4454 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
United States
Nancy Mitchnick: Uncalibrated
May 6–July 31, 2016
Curated by: Jens Hoffmann, Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator at Large
An outsider among the band of outsiders that made up the Cass Corridor scene, Mitchnick holds a truly unique position in Detroit’s art history and speaks with a voice distinctly her own. Her Detroit paintings on display at MOCAD are a reflection of the city, with its idiosyncratically doleful emptiness and bucolic appeal. In these paintings we find subject and form perfectly paired. The images are strong, bright, unabashed, full-frontal, and among the strongest works of Mitchnick’s career.
DETROIT CITY/Detroit Affinities: Annette Kelm
May 6–August 28, 2016
Curated by: Jens Hoffmann, Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator at Large
As part of MOCAD’s ongoing Detroit Affinities series of solo exhibitions Berlin-based artist Annette Kelm uses traditional photographic techniques to explore seemingly mundane objects’ social, economic, and cultural contexts. Utilizing historical forms of landscape and still life, she plays with the language of advertising and documentary while exploring the intersection of photography and sculpture. The display at MOCAD brings together a series of works produced throughout the artist’s career that outlines these concerns.
DEPE Space: Mitch McEwen: Methexis
May 6–August 28, 2016
Produced by V. Mitch McEwen, A(n) Office/McEwen Studio and collaborators, a series of design studies, maps, and abstract design codes will reimagine processes of demolition and preservation. On view will be an extensive collection of studies tackling the ongoing research into demolition alternatives for vacant and publicly owned structures. Alongside these study objects, animations and interactive tools show what the city might look like with these design tactics applied to Detroit’s vacant wood-framed structures.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a film series curated by Marcelo López-Dinardi and Dawn Lundy Martin. Lundy Martin explores architecture and drama—dramas of embodiment. López-Dinardi presents videos of architecture and process, mining the oeuvre of Gordon Matta-Clark and others. Lundy Martin presents a poetically rooted video grouping exploring architecture and language.
Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead:
Carlos Rolón: Vintage Voyages and Atomic Memories
May 6–August 28, 2016
Through a commitment to social practice, Carlos Rolón makes art a universal experience for everyone to share. For his Mobile Homestead project, Rolón will create a pop-up nail salon within the context of a domestic space reminiscent of his family’s home on the Southside of Chicago. Gifted nail artists will create customized nail designs for visitors every Sunday for the duration of the exhibition in a room decorated and finished with vintage wallpaper, framed mirrors, and craft based work including handmade macramés.
The mission of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit is to present art at the forefront of contemporary culture. As a non-collecting institution, MOCAD is responsive to the cultural content of our time, fueling crucial dialogue, collaboration, and public engagement.
