Taking it from the street

BIRMINGHAM –
Exuberance. Energy. Color. Pop. All words that describe "Let the Silence Have Its Say," the new graffiti-based exhibit opening July 24 at the Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center. Following the traditions of Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring, the temporal exhibit is being created on site by a loose collective of artists.
"Let the Silence Have Its Say" opens simultaneously with two other new exhibits at the BBAC from July 24 to Aug. 21: Paintings by Mark Piotrowski and work of the Great Lakes Beadworker Guild.
There will be an opening reception with the artists at 6-8 p.m. July 24 that's free and open to the public.
The artists range in age from 25 to "30-ish" and go by these names: Riky Rad, Matt with Brown Bag Productions, Tead Nasty, Iges and Story. Some are graduates of, or students at, Detroit's College for Creative Studies, and some are self-taught. All are part of the Detroit community of artists, and committed to graffiti as a positive art form and as a way to engage youth who may not otherwise feel connected to the visual arts.
The group descends on the BBAC's Robinson Gallery starting late afternoon on July 20. Three of the gallery walls have been covered with heavy cardboard and prepped with several coats of primer. The artists will create their graffiti art on-site and use the fourth gallery wall to show "object-based art," much of it created with found objects.
Zdzislaw Sikora, a printmaker and College for Creative Studies professor, is curating the show. "This is all about making the break from the street to the gallery," he says. "Graffiti has existed since ancient times – think about cave paintings – and it's important that the art form is allowed to exist in a positive way."
The BBAC is located at 1516 S. Cranbrook Rd. (Evergreen Rd.), Birmingham, Mich., between 14 and 15 Mile Roads. For more information, call 248-644-0866.