Detroit Museum Art Sale Would Raise Less Than Half of Collection's Value

THE GUARDIAN 

The Diego Rivera mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Photograph: Joshua Lott/REUTERS

MICHIGAN---The Detroit Institute of Arts collection may be worth as much as $4.6bn, but a sale of art works would raise less than $2bn to pay the bankrupt city's creditors, according to a report released on Wednesday. Some of Detroit's hold-out creditors have been pushing the city to sell or monetize art works to increase settlement payments in the city's plan to adjust $18bn of debt and exit the biggest municipal bankruptcy in US history. [link]

Read More

Join the Christian Artist Conversation at ArtPrize 2014 in Grand Rapids

CHRISTIANS IN VISUAL ARTISTS 
By Eric Kuiper

MICHIGAN--- Just a year ago we were dreaming about how "Into The Noise" might engage with culture, spirituality, and each other at today’s most eminent festival experiences. A year later, groups of roughly 30 people have been mystified, stirred, and changed at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW Music Festival. In October we’ll be doing it again, this time with a focus on visual art via ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can learn more and register on the ArtPrize event page, or read more about how we will interact with ArtPrize on our News/Updates page. See you at the festival! [link]

Read More

Monday's Madonna & Child by Diego Rivera at the Detroit Institute of Arts

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

Detail from the "Detroit Industry Murals" by Diego Rivera

This Monday's Madonna & Child outraged religious fundamentalists in Detroit in 1933. It is a small portion of the "Detroit Industry Murals" by Diego Rivera at the Detroit Institute of Arts unvieled. Many local church leaders saw the murals as promoting atheism, in part for his portrayal of the holy family in a scene known as the "vaccination." Father Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest even demanded the work be destroyed. Today,  Rivera is regarded as one of the most influential painters in Mexican history. According to Adherents.org, "Diego Rivera was a Converso, a member of an ethnic group comprised of Jews whose ancestors had been forced to convert to Catholicism. Diego Rivera was raised as a Catholic, but was aware of his Jewish heritage. As an adult, Rivera was a self-proclaimed atheist."

Read More

Muslim World Poet Project Brings Artist to Detroit Today

MIAMI HERALD
By AP

MICHIGAN---A Syrian-American hip-hop and spoken-word artist is performing in Detroit as part of the Poetic Voices of the Muslim World project. Omar Offendum is scheduled to appear Friday evening at the Detroit Public Library. The Saudi Arabia-born, Washington, D.C.-raised and Los Angeles-residing artist has toured the world and helped raise money for humanitarian relief organizations. Poetic Voices of the Muslim World is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. [link]

Read More

ArtPrize 2014: If You Paint it, They Will Come – to Grand Rapids

WND.COM
By Marisa Martin

"Seven Deadly Sins," by Wynn Wikman

MICHIGAN---Freed from bitter cultural bias against Christian themes, ArtPrize hosts a surprising percentage of devotional art. Organizers also bill it as “the largest art competition on earth,” which is likely true, covering the majority of the inner city and points beyond. In fact, during the exhibit (September 24 to October 12, 2014) it’s almost impossible to not encounter or avoid speaking about art in the center of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Last year Wynn Wikman offered “Seven Deadly Sins Machine” in a kinetic, steam-punk approach with toys, metal, gears, pulleys but with a serious subject. Unlike most art exhibits, this isn’t a juried show so quality of entrants varies wildly. [link]

Read More

Imran Qureshi's First Project in an American Art Museum Opens at The Broad MSU

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS 
By TAHLIB

Imran Qureshi, And They Still Seek the Traces of Blood, 2013. View from “Imran Qureshi: Artist of the Year 2013” at Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Berlin. Courtesy the artist and Corvi-Mora, London. Photo: Mathias Schormann

MICHIGAN---East Lansing's Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University presents a new exhibition showcasing work by one of the most dynamic contemporary religious artists working today. Born in Hyderabad, Pakistan, in 1972, Imran Qureshi has developed a contemporary aesthetic that integrates twenty-first-century themes with the Islamic motifs and techniques of miniature painting. In 2013, Qureshi's roof-top installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art set the art world talking about bloody wars fought in the name of religion. For his project at the Broad MSU Qureshi extends his practice by creating an indoor installation—his first in an American art museum.

Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU:  "Imran Qureshi: The God of Small Things" (Ends August 17, 2014); 547 East Circle Drive East Lansing, MI; (517)884-4800; broadmuseum.msu.edu

For his project at the Broad MSU Qureshi extends his practice into 
indoor installation—his first in an American art museum.

Read More