How We Make the Planet Move: The Detroit Collection Part I
Cranbrook Art Museum
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
January 3, 2024
Cranbrook Art Museum has always had a relationship with Detroit, even if it was defined by a suburbs-versus-city attitude.
The storied arts hub in Bloomfield Hills is miles from the city and truly situated in another world entirely, but there’s a notable pipeline of artists connected to the city studying at Cranbrook regardless of the attitudes between the city and the institution.
In the past decade and some change, however, that’s evolved – as it has for a lot of American museums looking to course correct after decades of Euro-centric worship over representing Black artists in their galleries.
Alongside efforts from the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), Cranbrook has focused intently with their coin and their connections to illuminate the artists of Detroit -- co-presenting shows in Detroit, bringing in more Detroit artists, buying more of their artwork, whatever it may be.
How We Make The Planet Move: The Detroit Collection Part I is a visual representation of all of this. And it makes for a glorious way to walk into the Cranbrook Art Museum. (The show is on display through March 2, 2025.)
It arrives on the heels of two excellent shows in the same vein from last year, including Skilled Labor: Black Realism In Detroit, a much-needed survey of Detroit’s technically masterful Black painters and drawers over the past decade.
For someone that has covered the local arts scene extensively for nearly 15 years, I found How We Make The Planet Move was like seeing a lot of old friends in one place.
Figurative painter and muralist Sydney G. James is on display, alongside newcomers like Bakpak Durden (who stuns patrons upon arrival with their massive “She Heard Wings” multimedia painting) and Joshua Rainer, Cass Corridor legend Gordon Newton and many others.
If you came here just for the iconic Charles McGee and his “Play Patterns II,” you wouldn’t be disappointed. The size and scope of these artists overall -- especially McGee’s “Play Patterns II,” which I couldn’t stop taking in -- is stunning.
Each piece feels crammed into the galleries in the best way -- like there simply wasn’t enough space to include everybody. And in Detroit’s robust art scene, that’s not surprising.
I’ve never felt so small and overwhelmed at the Cranbrook Art Museum –and that’s a good thing. These galleries have featured larger-yet-lesser works that filled the room but didn’t fill my heart like the collection of works from How We Make The Planet Move does (even the name is taken from Detroit poet jessica Care moore).
The curators at Cranbrook plan on putting together more shows from this Detroit collection, which was officially established in 2016. That’s refreshing -- because it’s some of the best work I’ve seen at Cranbrook. Don’t miss this show.
This post was published in conjunction with WDET.
