Curing Cancer One Masterpiece at a Time!™

My art studio neighbor, Michael Rees, was a nonstop idea factory - constantly conjuring cunning conceptual works while schooling me on movements from Dadaism to contemporary giants such as Chuck Close, James Rosenquist, and Robert Rauschenberg. It felt as if he knew Ernst, Duchamp, and Schwitters personally! I gravitated to Schwitters' playful collages, sensing a kindred spirit. Michael understood Dada's philosophical rebellion as more than art - ideas meant to free creativity.

Michael brought that irreverent energy to Vassar. After one Spring Formal (an all campus dance), foggy sunrise revealed his prank with a stuffed chimp hanging on to Main's flagpole, Kangaroos in study halls, and a seal in the President's office. Imagine hundreds of hungover students ambling to breakfast, suddenly stopped short by a massive paw-raised chimpanzee! Priceless. 

Groundskeepers swiftly returned the "borrowed" museum pieces, but the institutional critique wasn't harsh. No one got expelled. 

Together, we laughed at life's absurdity and marveled at imagination's unlimited potential. Michael proved true art lies in the audacious act - any place or time. His liberating outlook still guides me, and Michael continues to create great art.

Website: Michaelrees.org Facebook: michael.rees.96930 Instagram: xmichaelrees