AltWeeklies Wire
American Graffitinew

Detroit's murals offer perspectives on America.
Metro Times |
Lee DeVito |
07-07-2014 |
Art
Robbing the Banksynew

When 555 Gallery cut a Banksy out of the old Packard Plant in Detroit, they said it was to "preserve" the street art. Now, strapped for cash, the gallery intends to sell it, raising all sorts of questions: What are the rules of street art? Who really painted it? And how much is it worth?
Metro Times |
Michael Jackman |
05-14-2014 |
Art
Banksy Bombs Detroitnew

Last week, underground superstar street artist Banksy paid a visit to Detroit. He was on what could be considered one of the most proactively viral and resourceful publicity tours in history. Hitting Los Angeles, Park City (for Sundance), Chicago and Toronto, the famed spray-can kid left a series of paintings in his now-iconic style, but also some indelible pain, in Detroit. Whereas Banksy typically, in other cities, elicits retorts from ignorant municipal types calling his work simple vagrancy, in Detroit he was damn good news, even if he fervently, inadvertently divided the arts community.
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
05-25-2010 |
Art
Tags: Banksy
Nearly 30 Detroit Ex-Pat Artists Living in NYC Tell Us to Stay Putnew
For any cognizant creative whose finger is on the pulse of this ailing city, the news of one relocating to New York is a cliché. And other places too. Want to move to L.A.? Good luck.
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
03-23-2010 |
Art
Bombs, Burns and Coloring Books: Decoding Graffiti with Kobie Solomonnew
Before getting into the charred thickets of east Detroit, you'll pass the old train yard. In certain areas you'll see stray dogs, vagabonds, curious shutterbugs, countless pounds of broken glass and gnarly graffiti art. It's been that way for decades.
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
02-23-2010 |
Art
Era-Defining Cass Corridor Artists Reconvene on the Wallnew
Time and Place is a beautifully curated and installed exhibition of artists from Detroit's Cass Corridor from approximately 1968 to 1980.
Metro Times |
Glen Mannisto |
05-26-2009 |
Art
The Kresge Foundation Fends Off Artist Starvation and Fuels the Creative Classnew
The Kresge Artist Fellowships -- which will annually award 18 local artists $25,000 -- are one part of an $8.8 million overall commitment to arts and culture in the Detroit area made by the foundation.
Metro Times |
Kelli B. Kavanaugh |
01-06-2009 |
Art
Rock Posters Supreme: The Scoop on Detroit's Emerging Artistsnew
There's an emerging crew of graphic artists who, in this MySpace age of ease, still opt to equip themselves with Sharpies, scissors and spray cans, sketching, screen-printing and staring at their computer screens for hours each night.
Metro Times |
Rebecca Mazzei |
07-01-2008 |
Art
Alexis Peskine's Agitprop Comes to Detroitnew
His pop-inspired graphics express the unrest that still exists in the aftermath of colonialism and slavery.
Metro Times |
Rebecca Mazzei |
04-01-2008 |
Art
Tags: visual arts
Royalty Up in This Bitchnew
Hip-hop celebs get graceful makeovers from an international art star.
Metro Times |
Khary Kimani Turner and Rebecca Mazzei |
02-26-2008 |
Art
Tags: visual arts
Bone-Up, Critsnew
Detroit art kicks ass -- so why can't local media and bloggers figure it out?
Metro Times |
Vince Carducci |
01-09-2007 |
Art
Tags: visual arts
Pop-Up Artnew
John O'Reilly's photomontages cut to the chase.
Metro Times |
Glen Mannisto |
12-27-2006 |
Art
Tags: visual arts
A Grand Tour of Midwest Summer Art Showsnew
This season's exhibits include a collection of outsider art and Art Brut at Buffalo Forum in Milwaukee, and a show of dead human bodies that have undergone a “plastination” process at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland.
Metro Times |
Nolan Simon and Rebecca Mazzel |
07-15-2005 |
Art
Tags: Cincinnati, 4 Under 40: Contemporary Michigan Artists, American Science and Surplus, and the Great Lakes Science Center’s Bodyworlds, Art Institute of Chicago show, Arts Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, Contemporary, CUT/Film as Found Object, Dan Flavin: A Retrospective, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michaël Borremans: Hallucination and Reality, Milwaukee Art Museum, Multiple Strategies, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art’s great show, Out There: Landscape in the New Millennium, Toledo Museum of Art, Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre, with current art world darling Olafur Eliasson