For the past three years, MFA mentor and professor of painting and drawing at MCAD, Michael Kareken, "has been visiting auto salvage yards and creating drawings of the skeletal remains of cars and trucks he discovers in these automotive graveyards. Over one hundred drawings have been selected to create the book, PARTS." On February 24, Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis hosted a book release and opening reception for an exhibition that featured a selection of drawings that are included in the book. Of this work Kareken has written:"At these sites cars and trucks sit in row upon row, stripped of body panels, engines and other parts. Engines have been wrenched from their compartments, leaving a tangle of cables and hoses; dashboards are peeled away to reveal the normally hidden inner workings and missing doors and seats leave the interior a hollowed-out skeleton. There is a disturbing sense violation in the casual way the vehicles have been dismantled. Many of the drawings focus on small sections or parts of the cars, the forms dissolving into or emerging out of backgrounds of atmospheric tone and texture. Over the past three years, the auto salvage drawings have begun to accumulate into a substantial body of work. While the individual drawings stand alone, presented in a book, they combine to make a powerful statement."Kareken's book, PARTS, includes an essay by Christopher Atkins, Curator of Exhibitions & Public Programs at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul. There will be a gallery talk with Kareken and Atkins on Thursday, March 22 at 7 pm. This show continues through March 31, 2018.Photography by Yi Wan.For more information:PARTS ExhibitionMichael Kareken Categories All Mentors