Mighty Real/Queer Detroit MCP appreciates the assistance of Mighty Reel Queer Detroit for assisting us with our Artists Gallery.
The premise of Mighty Real/Queer Detroit is to gather together, for the first time, a grand-scale representation of the range and depth of Detroit queer art – and then, through panels, essays, and a printed catalogue inspire reflection and discussion.
The exhibition will highlight the diversity of the LGBTQA Detroit community and aims to empower, affirm, and transcend via the artwork exhibited. The exhibition will explore queer art by emerging and established Detroit artists. Celebrating artists, past and present, from Detroit and its metropolitan area, whose works manifest distinct but intersecting backgrounds. Mighty Real/Queer Detroit will occur in multiple venues simultaneously, including two evenings of music, film, spoken word and performance work at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Confirmed galleries include: Collected Detroit, Galerie Camille, Hatch, M Contemporary, and the Scarab Club.
As a further exploration, Mighty Real/Queer Detroit will address loss and remembrance by including significant, rarely seen and unexhibited art objects. Works by artists who died of AIDS in the 1980s and ’90s will be exhibited for the first time, including never before seen work by artists Brian Buczak, Timothy Gass, Marcus Mannino and Constatine Tsatsanis. A special tribute will be offered to the legendary Detroit artist, LeRoy Foster, and deceased artists Jack O. Summers, Richard Jerzy, Jack Whitehead, and poets Beth Brant and Terri Jewell.
Mighty Real/Queer Detroit will open in June 2021, coinciding with the traditional celebration of LGBTQ Pride, presenting a month-long reflection on the diversity of the community and its longtime allies. Historically, this is a time to commemorate the advances of queer people, and to honor the past. Today, we do so with heightened significance, especially in the current moment of political uncertainty.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a calendar of events highlighting panel discussions, artist talks, performances, and poetry readings will be issued in all media; a catalogue of selected artwork, including essays examining the exhibit from a variety of historical, cultural and personal perspectives, will be available. Mighty Real/Queer Detroit is looking for financial support to host the exposition for our community.
