Detail from “Welcoming A Bygone Landscape” by James Milostan, which invites you to gaze inside.

Saturday, December 13th was the opening for “Welcoming a Bygone Landscape,” a two-man show at the Cass Café, featuring the combined woodsy wonderland of work by artists Matthew Hanna and James Milostan. Setting the tone with a thematically tight assemblage of collage/mixed media works—nearly 20 in the collection, produced over a single year—Matthew Hanna’s works dealt ostensibly with birds and nests. 2D avian occupants sit aside or bestride 3D nests of media scraps that bristle into the confines of their shadow box frames. Like real time bird-watching, there is a sense of activity and careful balance in each portrait.

Hanna, alongside one of his collage/mixed media works.

Detail from “Final Resting Place (For Mick)” by Matthew Hanna.

There to contend with the metaphysical forest inhabited by these creatures are Milostan’s whimsical variations on lumberjacks in general, represented by his own smooth-faced take on the iconic alpine celebrity, Paul Bunyan. Milostan’s work ranges from road signage to pennants to interactive curiosity cabinets, all dealing with a trove of images that cropped up in various forms: axes, trailers and a two-headed deer. His aesthetics deal heavily in nostalgia, appropriately instilling the show with its eponymous “bygone” nature.

One view inside Milostan’s cabinet of wonders.

A lively opening night crowd, including the Cass Cafe’s gallery curator, Dave Roberts (third from left).

Individually, each body of work is lively and engaging, but juxtaposed and injected into the thriving energy of this old Cass Corridor standby, the show effectively creates a vibrant scenic synthesis, worth more than a passing glance over your next lentil burger. Don’t miss your chance to take in this bygone landscape, on display until February 7th, 2015, before it once again becomes a thing of the past!

Cass Cafe/Gallery: 4620 Cass Ave, Detroit; 313-831-1400; casscafe.com