tead one at janice charach gallery
Emergence
“The TEAD One Memorial Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) founded in January 2021 by the family of Jordan Vaughn, aka TEAD One, to honor his memory and continue his artistic legacy. Each artist they represent aims to grow their body of artwork and reach new audiences, The TEAD One Artist in Residence Program was launched in January 2021. The vision of this program is to promote and strengthen a diverse culture of art by fostering a creative, supporting environment for local adult emerging artists to develop new work and creatively explore new ideas in a safe and inclusive environment.”
Fel3000ft along with Malt were some of the first street artists to make the jump to formal gallery exhibitions while continuing to install large scale murals in areas like Eastern Market and the Dequindre Cut. This comparatively small painting retains the flavor of the street in the bright, stylized portrait while deliberately placed text indicates considered composition.
BEARLOBOS extends the street theme with spray painted twin characters layered on a stenciled background. The furthermost left ear breaks the transparent, filmy white border throwing the composition slightly off center.
This flat, chaotic piece on unstretched canvas reads like it was peeled directly off of a building. The muted coloration keeps this sizeable work from overwhelming the viewer.
What makes this residency important is it fosters all artistic voices going beyond street art parameters. A woman’s loaded open corpse as carrion for eager vultures contrasted with the beauty of flowering foliage is disturbing but riveting, demanding the viewer’s attention whether it wants to be attended or not.
I have several grade school teachers on my father’s side of the family. During Thanksgiving conversation, it was revealed that art teachers are scarce in their middle-class districts leaving several classes and programs idling. It was a high school teacher that showed me how to render an object dimensionally which led to pursuing art in college. Where do kids go now if they have interest and/or talent? Do they just get lost in the pressure to make a lot of money rather than feed not only their souls in the making but ours in the viewing?
“People don’t understand. We’re the only country in the world that thinks art is a luxury. Everybody else in the world understands that art is an essential part of the quality of life.” Steven Van Zandt on 60 Minutes 11/19/23
Participating artists: Malt, Fel3000ft, Rick Brown, Roberto Villalobos (aka BEARLOBOS), Cameron Jenkins, Sabra Morman, Richie Blanko, Martina Sanroman, Erin Kruczek, Andrew Valdez (aka The Hood Picasso), Matt “Emskript” Thornton, Brian Lacey (aka Detroit Baklava) and Kelly Burke.
On view through Dec 6th at Janice Charach Gallery 6600 W Maple, West Bloomfield
*images are mine
direct quote from gallery materials
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Loved this piece, Kim. You captured it - "disturbing but riveting" is also how I felt about Kruczek's stunning piece.