Office Space Gallery Presents Pat Duff’s “Transition: A Journey from Birth to Death”

Office Space Gallery in Detroit’s North End presents a career-spanning retrospective of Pat Duff’s art, kicking off with an opening reception on Saturday, October 24 from 6 to 10 p.m. Duff will give an artist’s talk in November. (Details below.)

“Transition: A Journey from Birth to Death” not only encompasses about 50 works produced over approximately 60 years. It also offers Duff’s insights to the challenges and joys encountered over an eventful life, not only as an artist and entrepreneur but also as the longtime caretaker of a husband who endured a protracted, ultimately fatal, case of Alzheimer’s disease.

Love, illness, pain, hope, faith, sex, and death figure prominently in Duff’s works, which will be arranged at the gallery with specific sub-themes (such as Alzheimer’s and covid) for each of the space’s several rooms.

“I choose to exclude no part of my life, of life itself from my art,” Duff explains in an artist’s statement. “The world is a hard place, littered with poverty, hatred, and ugliness of many kinds.” But, she continues, “I see the beauty in everything, even where others see only the ugly. My art, and I hope this is true, brings this perception to the many, all of the people, for them to see for themselves.”

Detroit-based Duff has exhibited her painting, drawing, prints, woodcuts, sculptures and other works widely throughout southeastern Michigan and beyond. While the “transition” of the show’s title refers to the people’s experience as they move from one phase of life to the next, it also has a more personal meaning for the artist. Starting with “Transition,” Duff intends to focus exclusively on solo exhibitions, make this one the start of a new stage in her artistic journey. Features Overview