“Cosmic Radiance” (left) by Hank Willis Thomas and “We Deserve More (Fast Wood Workers’ Rally for Fair Wages, Detroit, MI, May 2013)” (right) by Andrea Bowers.

The MOCAD’s newest exhibition opened Friday, September 6th and features 16 new murals commissioned by the museum (a Knight Arts grantee). “Past is Present” draws upon Detroit’s historical record, with artists incorporating found images into new mural works in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Diego Rivera’s epic mural in the courtyard of the DIA.

The works are installed on 9′ x 12′ billboard-style standing canvases.

The new works vary widely in style and subject, but recurring themes of race, labor unrest and culture clash emerge throughout the exhibit, reflective of some of the most fraught aspects of Detroit’s past and present. In “HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS,” Daniel Joseph Martinez pastiches a photograph taken from the 1942 protest of a housing development, which integrated a previously segregated neighborhood. The banner of “Truth” above the image ostensibly refers to the housing project, named for feminist, freedom fighter and Underground Railroad conductor Sojourner Truth, but perhaps also calls into question the lasting truth of the sentiment. Likewise, “Battle of the Overpass” replicates a 1937 photograph chronicling the violent attack of labor union organizers by Ford security officers during a labor dispute.

“HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS“ (left) by Daniel Joseph Martinez and “Scrapcity” (right) by Carolina Caycedo.

Stylistically, Nicolás Consuegra’s “Of such machines, dreams are made…” fell most closely in the Hispanic mural tradition made so famous in this country by the exhibit’s muse, Diego Riviera. Many of the others seemed largely focused single images, rather than incorporating a mélange of images and symbols, in the style of Rivera’s work, and the source material underscored some of the most deeply fraught aspects of Detroit’s history.

“Of such machines, dreams are made…” by Nicolás Consuegra.

The exhibit features a reading room which gives historical context to the imagery presented in the murals.

“Cosmic Radiance” is another of the most successful murals, presenting a diverse array of imagery around the birth of techno.

Indeed, the overall tone of the murals would suggest that if past is present, then we are presently in trouble. If we may optimistically imagine that the purpose of art is to reflect and inspire, then “Past is Present”—which will run through January 5th—serves as a call to invest heavily in a brighter future.

MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-6622; www.mocadetroit.org