Bourgeau stretches
boundaries
by Michael H. Hodges /
Detroit News Arts Writer
DETROIT - The shock is back at Detroit-area
galleries.
Long-time champion for Detroit artists, Jef Bourgeau -- the director of Pontiac's Museum of New
Art and its new Detroit satellite -- has his first solo show in years, "
Almost
Famous: A Shortlist," at Detroit Industrial Projects
with a closing reception Oct. 31 from 1pm to 4pm.
Bourgeau, ever eager to pry into subjects polite people don't discuss, is
on full display here, notably with an antique tricycle that's been altered
so it is subtly pornographic.
In the violence-and-mayhem department, there's also a grainy,
three-second video clip of a man taking several bullets -- lifted out of
an old black-and-white Belgian film with the sound of gunshots replaced by
the banging of an industrial pile-driver. Playing over and over, "Incident
in the Street" is oddly mesmerizing, and a jarring contrast to the lush
art on the walls.
All paintings on display, apart from the photos, were "painted" on a
computer and then transferred onto canvas. At first, this seems to rob the
most visually gorgeous, like "Large Petals," of their artistic depth.
Yet, as almost any 21st-century artist will tell you, the computer is
simply the latest addition to the creative toolbox.
For his part, Bourgeau says, "I call it dry painting. It's just like
regular painting but without the turpentine."
Don't miss the startling "John Baldessari" canvas, or "Kiss Me Stupid."
The former is an emotionally affecting portrait, while the latter speaks
volumes about a necking couple.
