Bearing the bold title “Harbinger: Shifting Culture and New Art from Detroit,” the newest show to be held at Studio Couture Detroit provides a refreshing look into the status of Detroit’s art scene. Curated by Sarah Ayers, the show features six promising young artists hoping “to shed light on Detroit’s burgeoning creative movement.” Although Ayers projects some large ambitions onto the show itself to “attract more artists, galleries and collectors to Detroit’s verging art scene,” I thought some of the most moving aspects were the pieces themselves, the location of Studio Couture and the innovative use of a web-based exhibition.

Currently, the Detroit art scene is oversaturated with art concerning Detroit. For good reason, this is an inspiring place to live, in a moment of great transition with many needs to which local and international artists are experiencing and reacting to. My favorite part of this show is actually that the featured work does not outwardly concern Detroit. It is billed that the six artists live and create within city limits, but it is interesting to see that they are focused more upon abstract ideas. Many of the works in this show are aesthetically beautiful, from Lauren Rices’ assemblage “The Tree” to William Irving Singers’ haunting figures. Other pieces, like Hobart Frolley’s sketchy characters, don’t take themselves too seriously. However, they ask viewers to consider their purpose. This show is comprised of a diverse mix of mediums and presentations, for example Peter Beaugard’s formed neon next to Brian Barr’s graphite on paper.

Additional images from the exhibition can be found here on a website powered by ArtStar.com. However, I would like to also encourage you to visit the physical site of the exhibition. Studio Couture Detroit is located in the heart of the central business district, an area that is still at the very beginning of reinvestment and revitalization. Visiting the gallery on a busy Friday evening for the opening was an invigorating experience. In a city with a spotlight so focused on “the next big thing,” it was energizing to exercise our other senses and ingest something a little lighter, a little more palatable and, to put it simply, something really great. To call them up-and-comers would be unfair, but what better than six young and talented Detroit artists to deliver this message, that maybe they are the harbinger. Maybe we are nearing a point when we can move on, not to cease rebuilding and reinventing, but toward living and creating based off of a life of living not so focused on tomorrow so that we can truly experience today.

“Harbinger: Shifting Culture and New Art from Detroit” runs until Nov. 27 at Studio Couture Detroit, which is located at 1433 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Mich. 48226. Hours are Monday and Wednesday 5 to 6 p.m., Friday through Sunday 12 to 5 p.m.