Now that Detroit art is popping our eyes more than ever, it’s time to peep some of the newest machinations by uptown and downtown galleries and other special projects on the scene.
Fallout from last Saturday’s “People from Good Homes” fashion-and-art bash is still settling as we go to press, with throngs having packed the fifth and sixth floors of 2 John R, “a venue that has never and will never be used like this again” (these words from the cool spiral-bound catalog produced for the one-night-only event by detroit contemporary and Panic). Organizers and artists worked for four weeks renovating the space for a show that lasted four hours. It’s this one-shot quality that gave the images, clothes and models the immediacy of a fleeting moment: Like a raindrop hitting the surface of a lake, you either caught it or missed it.
Among the range of stunning work, photographers Scott Breithaupt and Nicola Kuperus gave eros a postmodern aura with their color prints, while designers Brian Anderson and Sarah Spratt placed gorgeous models on stairway-pedestals around the rooms, the better to show off their truly sexy takes on aesthetic finery. And these same feelings were subtly taken up by Matthew Hawtin’s handsome “Torqued Paintings” and John White Cerasulo’s frozen-toned interiors. The show’s techno-inspired, hit-and-run approach to the growing art audience was a smashing success.
With major Birmingham mover Susanne Hilberry relocating her gallery to Ferndale (pioneering a site on Livernois) and George R. N’Namdi soon to close his Birmingham digs in favor of adding more bang to the art explosion between Mack and Warren in the Cultural Center, the mood is definitely “southbound.”
Joining the migration, although departing from farther north in Pontiac, is the Museum of New Art (MONA), currently upgrading a huge, 10,000-square-foot space at 1249 Washington Blvd. (second floor of the Book Building) in downtown Detroit. MONA holds a silent auction this Saturday, May 19, at the new site, 6:30-9:30 p.m., in order to raise funds for the ongoing renovation and future exhibitions. Offered for sale will be works by more than 200 artists from Detroit and around the world, including Yoko Ono, Tom Thewes, Lucio Pozzi, Christine Hagedorn, Crash, Chris Manzo, Christo, Jo Powers, Mary Fortuna and Sol Lewitt. Admission at the door is $25 — valet parking available — call 248-210-7560 for more info.
And certainly not the last of such developments, Doris Koosis has announced the opening of her Grey Gallery for Saturday, June 2, 7-11 p.m., with a show called “24-7-365” of the work of Matthew Hanna and Miriam Bloom. Organized in collaboration with the Detroit Young Art Collectors Society, this project at 1 John R (sixth floor — call 313-965-0709) coincidentally (or not, really) is just across the street from the site that “People From Good Homes” occupied for one evening — not coincidentally because Detroit is teeming with new art ideas. Check them out.
The Hot & the Bothered is edited by MT arts editor George Tysh. E-mail him at [email protected].
