 DETROIT, February 14, 2018 – The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is pleased to announce : this is not Detroit, a solo exhibition by the Copenhagen-based artist Tal R, opening Friday, May 11, 2018. The intricate, multipart installation manifests the artist’s fantasy of Detroit, acting as a meditation on dream places, identity, and whimsy. The exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, July 29, 2018.
Seven large-scale paintings, rendered in a rich and mood palate of blues, depict the artist’s vision of specific Detroit neighborhoods. The abstract works use primitive shapes and symbols to investigate the visual language of displacement and place. Waves, ships, and city buildings, drawn with short energetic brushstrokes, populate these insular worlds. The formal, hard-edged palette suggests that this world is perhaps sturdier than the one we can see around us. These unique imaginings invite viewers to reflect on Detroit as a place and as an idea — a parallel dream space.
For the exhibition, Tal R has written a one-of-a-kind, 52-page Detroit newspaper, which will be distributed to the public at the exhibition. : this is not Detroit is Tal R’s sincere investigation of American iconography from his studio in Denmark, inspired by Kafka's Amerika, a novel he wrote without ever having visited America. All works in the show, including the paintings, will be completed in Detroit at MOCAD, as part of the artist’s immersion in the space. The newspaper will comprise a physical element in the show, displayed beside a papier-mâché wall in the gallery.
ABOUT MOCAD
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is an innovative addition to Detroit's vibrant Midtown neighborhood, and functions as a hub for the exploration of emerging ideas in the contemporary arts. As a non-collecting institution, MOCAD is responsive to the cultural content of our time, fueling crucial dialogue, collaboration, and public engagement. The Museum is located between the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Institute of the Arts, Wayne State University, and the College for Creative Studies. The cavernous 22,000 square foot building, a former auto dealership, has been simply renovated to maintain its raw historic character. MOCAD’s ambitious series of public programs includes lectures, musical performances, films, literary readings and educational activities for area youth. Mobile Homestead, by late artist Mike Kelley, is a permanent artwork located on the grounds of the museum. It is both a public sculpture and a private, personal construction – based on the artist's childhood home on Palmer Road in Westland. The ground floor serves as a community event space by and for a diverse public, as Kelley intended. MOCAD is generously supported by individual members, private and corporate foundations, and government agencies. More information can be found at mocadetroit.org.
ABOUT TAL R
Tal R (Tal Shlomo Rosenzweig) was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. From 2004 to 2014 he held the position of Professor at the prestigious Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally, including Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Holland; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; and Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stockholm, Sweden, among many others.
Support for exhibitions and public programs is provided by the A. Alfred Taubman Foundation.
Exhibition support for : this is not Detroit provided by Cheim & Read, and Victoria Miro & Glenn Scott Wright.
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