Artists

Artist Bio

Cedric Tai, artist and educator, was born in Detroit in 1985. He grew up in Northville, MI and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and teaching certification from Michigan State University, East Lansing. He has a studio practice in the Russell Industrial Center, Detroit and volunteers as an educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. He works actively to promote the Detroit arts community. While his work varies from painting on Plexiglas to ceramics and installation, his pieces are always engaging and material specific, often producing numerous works in order to understand what it is exactly that fascinates him about the material itself. www.cedrictai.com

ArtX Project Description

Title: Installation: Brixels; Painting: Dürer Bomb
Medium: Painting
Year Created: 2011
Description: Cedric Tai uses preexisting structures to build upon in order to find connections or balance between chaos and order. Tai’s Brixel project is designed as a generative piece of art, a tool for public interaction, and a vehicle for potential urban beautification. Occupying the space between ideas and action, the project plants a seed of open dialogue regarding the function of public art and the definition of a ‘blank canvas’. Working with systems of pattern and design they evoke textiles and Razzle Dazzle Battleships from WWI by drawing parallels between the camouflaged ships that eluded their enemies and a city that avoids being reduced to an essentialized narrative. Visitors are asked to join the process through creating their own tessellations at www.makebrixels.com. Tai’s painting, Durer Bomb appropriates elements of Albrect Durer’s etching, Abduction of Proserphine on a Unicorn, mingling the visual language of classical representation with contemporary abstraction and graffiti; asking us to examine the role of current visual iconography, in the gallery and the street, through an art historical lens. Collaborators include: Dan Marchwinski, Ian Swanson, and building owners, Ray Debates, the folks at Michigan Paper Die and Dan Tartanian. Thanks also go to the Detroit Mural Factory, Matt Eaton, Mike Han and Chazz Miller. www.makebrixels.com