Jason Reed, owner/operator of Start Gallery.

Taste in art is such a personal matter, often the best one can do as an art and culture blogger is to attempt to provide some kind of context for art through the frame of one’s own perspective. The subject of fan art can be a bit sticky; it is singled out as derivative, as though the majority of both high and low creative output is not derivative. Inarguably, it is. Almost every artist is referencing something of deep personal significance to them, so the degree of validity to what they are referencing comes down, again, to personal taste. And it is the personal taste of a large number of people, including some artists, that Star Wars is among the greatest stories ever told.

When cult obsessions collide: a series of Evil Dead / Star Wars posters.

Whether that is the opinion of this blogger is not as relevant as the fact that it is the opinion of Jason Reed, who celebrated the second anniversary of Start Gallery on E. Grand River in downtown Detroit with a Star Wars themed show that opened on May 4th, better known to Star Wars fanatics as “May the 4th Be With You.”

A collection of Jawa-based mini portraits on wood, by Seymour.

The show, on view until early June, features more than 100 pieces that directly draw from the subject of Star Wars. As Reed puts it, Star Wars presents a dazzling array of imagery, making it a treasure trove of subject matter and symbolism. Indeed, the original trilogy has achieved cult status and cultural influence to the point of directly impacting collective imagistic views of good and evil. It is that very magnification, perhaps, that requires a show of Star Wars fan art to be considered in a separate context from that of the original movies (to say nothing of the dubiously received prequel series). What does it say about the creative power of these movies that they imprinted so strongly onto the psyche of a generation of fans and artists? What sort of fundamental imagery is at work, that it merits such derivation?

Sexual objectification is clearly the dark side of the Force. “In Vader” by Craig Nowak.

“All Terrain Audio Transport” by Jason Reed, utilizing toys from his private collection.

A stained-glass rendering of Han Solo in carbonite.

Because those movies, of course, are derivative themselves—the original Star Wars being an overt space-age reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress. And Kurosawa spent much of his career in the skilled cinematic representation of Shakespearean tragedies. At the end of the day, perhaps the only derivation that matters is the enjoyment that can be derived from creative expression. Thus, I encourage you to head down to Start Gallery and check out the art side of the Force.

“Ce n’est pas un art?”

Start Gallery: 206 E. Grand River, Detroit; 313-909-2845; startgallery.net