Holland Cotter examines the buzz surrounding the newly "resurrected" Detroit Institute of Arts.
"In short, this story of a vulnerable institution in a spirited but depressed town is one of modest triumphs mingled with failures. And it is a very American story, about the shameful way we treat our ailing cities; about what we value in culture; about how the inescapable politics of race and class shape the institutions that write our history; about how art, that glittering bauble, might have some use after all."
Via NYT
3 Comments
sort of a bizarre review of the reopening of the dia. why they tacked on the last few paragraphs on mocad is a mystery. once again, it would be nice if a critic could leave off the obligatory social commentary, but alas that seems to be an impossibility. everyone seems to want to refind detroit.
Yeah i thought it a bit weird that the bit on MOCAD was tacked on.
I hope i get a chance to revisit some day. I really am interested in seeing Detroit again....Lots of interesting things happening..
i have yet to see what they've done with the renovation and addition, but the collection of the dia itself is truly a treasure. the amount of money that was poured into the museum during the height of the auto industry turned it into a world class museum approaching in quality the collections of much bigger museums. there is a henry moore sculpture made of elm wood that is one of my all-time favorite pieces of sculpture. and the diego rivera mural is a must see.
while i'm somewhat skeptical of the graves addition (i've seen parts of it); the original cret museum paired with the cret detroit public library across the street marks a real high in civic architecture. any trip to the museum would not be complete without taking a peek at the library across the street.
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