The Fredösphere

We got a late start. We took the shuttle from the Briarwood mall to the South University bus stop. First order of business was getting a meal, so we headed to Madras Masala, and newish Indian place. We got in quickly even though it was already 7:00 p.m. This confirmed our earlier experience: it's surprisingly easy to procure a sit-down meal at a downtown restaurant in Ann Arbor during the art fair. The regular clientele has been scared off, and the tourist crowd is content to be served by any of the outdoor food vendors that come with the art.

Did someone say art? We saw some. We only covered the State St. and South University fairs (although there are four in all). Here's what caught my eye (and in most cases, the wifeösphere's eye also):

Faux-distressed ancient bas-reliefs by Mauro Possobon. I can especially recommend the Egyptian and Roman carvings. Possobon blends modern realism with classical themes. I suppose I'm supposed to see this as phony, but it grabbed me more than anything else at the fair.

I've seen Motawi Tileworks at the Ann Arbor Art Center and liked it a lot. What I saw at their booth confirmed my high opinion. My favorite subject is the landscape series in the craftsman frames.

John Krieger's abstract expressionist paintings were on display in his booth -- is that all he's doing these days, or are those the ones that didn't sell? Maybe I fell for these paintings because of the strong, saturated colors. The representational paintings on the website are more of a mixed bag IMHO but I like the way he plays spin the color wheel.

Supposedly I'm against post-modernism. Maybe I'm not--maybe I like what they do when they stop yakking about art theory and actually produce some, you know, art. Here's Anthony Pack having fun with found objects and pop culture icons.

Celestial Ironworks brought some clocks to the fair. These images don't really don't communicate how the rusty metal looks.

I also want to mention Thomas Yano. He doesn't seem to have his own website, but you can look him up at this one. A couple of years ago we made a Major Purchace to fill that blank space above the Wright-styled settee (no, we do not own a couch! It's a settee, thank you). We covered the whole Main St. fair and were about to go with a watercolor that wasn't particularly inspired but would have worked with our color scheme. Suddenly the wifeösphere spotted Thomas Yano's sculpture. It was exactly what I was hoping for. The right colors, and the right level of unconventionality. Here it is: water lilies in metal.