Ann Arbor Women Artists Spring Exhibition showcases diversity at AADL

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Ann Arbor Women Artists are turning the page on the decade with one of those expansive displays the group annually mounts at the Ann Arbor District Library.

2010's edition of the AAWA "Spring Exhibit" is distinguished by the number of notable artists currently working at career peaks. And the artworks themselves (while perhaps not as unpredictable as we've seen in some years) are a quite good barometer of Ann Arbor's current homegrown visual arts talent.

The emphasis this year is more solidly on expertise than experimentation.Juror Brooks Harris Stevens, assistant professor of fibers at Eastern Michigan University, says she "looked for complexity of composition, line work, texture and how the medium was used" in the 55 artworks she selected for the display, located in the lower-level Multi-Purpose Conference Room, Third Floor Wall Gallery, and lower-level display cases of the downtown library.

"Each work has an individual voice that is informative to the viewer," says Stevens in her juror's statement, "and this ‘voice' speaks strongly, referencing both traditional and non-traditional approaches to the art making process."

Sure enough; there's certainly no question but that the artworks Stevens selected for distinction in this show all have unique voices. And this is especially true of her First Place award-winner: Carol Hanna's airbrushed acrylic painting and audio accompaniment "Song of The Birds: Tennessee Warbler."

Excerpt from Annarbor.com . Written by John Carlos Cantu.