Welcome to A Day for Detroit. All day long, Art F City and 21 other art blogs will be posting images from the Detroit Institute of Arts’ invaluable art collection. There are fantastic works to be found in their holdings, which, unfortunately, face the threat of being sold off to cover the city of Detroit’s debts. This would be an irreparable loss for those who’ve lived and worked in close proximity to DIA—so we thought we’d focus on them, too.
For Art F City’s contribution to A Day for Detroit, we asked a robust swath of art worlders who have lived or are currently living in Detroit about their favorite works in the DIA’s collection. Their images and commentary will appear on the blog throughout the day.
If you like these images and want to support DIA, share them with your friends. If you live in Michigan, make sure your elected officials know that, in the words of Tyler Green, “you don’t support a fire sale of the city’s future.” You can also become a member of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Installation view of Glenn Ligon's "To Disembark" at the Whitney. Courtesy NPR.
Crystal Palmer, artist
One of my favorite works at the DIA, Glenn Ligon, To Disembark: Billie Holiday, 1993, is one not only for its conceptual beauty, but also for the multiple reactions from patrons. If you stand quietly by this piece when it is on view, one can gather very different reactions by visitors. Some can be emotionally charged (usually after reading the didactic text); others are lackadaisical, confused, foolish. [It] makes me reevaluate my own perspective.
Comments on this entry are closed.