The Detroit Institute of Arts Presents:

Interventions/John Piet

"Dancin at the Savoy Ballroom Piet Style"

Piet's title acknowledges his source of inspiration -- the adjacent painting by Reginald Marsh. By including the words "Piet-Style" he implies that while influenced by another artist, the interpretation is his own.

Piet has transposed the syncopation of Marsh's figures into other media, creating a witty interplay of space, forms, and materials. In Piet's wall panels, Marsh's dancers have become rhythmic marks implying movement. The metal forms in front of the panels give the sensation that the drawn marks have become corporeal and danced into the three-dimensionality of our space.

The pliable appearance of Piet's metal forms is paradoxical. Usually associated with unmoving structures, the material is shaped into human forms captured in the sensuality of movement.

Piet has reengaged his work with its visual source and revealed a sense of the spirit in which it was made-a celebration of the times in life when we can "kick back" and enjoy untroubled fun.

To the next artist...