Art Reviews

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1991/DETROIT FREE PRESS 3Q by Marsha Miro

Goodfellow mimics masters 

Detroiter Stephen Goodfellow nev-er fails to put on a good show. This time, the developer of the painting technique known as micropointillism has taken on Da Vinci, Millet, Duchamp and science fiction. The result is "Forgeries, Portraits and Landscape" 

One of three parts of "Artist in His Studio," in which Detroiter Stephen Goodfellow portrays himself. at  Xochipilli Gallery, a wonderfully engaging trip. The forgeries grew out of Goodfellow's determination to prove that he could paint almost anything with his technique, which involves spraying primary colors onto the canvas, then washing off the resulting murky haze, leaving dots of color that fuse into cartoon-like images. When you see his "Dude Descending a Staircase" after Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase", or his "The Cleaners" after Millet's "The Gleaners," not only does the technique hold up but the whole pop culture idea of masterpieces as commercial souvenirs is venerated and satirized. Goodfellow is simply bringing a contemporary capitalist's approach to the long  art tradition of reinterpreting a master's work.
The sci-fi paintings involve parallel universes with the same character inhabiting different bodies in different places at the same time. In "Artist in His Studio," Goodfellow portrays himself three times in the same pose — as his contemporary self, as a Teutonic artist and as a science fiction creature. The images are cartoonish, the ques-tions engaging. For instance: If we can have past lives, why not parallel ones? Goodfellow continues to talk about the contemporary world and contemporary issues with a contemporary voice. 

Through Nov. 2 at 568 N. Woodward, Birmingham; 11-5 Tues.-Sat.