C-Pop (gallery) explained

C-Pop Gallery (sometimes stylized as "(C)-Pop" or "©-Pop") was a metro Detroit art gallery that operated from 1996 to 2009.

History

C-Pop was originally opened in March 1996 by Rick Manore with partners Michael Lask and Marty Geramita in the basement of a former church at 515 S. Lafayette in Royal Oak with a significant initial emphasis on rock posters, but was also associated with and moved towards a focus on less mass-produced art, including the Lowbrow art movement.^{[1] [2]} The first exhibit in the space was for Robert Williams in May 1996.^[3] The gallery later moved to the David Whitney Building (Suite 313) in Detroit before finally opening in its final location at 4160 Woodward (the former Detroit Bowling & Trophy, in the same block as the Majestic Theater) in September 1999, with a notable sign created by Alex Porbe and significant renovations to the space funded by artist and eventual gallery owner Tom Thewes (son of Compuware co-founder Thomas Thewes).^[4] The physical gallery closed in the summer of 2009.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Exhibitions

Amongst the many artists who exhibited at C-Pop were Niagara, Glenn Barr, Mark Dancey, Robert Williams, Shag, and Shepard Fairey^[8] The following is an incomplete listing of C-Pop exhibits:^[9]

• Robert Williams May 17–June 23, 1996
• Fiction Burn – Glenn Barr 1996 ^[10]
• All Men are Cremated Equal – Niagara November 1996 ^[11]
• The Art of Derek Hess March 21, 1997 ^[12]
• Blinkless Eyes and Fresh Fruit Pies, The Art of the Residents and Steven Cerio May 3, 1997
• Good to the Last Drop – Mark Dancey October 4, 1997
• Nocturnal Planet – Glenn Barr November 22, 1997 ^[13]
• Faster Niagara, Kill... Kill 1997
• Carne d'Amour / Carne De Amore (Group Show) February 6, 1998 (sometimes references as Carne d'More ^{[10] [12]}
• Is Schism – Parlangeli Bill Brovold May 2–31, 1998 (final Royal Oak show)
• It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To – Niagara November 14, 1998
• C Stands For….. (group show) September 25, 1999
• Why Walk When You Can Drive (group) 1999 ^[10]
• Strangers Have the Best Candy (group) 1999 ^[10]
• Underbelly – Glenn Barr December 11, 1999 – January 14, 2000
• Cat Scratch Derek – Derek Hess June 3, 2000 (with Glenn Barr "Barcode"?) ^{[10] [12]}
• Crime Lines – Niagara October 7, 2000
• Cortex of Desire – Glenn Barr and David Sandlin December 2, 2000
• The Leisure Principle – Shag / Allegories: The Fall of Virtue – Isabella Samaras / Hoods & Heaters Pulp Illustrations September 7, 2002
• Tight as a Tourniquet – Derek Hess / Superhero Group Show October 5, 2002 ^[12]
• They Won't Let Me Be Good – Niagara April 5, 2003
• Flying Circus The Graphic Energy and Inspired Illuminations of Mark Dancey December 6–30, 2003
• Fun House Art Show The Visual Art of Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton & Scott Asheton plus related group show February 7, 2004
• TEN WOMEN ARTISTS FROM THE BOOK: VICIOUS, DELICIOUS, AMBITIOUS; March 6, 2004
• The Silver Opium Series – Niagara November 2005
• Incidental Contact (group show) May 1, 2006
• Obey With Caution The Phenomenology of Shepard Fairey November 1, 2006
• Saints Preserve Us (group show) November 18 – December 18, 2006
• It’s All About © (group show; apparently referred to at times as "The End Is Near") May 1–June 13, 2009 (Final show)

Music

C-Pop hosted various musical acts in its space as well in a limited fashion, including Jack White, the Demolition Doll Rods, and the Time Stereo Noise Camp.^{[14] [15]}

References

42.3516°N -83.0603°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network. Inc. 1 April 1998. CMJ Network, Inc.. Google Books.
2. Web site: Tribes of the Cass Corridor - C Pop Gallery.
3. Web site: Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan · Page 32.
4. Web site: An International Art Movement Finds a Home in Detroit In the New and Permanent Location of (C)Pop Gallery. (C)POP. Gallery.
5. http://www.detnews.com/article/20090320/ENT01/903200325/1033/ent/Detroit+s+C-Pop+art+gallery+expected+to+close+in+June
6. Web site: Discuss Detroit: CPOP Closing.
7. Web site: Comics Devastation!: Art is dead and Detroit is art. Mark. 27 April 2009.
8. Web site: What? Tuesday - Obey Giant.
9. Many of the initial gallery references are taken from printed postcards from the gallery itself
10. Web site: Glenn Barr . 2016-05-09 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160806164854/http://www.aarontimlin.com/detroitcontemporary/barr_resume.html . 2016-08-06 .
11. Web site: Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan · Page 73.
12. Web site: Online Portfolio of Artist Derek Hess.
13. http://www.westland.lib.mi.us/pdf/observers/1997-12-21.pdf Westland Observer, December 21, 1997, page D5
14. Web site: C Pop Gallery - The Concert Database.
15. Web site: 2002 NOISE CAMP WRAP UP. 2016-03-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20170112162908/http://www.timestereo.com/noisecamp/wrap2002.shtml. 2017-01-12. dead.