By K. Michelle Moran
Arts & Entertainment Editor
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and perhaps the same may be said about the equally relative truth.
So truth seems like an ideal topic around which to center an art exhibit — especially in the wake of terrorist attacks on America, which have shaken the nation’s sense of security and self.
“Truth,” a new exhibit at the Maniscalco Gallery on Detroit’s east side, features works revolving around that concept from Detroiters Michael Cooper, Vito Valdez and Robert and Amanda Maniscalco, Grosse Pointe City sculptor Jac Purdon, Mount Pleasant artist Jessica Flint, Hazel Park painter Kyle Stone and Fraser painter Mark Jackson. While some of the artists are well-known veterans, others, such as Flint, Jackson and Amanda Maniscalco, are relative newcomers.
Detroit native Jackson has been drawing since he was a child, but has only been painting for the last seven years. “Truth” marks his first gallery exhibit.
Maniscalco is even newer to her pursuit in the visual arts. An actress and the gallery’s framer for the last four years, she’s only been creating her unique, three-dimensional mat board works for the last few months, under the guidance of mentor and conceptual artist Purdon and her husband, artist and gallery owner Robert Maniscalco. She said her work, first displayed in the Maniscalco Gallery’s “Love” exhibit this summer, conveys her emotional state. For the typically sunny Maniscalco, that often translates into upbeat pieces. But other works reflect political commentary or anger instead.
“With me, what you see is what you get,” Maniscalco said. “I’m not pretentious, [and] I don’t hide anything. If I’m happy, you know it. If I’m sad, you know it. If I’m mad at you and don’t like you, you know it. So, my art — that’s what’s in it. What you see is what you get. There’s no hidden agendas or anything.”
Jackson draws from myth, psychology and symbolism in his work, and many pieces spring from chthonic myth, which Jackson said is an earth-based religion.
“I think that [my work] is an honest representation of being human, or the symbols created by us in order to represent human drives or human wants and needs,” said Jackson as he explained how his works reflected the exhibit’s theme.
“His work is very powerful and expressive, very painterly, full of energy — he has a very energetic painting style,” said Robert Maniscalco, who booked Jackson into his first gallery exhibit. “In particular, in his most recent body of work, he’s really let go and gone into a whole other realm of expressiveness. He’s hit his stride, and I’m looking forward to seeing what [he will do] in the future.”
Maniscalco and Jackson see art as a vehicle to communicate — and perhaps to heal.
Maniscalco has personal experience with art’s curative powers. She began her own artistic venture with Purdon as the pair were grieving over the death of Purdon’s wife Carol, a close friend of Amanda and Robert Maniscalco.
“Go see art,” Maniscalco urges. “It doesn’t have to be mine or Mark’s or Rob’s … Go see art and get inspired — especially now. We need inspiration. We’re in a horrible time.”
Jackson agrees.
“I think that [art] can be a really beneficial thing,” he said. “Appreciating beauty can immediately make you see more beauty around you. It kind of opens your eyes to it.”
You can reach K. Michelle Moran at
kmoran@candgnews.com
“Truth” will be on display at the Maniscalco Gallery,
17329 Mack Ave. in Detroit, through Jan. 5, 2002. The gallery will host a
holiday salon with poets, musicians, actors, dancers and artists from 1-4 p.m.
Dec. 9. For more information, call (313) 886-2993 or log onto
www.maniscalcogallery.com.