Niagara

The framing option for this RUN includes a 1 inch black wood frame with UV-glass, foam core backing and ready to hang hardware.

“My girls are all individuals. Once in a while one will have a name, but usually they are all talking, so you don’t know their name. You just imagine what their name is. You start imagining a lot about them. Then you identify with them. Men and women. That’s the point.

They all have a story. They didn’t always have word bubbles, but if you look at it there’s something happening that was kinda mysterious that you could figure out. It was this kinda weird, sleepy, druggy type women. There was a weapon. There was a situation.

I like that real vibrant pop kind of look. It’s also pretty detailed looking. But I didn’t think people had time. Who has time?  I thought I wanted to do something very vivid instead, so people can get it really fast. Read it. They have to read it. Even if they don’t want to read it. They have to read it. When you see it you just get it fast, and notice later that it was done very carefully. At least they get the sense of it immediately.” - Niagara


ABOUT THE ARTIST:
While attending the University of Michigan in 1974, Niagara and Mike Kelley formed Destroy All Monsters. The band, known to fans as DAM, was active until 1985, earning international recognition due largely to the presence of former members of The Stooges and the MC5. Later, she fronted the supergroup Dark Carnival (with Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and his brother Scott Asheton, Stooges drummer).

Niagara utilized art school experience in creating album and promotional art for Destroy All Monsters, Dark Carnival, and other acts. Combining collage and pop iconography, Niagara's style began to take shape, and by the early 1990's she presented her work in galleries and cafes around Detroit.

Find more by Niagara at niagaradetroit.com

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While attending the University of Michigan in 1974, Niagara and Mike Kelley formed Destroy All Monsters. The band, known to fans as DAM, was active until 1985, earning international recognition due largely to the presence of former members of The Stooges and the MC5. Later, she fronted the supergroup Dark Carnival (with Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and his brother Scott Asheton, Stooges drummer).

Niagara utilized art school experience in creating album and promotional art for Destroy All Monsters, Dark Carnival, and other acts. Combining collage and pop iconography, Niagara's style began to take shape, and by the early 1990's she presented her work in galleries and cafes around Detroit.

With critical recognition for her painting established, Niagara teamed up with the Detroit gallery CPop in 1996. Her first exhibits "All Men Are Cremated Equal" (1996) and "Faster Niagara, Kill...Kill" (1997) were breakout shows that fostered national recognition. Juxtapoz (art journal) heralded her as "The Queen Of Detroit." Successful exhibits in other cities followed, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo and others.

"The Niagara Girl" - in many guises - represented feminist swagger with drop-dead-gorgeous looks and a dangerous demeanor. She offered hard-boiled, tough talking women who would rather dispatch a man than put up with rude antics. Her bold, colorful, comic-strip-styled dames in various scenes of malfeasence parallel the modern tone of Callie Khoury's Thelma and Louise. Common ancestors include pin-up girls like Bettie Page and the dark side of 40's and 50's film icons such as Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall and Jane Greer.