February 2002
by Robert Maniscalco

Wondering whatever happened to American Realism? Look in your own backyard! Well not literally, silly. Realism is alive and well in Detroit. But what is American Realism in the context of our contemporary art sensibility? The Oxford English Dictionary defines realism as having "close resemblance to what is real, fidelity of representation." The American tradition of realism was always motivated by the desire to represent what we see, from the precise renderings of John Singleton Copley (check out the DIA's "Watson and the Shark") through the Ashcan school of John Sloan to the huge portraits of Chuck Close and the figures of Philip Pearlstein.
The Detroit area has it's own masters of realism. Cutting edge artists such as Peter Williams, who is representing Detroit in the Whitney Biennial and former Grosse Pointer Clint Snider, who's work was part of the recent DIA exhibit, entitled "Artists Take on Detroit" are breaking new ground in American Realism. Others are proudly continuing the grand American Realist tradition. Artists such as Joe Michael Newman model their work after the Trompe-L'Oeil painting of William Harnet. The tradition of expressive realism, to which I belong, can be traced through my father back to N.C. Wyeth -- all the way back to the Chiaroscuro artists of the Renaissance.

But enough name dropping. What do all these artists have in common? Is Realism more than a chronicling of our history and a defining of our national culture? American realist, Thomas Hart Benton said it best, "the real subject is what an individual has known and felt about things encountered in a world of real people and actual doings." At its best, Realism appeals to our need for literary clarity without being overly literal. A student of mine recently answered the question, "what is the definition of talent," with "the ability to make something look like it is." Is Realism primarily about skill or is there something more?

Contemporary realism is enjoying a resurgence as artists are finding new ways to deal with the limitations of realism, i.e. combining current images and subjects in ever more eccentric ways. Realists are challenged by the distinctions between perceptual versus conceptual reality. But then we realize there really is no such thing as perceptual reality. Even photography distorts what we see, due to the limitations of mechanics and optics. The moment an artist makes a choice (and he/she makes thousands in every work of art) the result is highly subjective and conceptual. The realists today are often moved to present a "blunt confrontation with the simple truth," just as they did when S.J. Freedberg made that statement back in1583.

After 9/11 I asked my readers if post-modernism was dead. But of course, the desire to shock, to rebel as it were, will always be a part of the American tradition in art. Paula Stephenson, Detroit poetic realist, believes artists "are merely a conduit, distilling the truth from nature." Clearly, we must ask more from our art than to merely decorate, whether it's realism or abstract expressionism.

These are some of the issues being addressed in the upcoming exhibit, ITALIA, at the new Maniscalco Gallery as we present the first exhibit in our brand new location at 17728 Mack Avenue (near Rivard) in Grosse Pointe. ITALIA is an exhibition of expressive realism, celebrating the people and places of Italy. While on my honeymoon last summer I began a series of paintings in response to the romance and beauty of the Italian peninsula, as well as to my own Italian heritage. The exhibition is a continuation of my dream of creating relevant bodies of work in response to my experiences in exotic places and sharing them with my community. The new gallery is three blocks north of the old space and will be home to some of Detroit's most gifted artists in all genres and styles. The grand opening reception for Italia AND the new Maniscalco Gallery will be Saturday, March 30, from 6-9 PM. The exhibit will be on the walls from March 20 - May 25, 2002. Come meet your new neighbors and see the latest in American Realism -- about as close to your own backyard as you're going to get!

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