When friends come together to put on an art exhibit, the results can be groundbreaking.
"The Buddy System," which opens Friday at (SCENE) Metrospace, promises to wow audiences.
The exhibit is a collaboration of 14 local and state artists, as well as a wide variety of national artists.
The idea for the exhibit was the brainchild of a group who met often to discuss art and unfinished pieces they were currently working on.
"We would talk about them and critique them," said artist and 2000 MSU graduate Peter Richards.
The exhibit originally opened at 555 Gallery/Studio in Detroit, 4884 Grand River Ave., a few months ago. Through communication between the artists and (SCENE) Metrospace coordinator and curator Emma Kruch, the exhibit has now traveled to East Lansing.
"People are going to see a dynamic multimedia group show," Kruch said, citing the vast array of media and artistic styles involved. "It's going to be kind of wild, a lot more wild than our last show.
"There are so many colors in the show. People are going to be stunned."
The exhibit really has no collective theme other than the interactions between the artists.
"We've been influenced by each other - sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in not obvious ways," said artist Tim Lane.
Andrea Eckert is one of the artists from the exhibit who has been influenced by her peers. Eckert, a 2003 graduate, will be showing two large paintings on bed sheets.
"It's more tactile and soft. It's not a traditional canvas," Eckert said. "They lend to the quietness of the bedroom and its intimacy."
Another artist, George Rahme, a junior at the College for Creative Studies, will be showing a sculpture and mixed-media paintings.
"It represents my views on culture and history," Rahme said of his sculpture. "I always try to incorporate history. It has a very important place in art."
"Banners," or long sheets of paper, will be displayed by Lane. His mixed-media paintings of acrylic and graphite feature large blocks of color and the image of a boy's face.
"My work is about the emotional impact of color, image and text. It's kind of conceptual, but it's all about the emotion of these three elements," Lane said.
(SCENE) Metrospace, 303 Abbott Road, will host a reception at 6 p.m. on Friday for the opening of "The Buddy System." Many of the local artists' plan on attending. Jon Howard of the musical group Rattling Wall Collective will be on turntables. Light refreshments will be served.
Kruch said this exhibit is very important for East Lansing because of the impact these artists have made on the area and the variety of their artwork.
"People that normally go to galleries will probably walk in a say, 'What a mess,' but that's what we like about it."
