Taking the concept of mixed media to new heights, Royce Deans' acrylic and lead on wood opened a new dimension of creativity.
His painted targets shown at Saturday evening's Ignorant Art Show featured bullet holes made by different ammunition: 9 mm, 40 caliber and 12 gauge shotgun shells. Having just completed the series and hanging it near two large nudes — representing a different facet of his artistic expression — the veteran artist sketched out his creative process. He had to experiment to determine a workable distance from his targets to create the effect he wanted instead of just blasting the wood into smithereens or missing altogether.
"I was really painting with the bullets," said Deans, who was participating in his first Ignorant Art Show. "There's a certain amount of randomness because I'm not a very good shot; I had to be far away to get the patterns I wanted."
Sixteen artists presented 118 works of art of all media at the event, with works ranging from oils or acrylic on canvas to photography, digital images, sculpture and mixed media. The fourth Ignorant Art Show drew about 300 people to the cavernous open space beneath North Peak Restaurant. As in previous Ignorant Art Shows, 20 percent of the net proceeds — including both admission and art sales — will benefit a charity, which this time is the Michigan Parkinson's Foundation.
The hip location, black attire and cutting edge music and art created a big city vibe for both artists and audience.
"I like to see events like this to expose people to the arts, whether it's oils, sculpture or whatever," said Joe Breidenstein of Walloon Lake. "We're fortunate here in the north, there's quite a variety of artistic endeavors you can pursue."
Realtor Ryan Wells launched the Ignorant Art movement to provide a venue for artists who are largely self-taught, who make their living in other ways but have a passion for visual expression. These artists often do not participate in other fine art shows or have their work sold in galleries, although some up-and-coming ones will in the future.
"One of the original reasons I started the show is to provide an alternative for me to put my work in galleries," he noted. "My work is created for the show and the show is created for my work, they go hand in hand."
The first show was held in May 2004 at the Radio Centre building to critical acclaim. Wells has pulled together subsequent shows whenever the time and number of submitted works felt ripe. Wells, who solicits and juries the pieces included, plans to generate the next Ignorant Art show next May. He is ready to make these events a regular presence in Traverse City instead of just a random happening.
"We're fine-tuning and making it a classy event," said Wells, who paints an hour or two at night as both a stress reliever and form of self-expression. "We're striving for it to be the coolest event in town."
Construction lights, brick walls, dark corners and exposed beams and pipes provided a stark venue for the showcased works. After having the last show — held in August 2005 — in renovated space in Building 50 above the trendy restaurant Trattoria Stella, Wells was pleased to return to the edgier Johnson building. This unfinished, warehouse like space better honored the Ignorant Art Show's philosophy and roots.
"I do like moving around to keep with the original vibe of the show, which is an underground, one-time kind of event," he said. "Sometimes, the Building 50 space was almost too nice."
For more information about future Ignorant Art shows, contact Wells at 218-9584 or visit the website www.ignorant-art.com.