14600 Mack Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48215, United States
Glenn A. Urquhart
I copied a photo of Ai Weiwei, in his photo he's dropping a million dollar vase, mine is a $2.79 40oz'er It's all relative!
BIO
Glenn's formative years his parents surrounded him with art and Detroit culture, not wanting their son to struggle his parents urged him into jewelry design. To get a grasp on history of jewelry and design, he started at a prestigious estate jewelry house, continued his education in Texas and New York then went to work for few major corporations and design houses. The economic downturn presented a life awaking opportunity to considerate on his painting, open a studio, gallery and effect change in his newly adopted community. His main theme is getting people participating in the art process he can thank his parents for this idea.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My father was a blue collar guy with a love of art which he instilled in me. That's the reason everything I do is low barrier and interactive, I want everyone evolved in the art process.
MY CURRENT SERIES
My Art By The Foot series of paintings are 30 feet tall (yes, 30 feet!) and 5 feet wide, the top and bottom are attached to each other and displayed in a large rotating loop. The collector gets involved in the art process by picking out the section that they like, they get to choose subject, color and composition. For example, out of the 30 feet they could choose the 12th foot through 15th foot, after the show is over this 3 ft section is cut off the larger roll, stretched and framed for the individual.
OTHER WORK
In my various art projects I always involve the community, from sight selection, design input, to on site execution. On my Crane Street mural project I incorporated wheat pasted pictures of the kids involved into the mural. In a commissioned piece that I did for Wayne State University School of social work, I asked the students what the the program meant to them and incorporated their words into the painting, I also had them sign the it along with mine to give them a sense of ownership. I believe when you get people involved in the process it makes the work more personal and valuable to them.