weekend: Friday November 28th, - 7PM-Midnight.