Critical Conditions: Contemporary Art from Wayne, Michigan
Curated by Darryl Bank and John Murnaghan
January 17 - February 7, 2006
Reception: January 21, 2006 6-8p


Invite for Critical Conditions: Contemporary Art from Wayne, Michigan

Curators Darryl Bank and John Murnaghan are proud to present "Critical Conditions: Contemporary Art from Wayne, Michigan". Four years have been spent scouring abandoned tire factories, barren parking lots, and fetid pools of industrial detritus for the finest examples of masculinist art from America's heretofore-unrecognized cultural capital. We offer you, the esteemed viewer, a glimpse at the hard-won fruits of our labour. Come marvel at the "human experience" laid bare - pure as a fresh blanket of thick, white snow. Raw, unfettered emotion, riveting contemporary art, empty beer cans.

John Murnaghan
At the end of last year, I searched through my parents’ house for a comically oversized souvenir pencil from Mackinac Island. My family visited there in 1988, coinciding with a sailing trip my dad went on. The pencil was neither in the garage nor the attic. Luckily, my father gave me a much more practically sized HB pencil in its stead.

Paul Bruttlip, Let's Cruise the Main Strip, acrylic on tarp, video, 2005

Recently, I have eaten several medium-sized Domino’s Pizza pizzas purchased from the Domino’s Pizza franchise on Princess Street. In 1960, Thomas Monaghan—renowned Anti-abortionist, Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiast and orphan—founded Domino’s Pizza in Ypsilanti. I can verify that at least some fraction of the pizzas purchased from Domino’s Pizza are accurately represented by the layer of fat accumulated around my midsection.

Four years ago, standing in a line outside Magic Stick in Detroit, I saw a man play “Ziggy Stardust.” He played it right-handed, on one chord. It was much more enjoyable than whatever happened inside afterwards.

Don Futts, Par Infinity (detail), mixed media, 2001

Darryl Bank
After much planning, eating, drinking, and laughing, this is where we arrived. Wayne, Michigan, pop. 19,000. "Wayne Living" is overflowing with life-long friendships, neighborhood pride and incredible volunteerism. It’s also about an outstanding commitment to the time-honored virtues of an honest day’s work and family life – spiced with a whole lot of recreation and just plain fun.

I’m not going to mystify anything we’re doing with this show. My dad and aunt lived in Windsor until they were in their early-teens. Consequently, I’d often hear stories about going across the river, visiting Boblo Island, or seeing comedians in Detroit that swore. Every time my dad would drive us to Florida, we’d cross the border in Detroit and be told to lock our doors. My family once visited the Henry Ford Museum, and, more memorably, the Motown Museum housed inside it, where we drank Vernors and ate hotdogs with melted cheese on them in a restaurant called “Stop In the Name of Lunch”. In spring of 2002, I went to Michiganfest in Wayne, Michigan and saw 35 punk bands play in a community centre. Michigan, as both a cultural construct and real physical presence, has always been at the periphery for me, and this show is a reflection of that.

Most significantly, this exhibition represents a conscious detour for me, as much of my work up until this point has been dense, comprised of multiple component parts, and painstakingly (even obsessively) constructed. I’m sick of running myself ragged, so John and I agreed that everything here should be fast and fun.