The South End

Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: A&E

Media Credit: Emily Flesch The work of Anne-lise Coste titled "Parmi les singes et les signes." Coste's work will be on display at MOCAD as part of the "Words Fail Me" exhibit running through Jan. 20, 2008.

Media Credit: Emily Flesch "Blurred" by Kay Rosen spans the width of two walls in the new MOCAD exhibit "Words Fail Me." Rosen's piece intrigued patrons and was a popular topic of conversation at the opening reception on Saturday night.

Upon entering the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), you can tell you are in for a very unique art experience. The building itself, located on Woodward Avenue and Garfield Street, is a renovated former auto dealership with wood floors, brick walls, and four cavernous rooms with enough flexibility to house any type of art that comes its way.

It is, in fact, the perfect space for the new exhibit "Words Fail Me," which had its opening reception on Saturday evening, featuring works by Jeremy Deller, Peter Fischli, David Weiss, Kay Rosen, Anne-lise Coste, Carl Pope and many others. This exhibition displays the examination of the indefinable and subjective status of language.

One of the most striking pieces near the entrance of the exhibit was "Parmi les singes et les signes," created by Anne-lise Coste of Switzerland. The work encompasses two walls of the gallery from floor to ceiling and is made up of individual signs, some with abstract painting, and some with messages as simple as "I don't know." Most of the pieces were black, but a few were done with blue paint, which really drew the observer's attention.

The second room of the exhibit was home to a few of the most impressive pieces. Carl Pope's "The Bad Air Smelled of Roses" really spoke to art student Julia Fitzgerald.

"That piece floored me," Fitzgerald said. "It made perfect sense."

The work features a variety of posters with a range of messages, some very opinionated, but all extremely well-worded. Most patrons spent a great deal of time in front of this work, attempting to read each slogan.

The artwork was not the only highlight of the evening for the local crowd of contemporary art lovers. In the café of the gallery, there was a variety of delicious food and drink available. Many patrons sipped on merlot while listening to poet/artist John Giorno who offered readings of some of his works, as well as a world premiere of a new piece "Thanks for Nothing."

Later in the evening, there were also musical performances by Little Claw, celebrating the release of their new LP "Spit, Squalor, Swallow the Snow." Michael Yonkers and Pink Reason also performed.
Matthew Higgs, the curator of "Words Fail Me" and chief curator of White Columns, New York's oldest nonprofit art space, thought the evening went well.

When asked what pieces he found most impressive, Higgs said as the designer of the exhibit, it was hard to choose, but "Folk Song" by Jeremy Deller and Kay Rosen's "Blurred" were two with specifically significant messages.

"Folk Song" is a piece with a message in three languages.

"The three posters are really key," said Higgs. "It says a lot about how language is subjective. When things get translated, they change."

This rings true with "Folk Song," as the observer can see how the same message will look completely different in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

Higgs said that "Blurred" was a "poignant symbol" of politics today. The piece is the word 'blurred' in a spectrum of blue and red, with purple in the center.

"It shows nothing is black and white today, and nothing is blue and red."

Not all of the artwork in this exhibit was sedentary. The largest room in the gallery featured a variety of works involving moving images and lasers. Jennifer West's "Whatever Film" is similar to the end reel of a projected movie. Abstract images and different colors flash two or three frames a second, creating a mesmerizing collaboration that, much like the other works in the exhibit, is difficult to take your eyes off.

MOCAD is located at 4454 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. "Words Fail Me" runs through Jan. 20, 2008 and is free to the public.

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