Potentially Dangerous
by
Diane Spodarek
(Ian Prior is the male voice)
photo:Kimo De Sean
As a constantly moving source of ideas, Diane
Spodarek left a vacuum in the suprisingly vital Detroit art community
when she left for N.Y.C. in the early nineteen eighties. She projected
her persona, Dangerous Diane, as dissatisfied suburban house wife turned
hardened rock star in musical performances with her band, the Cadilac
Kids, at venues as varied as the Detroit
Institute of Arts, Clutch Cargo's and the new Miami Bar.
Diane and husband Randy Delbeke also fouind time to chronicle the Motown
art scene by publishing the Detroit Artists Monthly magazine. Along
side of reviews and articles, they frequently conducted interviews with
name artists who were visiting the D. I. A. (e.g. Ray
johnson interview)with the aid of John Hallmark Neff who was
curator of Twentieth Century Art.
Diane's art was edgy and controversial.
Postcard announcement for "Potentially Dangerous"-D.
Spodarek
This phone event captures many of the elements of her work: the longing
for contact with a larger world, the restrictions of domesticity, the bleak
Detroit physical environment. The background sound of water throughout
adds suggestions of ablution or, maybe, chores.
Seven years later Dangerous Diane reads some poetry in another phone
event for the Detroit Institute of Arts' exhibit "Automobile Culture
- Detroit Style."
3:15 minutes.
