Description

Season Two:

ARTBEAT #201: BASK
AIR DATE: 9-18-04
A thought crime is an idea or belief that defies the norms of the status quo. George Orwell coined the phrase in his book 1984. Czech born, Detroit artist, Bask, considers himself a thought criminal. He believes true freedom lies in the mind and cannot be censored or imprisoned. This powerful world view was formed by the Communist iconic propaganda he remembers from his youth, which gave way to the onslaught of consumer advertising he experienced in his teens when he moved to America. In his view, these are two sides of the same coin.

ARTBEAT #202: TOM THEWES
AIR DATE: 9-25-04
Tom Thewes expresses his childlike fascination with the iconography of the machine age. While the rest of America is living in a television/internet fairytale, he’s been painting the hidden physical machinery which lies just beneath the surface of society. For him Detroit is the read world where things get built and people still work with their hands.

ARTBEAT #203: NIAGARA
AIR DATE: 10-2-04
Guns, booze, and fast women. Enter the world of pop art sensation, Niagara. Once the punk rock diva for the band Destroy All Monsters, Niagara ditched her microphone for the paint brush and became a pop art icon. Motorcity Queen, lowbrow artist, Niagara.

ARTBEAT #204: CAMILLO PARDO
AIR DATE: 10-9-04 & 10-13-04
Camillo Pardo has a need for speed. His design work on the Ford GT made it a modern classic over night. Pardo’s fine art is equally expressive with fast lines and explosive energy ripping across the figures and automobiles that adorn his enlarged canvases. His artwork hearkens back to classic European style with American muscle to back it up. Artist, designer, fast driver, Camillo Pardo.

ARTBEAT #205: KWAMIE AWUKU
AIR DATE: 10-16-04 & 10-20-04
Born in Accra West African Ghana, Kwamie Awuku is one of the foremost West African artists residing in the Detroit Metropolitan area. He learned traditional carving techniques from members of his family and developed arts programs for children and elders in various villages throughout Ghana. Although Awuku has now lived in the United States for many years, he is rooted in his West African culture.

ARTBEAT #206: VICTOR PYTKO
AIR DATE: 10-23-04 & 10-27-04
What happens when two worlds collide, when traditional techniques come up against abstract expressionism? Victor Pytko strides both worlds. Technique battles with impulse as he struggles with his vibrant canvases “Au Plein Air,” in the open air. Founder of the Grand River Station, he is part of a band of artists who are deconstructing the urban landscape which, like his more traditional approach to painting, have given way to something more immediate and vital.

ARTBEAT #207: TIM BURKE
AIR DATE: 10-30-04 & 11-3-04
Tim Burke has been haunted by a recurring nightmare of an ironman chasing him through the dark. It has taken him 30 years to transform this spectre into a life’s work, making art out of found objects. Tim Burke excavates, scavenges, scours the city for his materials. In this dream-like state, what has been the castoffs of others comes to life as fanciful and provocative works of art.

ARTBEAT #208: KAREN SEPANSKI
AIR DATE: 11-13-04 & 11-17-04
Artist Karen Sepanski explores the limits of kiln-formed glass. Over thirty years, she has evolved a signature style which combines geometric and organic forms with glass panels, often collaborating with architects and designers to create ever more inspiring environments.

ARTBEAT #209: ADNAN CHARARA
AIR DATE: 11-20-04
Originally from Lebanon, Adnan Charara spent his formative years living in Sierra Leone and Boston. His colorful, imaginative work can be found in galleries across the country, but he calls Detroit his home. On the surface, his works are attractive and playful. Yes, on a deeper level his art is politically charged and full of satire, commenting on the folly and foibles of contemporary society.

ARTBEAT #210: MARY LARADO HERBECK
AIR DATE: 1-8-05 & 1-12-05
Born in Larado, Texas, artists Mary Herbeck knows the art of survival and the healing power of art. After beating breast cancer through an arsenal of self-prescribed holistic treatments, Mary and her art transformed. She began to combine her passion for music, dance and the visual arts into a life dedicated to inspiring others. Her tireless spirit can be felt across Detroit’s southwest Latina community through her dedication of time, energy, and the vision of a survivor.

ARTBEAT #211: GLENN BARR
AIR DATE: 1-15-05 & 1-19-05
Detroit based artist, Glenn Barr, finds himself painting the footsteps of the forgotten into the muted loneliness of abandoned warehouses, gated businesses and dilapidated motels. His senses survey the sights, smells & screams of the Detroit streets with a disorienting haze and a deft palette. When the shadows grow tall and the street lights flicker on, the questionable characters that inhabit Glenn’s darkly humorous world come to life. (Program Club)

ARTBEAT #212: HECTOR PEREZ
AIR DATE: 1-22-05 & 1-26-05
Artist and educator Hector Perez has seen the allure of gangs, drugs and crime ruin the lives of gifted young people. He’s been fighting this uphill battle for thirty years, armed only with an underfunded arts program and the keen ability to communicate with despondent teens. Hector has been a driving force in Detroit’s southwest Latino community, inspiring children and teens to create artwork instead of chaos.

ARTBEAT #213: THE ART OF COMICS
AIR DATE: 1-29-05 & 2-2-05
For over 100 years, comic books have permeated the American lexicon with some of the most powerful icons of the 20th century pop culture – names like Superman, Batman, Charlie Brown and Popeye. However, comic art has been dismissed by serious art circles – called illegitimate. A comic store in Dearborn with a loyal group of comic artists hopes to change that, one panel at a time.

ARTBEAT #214: JANICE TRIMPE
AIR DATE: 2-5-05 & 2-9-05
Because the creation of monumental artwork depends on monumental vision, emotion and energy, it is not the work for the casual artist. Janice Trimpe is monumental in her art and in her being. She directs her abundant energies toward revealing truth in her work; it is the truth of the common man.

ARTBEAT #215: ART IN PUBLIC PLACES
AIR DATE: 2-12-05 & 2-16-05
For 300 years, Detroit has been an unappreciated Mecca for public art, taking many forms of expression. With the power to commemorate, inspire, and often aggravate, the public art of Detroit documents Detroit’s noblest and sometimes most dubious achievements. In this unique episode, Art Beat explores a few shining examples of art’s inherent ability to move, touch and provoke.

ARTBEAT #216: JACK JOHNSON
AIR DATE: 2-19-05 & 2-23-05
Pressing the psychological buttons that connect human beings together, Jack Johnson pushes the envelope of definition; for him, art has no limits. His works bear the fingerprints of freedom. Fortunately for us, he doesn’t seek approval with his work. Fortunately for him, in our country he doesn’t need to. With love and a well-intended desire to blow the roof off our ideas about what art is “supposed” to be is Jack Johnson.

ARTBEAT #217: ROB MANISCALCO
AIR DATE: 2-26-05 & 3-2-05
Is Rob Maniscalco a tireless advocate for the arts or a tired self-promoter? In previous episodes of this program, we’ve turned the camera on to some of Detroit’s most talented artists to gain insights into their creative process. In this special episode, the host of Art Beat is the subject under study – husband, father, businessman, blogger, actor, musician, writer and artist. Join us as we turn the camera inward, in an unapologizing attempt to document a day in the life, Rob’s life, as a work of art in progress.

ARTBEAT #218: ED STROSS
AIR DATE: 3-26-05 & 3-30-05
Should art be seen but not heard? At what point can it be said that an artist has gone too far? Artist Ed Stross faces jail time for his mural interpretation of Michaelangelo’s “The Creation of Man.” Is it art or an unattractive nuisance? On this special episode, Art Beat enters the fray between the city of Roseville and an artist pushing the boundaries of the First Amendment; begging the question, is Ed Stross a self-expressed artist or a button pusher?