Toby Millman @ Essay’d
Born Chicago, IL 1975 / BA Hampshire College; MFA University of Michigan, Ann Arbor / Lives in Hamtramck, Michigan
Printmaker Toby Millman is not one to talk unless you are listening. Her presence, like her work, is often quite understated, indicating not a lack of depth, but confidence in what you will find when you take the time to notice. One thing you will find is a body of work that interjects quiet reflection into scenes of active conflict—the calm at the eye of the storm—and focuses on populations who experience struggle and social division, both in Michigan and as far afield as Palestine, the central locations for a large cross-section of Millman’s oeurvre.
The inherent tension in a Jewish artist creating a body of Palestine-based work is not lost on Millman. She has categorically eschewed any obvious identification with Israel, despite having Israeli roots and making regular childhood visits to family in Tel Aviv. In work that explores a budding awareness of Israeli/Palestinian relations, Millman began with a neutral perspective, producing The Curse of the Bambino, which juxtaposes historic documentation of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict (rendered in glow-in-the-dark screenprints visible beneath shrouds at the opening) with those addressing the longstanding rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
And be sure to join us this Saturday for the opening of the Essay’d III group show, which will feature Toby’s work, alongside the last 8 artists to be profiled:
Essay’d III
22 August – 5 September
Public Reception: Saturday 22 August, 7-10pm @ 9338 Campau
An exhibition to reflect on Essay’d Installments 21-30, with contributions by: Sandra Cardew, Matt Corbin, Mary Fortuna, Chido Johnson, Andy Malone, Shanna Merola, Toby Millman, Clinton Snider, Jon Strand and, Marie Woo
Image: “The Mask Becomes You” by Sandra Cardew