MOCAD THIS WEEK at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

OPENING THIS WEEK at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) Tal R : this is not Detroit Michael Luchs: Fictitious Character Opening Reception: Friday, May 11, 2018 Member Hour: 6-7PM, Public Opening: 7-11PM Dear Friends, This Friday, May 11, marks the opening of two new exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD):  Tal R’s : this is not Detroit and Michael Luchs’s Fictitious Character. A reception will be held at the museum with a member hour from 6-7PM and public opening from 7-11PM.  :this is not Detroit is a conceptual, site-specific installation that manifests Tal R's fantasy of Detroit, acting as a meditation on dream-places, identity, and whimsy. Seven large-scale paintings, rendered in a rich and moody 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 space. These unique imaginings invite viewers to reflect on Detroit as a located idea within a parallel dream space. Fictitious Character is the largest survey of Michael Luch's work to date. Like many of his fellow Cass Corridor artists, Luchs's work embodies a raw and frenetic energy, framing a unique fabric around his artwork and often filled with scrappy renditions of animals or ovoid forms. With motifs of frogs, snakes, and moths, in addition to rabbits, the artist's works have come to be emblematic of conflicts mirrored not only in the political and social environment, but also in mankind's ongoing mechanical, chemical, and technological assault on the natural world. Both solo exhibitions will be on view at MOCAD through July 29. TOM House: The Work and Life of Tom of Finland will also be on view at the Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead through May 19.