The Ant's Castle #12
May 20, 2017
Louise Nobili, a gifted watercolorist, is remembered for her teaching career and for her work reforming and reestablishing different parts of the artistic community within Michigan. In collaboration with another former Wayne State Instructor, Mary Jane Bigler, they founded the Michigan Water Color Society. Her work is a part of the permanent collections at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum in New York City.
The Ant Castle #12 is a three-dimensional watercolor that channels the deconstructed, ethereal, organic clashing with industrial energy that was so prominent in the Cass Corridor during the 1960's and '70s. This piece in particular has layers of paper that open up all over the canvas, appearing as flowers, and cracks within a foundation. The delicacy of the work contrasting with its grittiness engage the viewer to see beauty in unfamiliar places.
Text by Emily Lane Borden