Inside Beverly Fishman and Gary Lang’s ‘ Zenax’ Exhibition
The joint exhibition at Library Street Collective in Detroit presents new paintings by both artists. BY
The origin story of Library Street Collective’s two-artist exhibition “Zenax,” like many recent collaborations, traces back to social media.
“I reached out to Gary [Lang] via Instagram because I had admired his work for many, many years,” says artist Beverly Fishman. “I started ‘liking’ everything, like an art crush kind of thing.”
When Detroit-based Library Street discussed organizing an exhibition, Fishman pitched the idea of a collaborative show with Lang, who’s based in Ojai,
Calif. Fishman, who retired from her post as head of the painting department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2019, moved into a live-work space in Detroit with her husband full-time in 2019. The artist remains busy as ever, with several commissions for large-scale murals coming up in the new year at Michigan State University and a solo show at the Contemporary Dayton, in addition to projects in Chicago and New York.
The link between Fishman and
Lang’s aesthetics, intermixed in the downtown gallery, is clear. Both artists use the tools of abstraction — uniquely evocative color palettes contained within sharp geometric forms — to explore the connection between the internal and external body. Lang’s artwork is informed by meditation and movement, while Fishman explores the pharmaceutical industry. The exhibition title, “Zenax” — a portmanteau of “zen” and “Xanax” — speaks to the intention behind their work and the conversations that arise from their proximity within the gallery.