The F#!k I Got Drafted To Detroit For?
Collect Beer Bar
9301 Kercheval Ave.
Detroit
April 19th
The collision between sports and art has never been stronger. Inside the Collect Beer Bar on the city’s eastside, that’s on full display.
The Detroit Pistons have done an admirable job of connecting these dots out of the big four sports teams we’ve got in downtown Detroit (all playing together within a few city blocks; no other major market in the U.S. can claim that!).
They’ve worked with Detroit artists like Freddy Diaz to connect with fans in southwest Detroit, and they regularly bring in big name Detroit acts like 42 Dugg and techno co-founder Kevin Saunderson to underline the city’s rich musical history.
Local artists have answered the call, too, with the excellent Pistons-themed art show “The F#!k I Got Drafted To Detroit For?,” presented by Hard Gallery and taken from a quote from Piston player Isaiah Stewart, who we talked about earlier this year when he got banned from a handful of games and a local restaurant dedicated a dish to him.
Well, now he’s got a whole collection of art dedicated to him and his team. And like any good sports-themed art show, it will be up as long as the Detroit Pistons are in the playoffs.
One of my favorite pieces was by Rachel Delmotte, a Detroit-based illustrator and printmaker, who immortalized another Pistons legend Rasheed Wallace by capturing his signature "are you seriously giving me a tech right now?" pose.
Graphic designer Morgan McPeak let Pistons mascot Hooper run free with the stallions he once knew before choosing a career in professional sports. I didn't know I needed to see Hooper run wild as much as I did once I saw it.
Artist Zach Arrington brought together one of the most abstract yet functional pieces with "BUFF BOARD," a 46 in. x 30 inch painted birch ply and custom basketball hoop that brings the court inside of Collect while acknowledging the unintentional "artwork" of the City of Detroit remediating or "buffing" street art around town.
Artist Brooke Hitchcock made it personal with her acrylic on panel painting titled "the last time i borrowed this jersey from my brother the pistons were playing at the palace." While she acknowledges that sports and her artwork don't usually collide, she used this as an opportunity to celebrate some of the special connections that the Detroit Pistons have brought her family over the years, writing in an Instagram post: "I played basketball growing up and for a while it was the only sport I understood when my dad watched games at home. I think my brother won this Rip Hamilton jersey at a Pistons game once, and I used to borrow it when I went to games with a friend whose dad always had tickets from work. Also, accessorizing the jersey to wear to the game was always half the fun for me."
Collect Beer Bar is a perfect setting for a show like this, where bleachers are brought in as extra seating for sports fans to watch the game and a functional basketball hoop acts as a focal point for the entire bar.
Everyone in town is expecting the Pistons to do big things in the playoffs, but since this show is only up as long as they are in the playoffs and anything could happen, make your way over to Collect sooner than later to see this show for yourself.
