life is but a dream at galerie camille
Mary Fortuna, Scott Northrup, Luzhen Qiu and Sarah Rose Sharp
Galerie Camille is pleased to announce Life Is But A Dream, a group exhibition featuring fiber artist Mary Fortuna, interdisciplinary artist Scott Northrup, mixed media artist Luzhen Qiu and fiber artist and writer Sarah Rose Sharp. Life Is But A Dream is a visually poetic fever-dream exhibition presented by four prolific Detroit-based artists each exploring their own dream-like themes.
Luzhen Qiu is a Chinese American artist whose work is a blend of both cultures. Her light touch creates ethereal mindscapes tethered by intricate detail. Dream of Blue Bird uses the heavier positive space to ground the picture in gardens and ponds then takes flight over mountains into the clouds of a softer negative space. The palette keeps it cool and easy.
By the pricking of her thumbs, Mary Fortuna has taken embroidery to a new level. In Gang of Four she’s created soft sculpture portraits of the participating artists. If you know the artists, you don’t have to look at the tags to know who’s who, down to Rosie’s roller skates.
Fortuna puts it over the top with Swarm; each bee sewn to a perfect tiny blue eye. In this shot Qiu’s pictures form a backdrop to this busy dream.
Sarah Rose Sharp’s chockablock doll houses had me looking for Winona Ryder dancing suspended in the air. Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betel . . . Who doesn’t want to take a bath in jewels with the convenience of literally mapping your next move right at your fingertips? It’s all accented with a goldfish for lighting while a graffitied train rolls by. Although the bath mat looks a little tricky to traverse, the scene in Travel Haus is a delightfully scrambled oasis. Then off to Baby Haus in Cinderella’s carriage. Close-up shots ensure every miniature morsel is visible in its Alice in Wonderland madness.
Scott Northrup’s uncanny ability to distill down years of evolution to a few words scribbled on a canvas makes him some kind of minimalist oracle. I’m beyond mad this had already sold when I got to the opening. It’s so obviously my personal maxim. How does he know?
The summation of the past 20 months in one image.
Being familiar with all four artists, I knew the moment the show was announced it would take me on a hallucinogenic ride from the mystical to chaos with a slap in the face for good measure. I’m still happily smarting from the experience.
On view through October 30th at Galerie Camille 4130 Cass Ave Suite C
Artist Talk October 9th 2P, limited to 25 guests, masks required
*images are mine
Indicates a direct quote from gallery or artist statements
SHOWS OPEN THIS WEEKEND
Power of the Press Fest from Signal Return