04/29/2024
A Bill Girard (1940 – 2011) painting will be on display at the College for Creative Studies Re/View Alumni Exhibition. The exhibition opens May 10, 2024, at 5 p.m. in the Valade Family Gallery at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education, 460 W. Baltimore, Detroit, MI 48202. There is no charge to attend the Alumni Exhibition Opening Reception.
The Alumni Exhibition and the associated Student Exhibition are both open to the public from May 11 to May 22nd. Saturday – Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Thursday- Friday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Girard studied at the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, the precursor to the current College for Creative Studies; he also taught there for 30 years.
In 1967, Detroit News art critic Joy Hakanson, classified Girard as a young eccentric “who belongs to the tradition of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Fuseli, and more recently, Louis Eilshemius and Joseph Cornell.”
“The eccentric,” she explained, “will dare anything and risk everything to give form to his vision.” She had him pegged.
Girard’s vision was singular. His personality, sweet. His life, turbulent. His craftsmanship, extraordinary. Girard was a gift to the city and citizens of greater Detroit. A well-kept secret. Discover it for yourself: www.girardsvasari.com
“Whether one likes Girard’s kind of art or loathes it, he is someone to respect in a world that fights for freedom but humiliates its prophets.” Joy Hakanson
