Years, almost, since the Detroit Institute of Arts last reinstalled its modern galleries. The new rehang opens November 15.
If the last time you were inside the DIA was a school field trip, this is the weekend to go back. On Sunday, November 15, the Detroit Institute of Arts opens Reimagine Modern Art, the first reinstallation of its modern galleries in nearly 20 years. It covers artists and designers working in Europe and the Americas from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s, mixing beloved masterworks with recent acquisitions and pieces pulled out of storage.
It is the first half of a bigger reset. The DIA says its contemporary galleries are next: Reimagine Contemporary Art, the first full reinstallation of that collection since 2007, with more than 120 works from the 1950s to today across 10 themed galleries. The museum says it will feature local artists in every gallery, with returning favorites like Charles McGee and David Hammons and recent acquisitions by Detroit artists Tiff Massey and Matthew Angelo Harrison. The DIA lists the contemporary opening as coming soon.
"Detroit artists in every gallery is not charity. It is the record catching up."
For young creatives in this city, that is a map. The path from a block in Detroit to the walls on Woodward is real, and the museum is about to document it room by room. Go see the modern rehang now, take notes, and come back when the contemporary galleries open to see who from here made it onto the walls.
How to go. General admission to the DIA is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Check hours and reserve at dia.org.
This is the kind of door ANF exists to point Detroit's creatives toward. Then go make the work that ends up in the next rehang.
Sources: DIA, Reimagine Modern Art; DIA, Reimagine Contemporary Art.
