Detroit artists featured on ArtSlant

ArtSlant, the "no. 1 contemporary art network," shines on a show in Chicago featuring some influential work coming out of Detroit.

Excerpt:

If Mr. Hocking's photos are monuments to shifting social structures, the project by the Detroit Tree of Heaven Workshop represents a re-engaged social practice. The Workshop used their commission money to buy an empty lot and plant Chinese sumac, called the "Tree of Heaven". The tree, a.k.a. the "ghetto palm," grows invasively in blighted neighborhoods. The Workshop harvests these trees for sculptures and products turning a sign of disregard and decay into a resource. When considered alongside other initiatives like the Compass Group or Design 99 there is a significant segment of the show devoted to groups investigating systemic cultural, economic and environmental issues.




Read the entire article here.