DEARBORN, MICH.- The Stamelos Gallery Center will present Frames of Reference, Past and Present: Selected Works by Anita Bates, a survey of the artist’s past and present artwork.
This exhibition explores my aesthetic choices over the last 20 plus years. Not truly a retrospective because the scope is limited, the work is more of a survey; selected paintings which represent the various bodies of work undertaken over more than two decades.
Our experiences help us construct meaning, respond to others and define our cultural frame of reference. Similarly, the artist impacts their audience through the construction of images based on their connections, sensibilities and experiences. This is what I term as an aesthetic frame of reference, hence the title of this exhibition.
Recently, I underwent an investigation of why I create the way I do. This inquiry led me to the desire to examine the experiences and emotions which shape my work. What became evident was the fact my paintings capture the colors, textures and memories of a complex upbringing comprised of singularity, trauma and ornamentation.
The works from 2020 through 2026 are heavily influenced by my childhood; exposure to the aesthetic choices made by a father who was an eccentric and complicated person, unable to fully be himself and thus, chose to transform our living spaces to communicate his vision of the world.
The paintings from 2003 to 2014 explore abstraction of the landscape; translating the physical attributes of land (and sky) as if I were zooming in on a particular surface or what a cross section of a surface might look like. As well, they highlight use of disparate materials and chemicals to create visually textured surfaces.
As the viewer, I ask you to take in my work with the understanding that while the genre of abstraction depends a great deal on spontaneity, this does not necessarily mean the act of creating is a thoughtless endeavor, where visual aesthetics are ruled by happenstance. —Anita Bates PhD, MFA
Dr. Anita Bates is a contemporary artist and 2019 Kresge Arts Fellow. Her work has been exhibited in several local, national and international venues including the Trout Museum in Appleton, WI, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit, the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Miami, FL, Dell Pryor Gallery, Detroit Artists Market, the Querini Stampalia Museum in Venice, Italy, A Gathering of the Tribes Gallery in New York, NY, and Ashara Ekundayo Gallery in Oakland, CA.
The artist and her work have been noted and reviewed in various periodicals and publications such as the Detroit News and Free Press, The Oakland Press, Detroit Home Magazine, Art News, Detroit Art Review, Real Art Detroit, BLAC Magazine, TR8T Magazine, Imago Mundi: Contemporary Artists from the U.S.A., and The Romeo Observer.
Dr. Bates’ work has been acquired for the Woodward West Art Collection, the N’Namdi permanent collection, the Luciano Benetton Collection, and Detroit Public Schools Community District Artist Collaborative. Of late, she has expanded her artistic endeavors to curatorial practice, developing exhibitions for the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, the Detroit Artists Market, and the Progressive Arts Studio Collective (PASC)—a studio and arts collective dedicated to artists with disabilities.
Ms. Bates holds both a PhD in Education and an M.F.A. in Painting from Wayne State University. She also has an MA in Studio Art with a painting concentration from Eastern Michigan University. The artist’s other accomplishments include a Fulbright Memorial Fellowship in Japanese Education and a King, Chavez, Parks Future Faculty Fellowship from Wayne State University. Currently she serves as an Associate Professor of Teaching and Program Coordinator for Visual Art Education at Wayne State University.
