Photo: Exterior view of the Simone DeSousa Gallery in Detroit, featuring a neon sketch by artist Tessa Lynch in the windows. Much has been made lately of art as social practice and the impact that artists can have in shaping communities. In the interest of creating a dynamic international conversation, Detroit artist Cedric Tai guest-curated […]
Article · August 13, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Gabriel Brass Band holding court outside the Old Redford Theatre. For anyone who holds a perception of Detroit as a city in decline, the scenes from last weekend would have been hard to reconcile. Stepping onto the main drag of Old Redford at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Lahser Road, one was […]
Article · August 7, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: The welcome center on Fenkell will host the farmer’s market and be a hub of activity for the festival. Everyone is already buzzing with anticipation for the third annual Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts, which takes place in Detroit’s vibrant Old Redford and Brightmoor neighborhoods. An area devastated by the mass exodus from the […]
Article · July 31, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: “Ripe Pickings (large)” (left) and a trio of smaller sculptural works by Cristin Richard. There are a number of ways to make art that is visceral and gripping. In a new body of work being presented at Playground Detroit, Cristin Richard takes a direct approach; she uses literal viscera as her starting point. Working […]
Article · July 28, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Isaac Pool combines poetry and images in Light Stain. All images courtesy of Pool and What Pipeline. For the first 76 pages, the images in “Light Stain”–a new book of poems and photographs by artist Isaac Pool–are ambiguous, almost subject-less in their composition. These are largely snapshots, and though the images in this section are dated […]
Article · July 23, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Racers on their marks, for the 3rd Annual Pinewood Derby at Popps Packing. Hamtramck was a hub of fun and fundraising last weekend, as two of the city’s venerated art institutions held head-to-head group shows in support of their innovative arts programming. Popps Packing was the scene of the 3rd Annual Pinewood Derby—a chic update […]
Article · July 15, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
The opening night scene at Popps Packing for Tom Phardel’s “Inner Core.” The art world is a great breeding ground for a cult of personality, but a less likely genesis for the kind of quiet, genuine regard most people seem to hold for sculptor and ceramic artist Tom Phardel. Popps Packing was buzzing with stalwarts […]
Article · May 12, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
The scene around Nick Cave’s Soundsuit shoot at the Eastern Market on Saturday. On Saturday, May 2nd, artist Nick Cave and a bustling entourage appeared at the Eastern Market for the last in a series of photo shoots of the artist wearing one of his “Soundsuits.” These shoots were the first phase in a series […]
Article · May 5, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
A scene from the value-making ceremony organized by Kate Daughdrill and Phreddy Wischusen (artists not pictured here). Photo by Ali Lapetina. Art X Detroit 2015, the biennial celebration honoring the most recent cycle of Kresge Fellows, drew to a close on Sunday, April 26, following nearly three weeks of free events and exhibits put together […]
Article · April 28, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
A diverse audience was gathered at the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art on Thursday, April 16th, for the final installment of a three-part panel series on gentrification–this one on the subject of “Gentrification and Urban Development.” The panel was moderated by Stephen Henderson of the Detroit Free Press, and comprised of Malik Yakini, founder and […]
Article · April 22, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
The evening’s organizers, Andrea Perez (left), Katie Dover-Taylor (center), and Rachel Thompson (right). Saturday, March 28th was an evening of hard-hitting and hilarious performances by some of Detroit’s most dynamic spoken-word performers–all in the name of raising funds for the Radical Librarianship track of the upcoming 2015 Allied Media Conference. Held every summer in Detroit, […]
Article · April 7, 2015 by Rosie Sharp