Spending time with Olayame Dabls’ public art is in some ways essential to understanding Detroit’s recent history. In his hands, the rusted, discarded and broken bones of industry cohere into beautiful, monumental forms that address the racism, deindustrialization and abandonment that have wreaked such havoc on the city and its residents. Colored (and somehow safeguarded) [...]
We could hear the powerful, rhythmic sound of Biba Bell’s six-inch heels striking the floor above our heads before the dance even started. Around 50 people (a good turnout for an avant-garde dance and sound art performance on a Sunday night in Detroit) were all seated in the basement of the 2:1 Gallery, the new [...]
It still smells like fresh paint inside Kunsthalle Detroit, the city’s new art museum. (That feels really great to say, so I’m going to do it again: Have you heard? Detroit has a new art museum.) When our Kunsthalle (that’s German for “art hall” and denotes a non-collecting museum) opened two weeks ago, it came [...]
Belle Isle is spectacular. The Detroit island park is home to dense woods, weeping willow-lined lakes, vast fields, dramatic views of the skyline and passing freighters, and some truly inspired architecture. The contemplative tranquility of its natural and man-made beauty also makes it a perfect place to encounter art, as the folks at Access Arts [...]
This Saturday night, the Circa 1890 Saloon on the Midtown campus of Wayne State University will host “A Crowded House.” The rousing performance will feature some of the area’s most talented and celebrated poets, spoken word artists and musicians. A whopping 35 individual artists will perform between 7:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., filling the saloon [...]
Richard Chew knows a thing or two about film editing. Throughout a 44-year career, the Oscar winner has edited more than 30 movies, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” (1974), George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode IV” (1977) and Terrence Malick’s “The New World” (2005). Chew is currently a visiting professor at Detroit’s Wayne State University, [...]
Cedric Tai doesn’t think Detroit is a blank canvas. (That controversial metaphor gets tossed around quite a bit these days by people who champion the city’s remarkable creative potential at the expense of its complex present and recent past.) The Detroit-born artist and Kresge fellow does think the city is filled with bad graffiti. To [...]
In an exciting collaboration between two major local arts organizations, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will host members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this Thursday evening for a remarkable (and free!) performance you won’t want to miss. The concert marks the completion of one of the works on display as part of “Barely There [...]
I had the opportunity last weekend to show off the Detroit Institute of Arts to some first-time visitors to the city. We didn’t have much time, so I tried to steer them right to my favorite galleries (Contemporary and African-American). They were more interested, however, in the “Annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition” that’s on view [...]
“Barely There (Part I)” opened last weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It’s the first installment in a two-part show that investigates “immateriality, presence, absence and performance.” “Part I” focuses on the mind, specifically on subjects like loss, geographic/linguistic identity and the power of questions. (“Part II,” opening in the fall, will concentrate [...]
