Metal Leaves Studio - Blog

Moments of Immersion Exhibition

10/11/2021

"Moments of Immersion" is an experimental study of imagery and light. It is a part of the 11th annual Detroit Month of Design event lineup.

Explore captivating sculptures and mesmerizing installations at "Moments of Immersion."

The bodies of work on display combine physical sculptures and experimental film. Using digital documentation of physical sculptures and nature, designer Yazmin Dababneh, translates these moments into immersive film installations. Each piece takes a place of familiarity in nature and distorts it on a crafted landscape-- suggesting the distortion our perspectives create in our personal realities.

Yazmin Dababneh is an independent, Detroit-based artist who focuses on creating sculptural work as well as immersive and interactive experiences.

Moments of Immersion
660 Woodward Ave., Suite 6
Detroit, MI 48226
September 10 - 26, 2021

Black Is Beautiful | The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite at the DIA

10/7/2021

I was honored to be invited to a press preview at the DIA for an upcoming exhibit, Black is Beautiful.

The Detroit Institute of Arts, in collaboration with Aperture traveling exhibitions, presents Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite.

The exhibit highlights the life and career of Brathwaite in the 1950s and 1960s, and his influence on the “Black is Beautiful” movement. The retrospective includes large scale, color works by Brathwaite, an influential activist, photographer and co-founder of the African Jazz-Arts Society and Studios.

Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite is the first major exhibition dedicated to Brathwaite, an important figure of the second Harlem Renaissance. The retrospective opens to the public on October 8, 2021, and will be on view through January 16, 2022.
Inspired by activist and black nationalist Marcus Garvey's writings, Brathwaite, along with his older brother, Elombe Brath, founded the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios (AJASS) and the Grandassa Models.

AJASS was a collective of artists, playwrights, designers, and dancers. Grandassa Models-- the subject of much of the exhibition's contents— was a modeling agency for black women, founded to challenge white beauty standards. The exhibition includes documentary photographs of stunning studio portraits, fashion work, to behind-the-scenes images of Harlem's artistic and jazz community.

An exploration of Brathwaite's life and work, the exhibition has three sections that highlight Brathwaite’s photographic interests from the late 1950s through 1970.

Part I
This segment includes portraits of Brathwaite + members of AJASS, and features work showcasing Harlem jazz clubs and festivals in New York City.

Part II
This section celebrates people and places through photography. These images depict Black economic independence, political consciousness and self-representation. Brathwaite was an integral force behind the “Black is Beautiful” movement. Through his photos, he promoted shops and storefronts where Black-owned businesses were located.

Part III

The third segment features music and fashion as represented by the Grandassa Models. This portion includes fashion shoots, promotional poster designs, and album cover art. Included alongside the images are original pieces of handcrafted African-inspired jewelry and clothing.

The exhibition opens to the public on October 8.

Please note: All museum visitors are required to make advance reservations in order to control capacity. Reservations can be made at dia.org or by calling 313-833-4005. Please review covid protocols which can be found here.

Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite is organized by Aperture, New York and Kwame S. Brathwaite, with major support provided by Cadillac.

Stay tuned for two upcoming events at the DIA, in conjuction with the Black is Beautiful exhibition:

The New Black Vanguard | December 14, 2021
An exhibition curated by Antwaun Sargent, curator + critic. This exhibit features a new generation of black photograpers.

Kwame S. Brathwaite | Date TBD
A lecture by Kwame S. Brathwaite, son of Brathwaite. Kwame S. Brathwaite currently serves as the director of the Kwame Brathwaite Archive in Pasadena, California.

More details to follow as they become available.

HERE X NOW | Exhibition x Form & Seek Collective

9/28/2021

HERE X NOW | Exhibition by Form & Seek Collective, Curator: Bilge Nur Saltik

The Here x Now exhibit focuses on creating in an isolated environment.
Click Here To Read More ⬇

Dlectricity Art + Light Festival

9/26/2021

Dlectricity is an art + light festival that takes place every few years in Detroit.

Installations span across the city and feature a variety of disciplines ranging from video and electronic music to performances and lasers light shows, not to mention interactive design + engineering.

Design Core Detroit Presents Sneaker House

9/25/2021

I was honored to be selected to host a children's design workshop as part of Sneaker House, presented by Foot Locker. The event took place at Lawrence Tech University's Center for Design + Technology. The event was part of Design Core Detroit's Month of Design programming.

Click Here To Read More ⬇

Mid-Century Modern Architecture | Glen Paulsen-Designed Home

8/2/2021

This home was designed by Modern architect Glen Paulsen. The home was built in 1951 and is located on a secluded property in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The private residence sits atop a small hill overlooking an expansive wooded lot. A brook can be found at the edge of the property. The landscape was designed by highly-regarded landscape architect Thomas Church.
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Dream Sequence | Interactive Light Installation

6/29/2021

Dream Sequence is an interactive light installation created by artist Patrick Ethen, with soundscapes provided by Texture. The exhibition was at Eightfold Creative, and was presented by Playground Detroit.

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Detroit Sound Conservancy's Preservation Journey | Placekeeping with Detroit’s Blue Bird Inn

6/10/2021

Facade of the Blue Bird Inn, ©DSC

This virtual event was hosted by Mallory Bower of Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN), with guest speaker Michelle “Jahra” McKinney, Executive Director of the Detroit Sound Conservancy (DSC). Ms. McKinney shared the nonprofit repository’s ongoing preservation and placekeeping journey with its project— the Blue Bird Inn.

The Blue Bird Inn structure is a historically significant neighborhood building that is now a part of the local historic district in Detroit, Michigan, on the city's Old West Side. Once renovations are complete, the DSC will use the Blue Bird as its home for archival records + collections, community engagement, and education outreach programming.

Click here to read the full story ↓

Race, Gender & Power in Modernist Design

4/14/2021

Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Power in Design By: Kristina Wilson

Race, Gender & Power in Modernist Design
Guest Speaker: Kristina Wilson, Author
Hosted by: Docomomo NY Tri-State

Kristina Wilson is a design historian and professor of art history at Clark University. She is the author of The Modern Eye and Livable Modernism. Her latest book, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Power in Design, was released on April 13, 2021. The book examines how race and gender shaped both the marketing + presentation of Modernist decor in postwar America.

Click here to read the full story ↓

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Smith House

10/19/2020

The Melvyn & Sara Stein Smith House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1949. Construction was completed in 1950.

The home is located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. on an expansive property surrounded by trees.

The Usonian-style home was the family residence of two schoolteachers who were interested in Wright's forward-thinking designs.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

The Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research is responsible for stewarding the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Smith House and its collections. The house was donated to Cranbrook Educational Community in 2017 by The Towbes Foundation with support from Anne Smith Towbes and the late Michael Towbes.