Jacques Promotes Accessibility In Arts

While I don't usually respond to articles printed in newspapers, and am even less inclined to respond to a "Letter To The Editor," Alexa Lee's misinformed, wrongheaded and decidedly hostile response to Arwulf's piece on Jacques Karamanoukian warrants one of its own.

It should be stated from the outset- with all due respect to Arwulf - that the piece was not without its flaws. Writing about a subject you are taken with as clearly as Arwulf was with Karamanoukian, is difficult, to say the very least (I know. as a journalist, Tve been there). Simply put.there was too much Arwulf and not enough Jacques in the story.

That minor point aside, it should be noted that Ms. Lee chose only to focus on one aspect of Karamanoukian' s record as contributing to Ann Arbor's art scene, the fact that his gallery is only open tour "official" hours per week. She states that running a gallery is not only about economics, yet she reduced her entire argument to that issue by not bringing up anything else about Karamanoukian, despite the fact that there is more, lots more.

Let 's set the record straight.

For starters, her assertion that Karamanoukian's gallery is only open four hours a week in his home is just plain false. He may list his hours (SEE NEXT PAGE)

(FROM PREVIOUS PAGE) as 2-6 pm on Saturdays, but that is just the beginning. In addition to accepting appointments, Karamanoukian holds to 11 weekend-long openings per year: Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday, at which times, hundreds of people - artists included - file through his home gallery, speaking to Karamanoukian and often the artists her or himself.

This is hardly the elitist inaccessability Ms. Lee spoke of in her letter. At these openings, Mr. Karamanoukian invites - and usually pays - poets, novelists, lecturers, etc. to present work in celebration of the artist(s) he is showcasing. Here is an attempt at transculturality that many gallery owners, workshop teachers, reading series coordinators and others could learn from: Karamanoukian actively supports and encourages transcultural diversity and interdisciplinary interaction as a way of furthering the entire spectrum of the arts whether they be literary, visual, musical, performance, etc.

In addition to his openings, there is the regionally renowned "First Fridays" series (which at least one other gallery in town is seeking to emulate), which showcases poets and writers from all over the state in groups of two, three and four. This is done at considerable expense to Karamanoukian and is presented free of charge. Ms. Lee' s assertion that somehow Karamanoukian is not fit to comment upon the Ann Arbor art "scene" is ludicrous. It should also be noted that Karamanoukian doesn't believe in "scenes," he believes in art.

Karamanoukian has consistently presented the work of European artists in Ann Arbor, and perhaps more importantly , taken the work of Ann Arbor and Detroit artists (as well as others from around the country) to Europe and had it exhibited in galleries, museums, magazines and group street shows. He's also sold it in those places, creating a market for artists like Tyree Guyton (years before anyone in Ann Arbor ever heard of him, let alone showed his work), John El Kerr, Roger Hayes, the late Sam Mackey (whose work is now housed in the permanent collection of the Dubuffett museum in Switzerland) and others in Europe. One has to wonder if Ms. Lee can make the same claim.

The most outrageous and troubling thing I found in her letter, was the implicit point that Karamanoukian doesn't work together with artists. Where did she get her information? Arwulf's article, at least implicitly, stated the opposite. Karamanoukian has either lent or given money to help artists make rent payments; forgone his percentage of a sale in order to facilitate the survival or artists in difficult or destitute situations and has even housed them in his own home if need dictated it. Karamanoukian doesn't just work with artists, he works for them.

There is something else about Karamanoukian that makes him somewhat unique among Ann Arbor gallery owners, and was perhaps was one of the reasons that Arwulf - a man who has plenty to write about - chose to feature him in profile. Very few of Ann Arbor' s gallery owners reach out to Detroit artists with the same enthusiasm Karamanoukian does. His efforts have gone a long way toward erasing the notion that Ann Arbor is a stuck-up, insular, precious, elitist town that is more concerned with maintaining its self-important image than in expanding its aesthetic horizons where art is concerned. Ask Maurice Greenia, Karl Schneider, Tyree Guyton (whose first Ann Arbor show was a one-man exhibit at the aforementioned Le Minotaure in 1989!), Paul Schwartz and many others who attend Jacques openings as regularly as he makes the trip into the city to attend theirs. Karamanoukian frequently hosts group shows for them in his space as a way of introducing them to Ann Arborites (many of whom have difficulty leaving the town's limits for cultural stimulation).

The point is, Ms. Lee's letter was written out of ignorance certainly and perhaps even jealousy and/or spite, none of which is acceptable in a public forum such as AGENDA. Had she taken the time to meet with Karamanoukian, or even visited his gallery, perhaps she would never have written a letter that appears to be a blatant attempt at professional character assassination. Karamanoukian has done at least as much anyone else in supporting Ann Arbor artists. His long, dignified record, which I've only touched on here, attests to that without question.

One other thing: AGENDA is a fine publication that deserves a wider audience; your coverage of pressing political and social issues is truly what great alternative journalism is all about, and your cultural coverage of Ann Arbor is singular.

Thom Jurek

ANN ARBOR