Gallery Artists

Colorful desolate cityscapes. Loving abandoned homes. Abstract simplified car wrecks. Humorous arrangements of dismembered horse parts.

Ann Gordon provokes the imagination by incorporating clever contradictions into her work - whether she is painting, performing duties as gallery director at TRA Art Group in Troy, or updating Detroit's hottest online art site: detroitarts.blogspot.com

"I enjoy using subjects in an unexpected way," said Gordon, who majored in painting at CCS. "I know some of my work sounds a bit twisted. My brain always seems to picture the worst, yet I find a little humor in the act! I am drawn to other artists who poke fun at art making or use little to say a lot."

As inspiration for a recent series of paintings, Gordon smashed vintage Hot Wheels cars into pieces, positioned the parts and photographed the arrangement. Then, she created a series of abstract paintings from the images in her photos.

In addition to leading her on the path to a fulfilling career, Gordon's research has inspired her to create something new to the city - an online presence of the local art community. Her site, detroitarts.blogspot.com draws hundreds of readers per day.

"CCS did a great job at preparing me with the art skills I needed to continue making good art," said Gordon. "I developed an art language through my education at CCS and can't stress enough how much I have grown in terms of looking at art and creating an art network around me."