melissa day and loralee grace at detroit contemporary
Melissa Day Where I End and You Begin
“Melissa’s work is imbued with the beauty she finds in urban decay. She is attracted to the images and textures that have occurred over time on buildings and objects, through the effects of humans and nature. Melissa creates her work through the manipulation of collages, as well as oil and acrylic paints, and drawing pencils. No certain sense of what will come next, images manifest yet remain undetermined. The meaning in Melissa’s work is irreducible to a single thought or idea. It is as abstract as it is significant.”
Despite the tedious recycling of the urban decay trope, particularly for Detroit who’s currently wresting with retaining its OG character while gentrifying, a strong palette draws attention to the kinetic composition. Lush, saturated color describes Day’s Seductive Mind. Luxurious blacks balance subtler tones. Varied surfaces break up crowded segments, their random shapes distinguishable by loose but distinct outlines. Coral, turquoise and ochres sparked by vibrant pinks and reds set the mood. The picture employs expressive abstracted musings while remaining relatively clean in execution.
Memories are recalled then recast in jumbled fragments of fleeting but impressionable moments. Lemonade Was a Popular Drink and it Still Is’ unrelenting chatter is mercifully interrupted by the space between its panels. As the viewer approaches for closer inspection, objects such as corn on the cob, ice cubes clinking in a glass of tea, bathing-capped swimmers and a scuba diver convey a summer theme supported by the work’s title.
Loralee Grace Futurelands
“An avid nature and cultural enthusiast, Loralee Grace devoted her 20s to embarking on nomadic adventures around the globe in order to expand her worldview and build her visual library. Thrice she sold most of her possessions and vacated her apartment in preparation for a 1-2 year stint abroad. Initially volunteering for room and board, doing informal artist residencies, and housing exchanges with locals, followed by freelancing on “working-holiday” visas for a year in both New Zealand and Australia.
In June 2020, after 27 countries on 5 continents over 7 years, she settled in Metro Detroit for the foreseeable future. She’s passionate about sharing cheap travel tips and inspiring fellow Americans that going abroad can be much safer and more accessible than the media would have us believe.”
Grace effectively incorporates indigenous patterning into correlating landscapes. In Healing Waters the design rises like a heliograph behind a raging waterfall whose contents ripples downstream to meet three tiny figures clad in matching hazmat suits complete with harlequin decorated helmets. The waterfall’s mist blurs crisp lines and matte blocks of color. The disproportionate graphic transforms a natural phenomenon into a sci-fi narrative.
Sweater Weather’s fastidious, rhythmic marks read like a crewneck pullover whose wearer enjoys an exhilarating day on the slopes. Grace’s illustrations soothe while documenting global excursions. The painterly renderings of sparkling clear water, picturesque mountain ranges and fluffy white clouds demonstrate a highly practiced skill set.
From the melee that is detroit contemporary’s annual Spring Salon—an in person call for art—Day and Grace were selected by a jury of respected artists and critics to host a solo show in the main gallery. These artists’ provocative works illustrate the need to excavate Detroit’s depth as there is more undiscovered talent yet to be illuminated.
On view through Feb 25th at detroit contemporary 487 Alexandrine Detroit
*images are mine
direct quote from gallery materials
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