Robert Piatek

"In the Beginning" Abstract, Brilliant Colors of Blue, Red, Yellow, Oil

2019

Robert's brilliant abstract paintings are easily identified with energized aspects of the universe as in sun burst, nebula, black hole, or far away. His Zen practice allows him release from earthly concerns to soar amongst the stars. Robert Piatek...

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "Red Harmony" is an abstract painting that does have a sculptural presence in the shapes of the red areas. The lush greens blend various shades into a background that while it does contrast sharply with the reds, it is not in conflict. The overall effect of this work is dynamic in its energy while at the same time harmonious. One of the original Cass Corridor artists from the 1960s William Antonow studied at the School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (now the College for Creative Studies) and at Wayne State University, where he received his BFA (1967) and MA (1970.) Antonow’s first one-person show at the Willis Gallery in 1971, represented a radical departure from his early work – abstract bronzes shown at the Michigan Artists exhibitions at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1969 and 1970. A founding member of the Willis, Antonow publicized his exhibition with a cryptic invitation stating, “art isn’t anything.” Echoing the challenge implicit in the exhibition announcement, the works in the show consisted of precariously balanced piles of such non-art materials as wood crates and barrels, corrugated paper or cardboard, cellophane and beer cans. These brash, paint-slathered juxtapositions of salvaged objects were perhaps the first example of the nascent “tough art” aesthetic of the Cass Corridor. (Both Gordon Newton’s wood constructions and Bob Sestok’s crude “radio wheels” first appeared in 1972.) In 1975, in the inaugural group exhibition of the Willis at its new location in the Fisher Building...

"Untitled Abstract" is by the American painter, Robert Goodnough, known for calligraphy-like markings circa 1960s. Though he was associated with the Abstract Expressionists, Goodnoug...

"Blue Nocturne" is full of rich deep blues contrasted by oranges, red, black and white. The abstract composition is bursting with energy that pours out of the painting and beyond the...