Named for its historic farmer’s market, the Eastern Market neighborhood in Detroit has become a creative hub in recent years, attracting art galleries, restaurants, studios and maker spaces, reflecting the city’s overall cultural renaissance. Because of its overabundance of real estate, affordable rents and bohemian atmosphere, Detroit has become an ideal breeding ground for cultivating creativity. ‘Detroit is a fertile environment where art is making a difference, growing a new city, and it is extremely motivating and a privilege to be able to participate in this really unprecedented urban evolution,’ said Detroit native, collector Gary Wasserman.
Last week, in the midst of the Detroit Design Festival, the collector launched , an independent, interdisciplinary creative space. For its two inaugural exhibitions, on view through December 12, Wasserman filled the venue with two shows centered on large-scale interactive installations by Markus Linnenbrink and Nick Gelpi, and Jon Brumit. ‘This inaugural exhibition brings together artists and designers coming from a wide range of backgrounds,’ said Wasserman, founder of Wasserman Projects. ‘It is a great example of the conceptual and experiential nature we have envisioned for our programming and is just the beginning of the innovative programs we plan to realise in our new location.’
In the main 5,000 sq ft space, German-born, Brooklyn-based artist Linnebrink teamed up with Miami Beach architect Gelpi on a site-specific room titled THEFIRSTONEISCRAZYTHESECONDONEISNUTS, which filled it with a vibrant, yet dizzying, striped kaleidoscope of colours where visitors are invited to experience the fusion of art and architecture. For its opening last week, Wasserman filled the installation with music by Detroit DJ Jeedo X and guest saxophonist, Saxappeal. In the second exhibition, Elf Waves, Earth Loops, and *Spatial Forces, Detroit-based artist Brumit drew inspiration from seemingly unrelated sources: public engagement, harsh noise, GMOs, pirate radio, and vibrational healing. The work features a sonorous grain silo, lathe-cut loop records, and public radio broadcasts. The space will only enrich the Motor City’s thriving art scene. Perhaps fitting, considering Wassermann Projects’s ‘goal is to become one of the many threads in the vibrant fabric that is Detroit.’
The new space proves that Detroit is the ideal breeding ground for cultivating creativity. Pictured: Elf Waves, Earth Loops, and *Spatial Forces by Jon Brumit
‘This inaugural exhibition brings together artists and designers coming from a wide range of backgrounds,’ said Wasserman. Pictured: Pavilion by Markus Linnenbrink and Nick Gelpi
‘It is a great example of the conceptual and experiential nature we have envisioned for our programming and is just the beginning of the innovative programs we plan to realise in our new location.’ Pictured: Pavilion by Markus Linnenbrink and Nick Gelpi
In the main 5,000 sq ft space, German-born, Brooklyn-based artist Linnebrink teamed up with Miami Beach architect Gelpi on a site-specific room titled THEFIRSTONEISCRAZYTHESECONDONEISNUTS, which filled it with a vibrant, yet dizzying, striped kaleidoscope of colours where visitors are invited to experience the fusion of art and architecture
Other works of Markus Linnenbrink feature also, including CORNERSUGARMANCOME, pictured here
For its opening last week, Wasserman filled the installation with music by Detroit DJ Jeedo X and guest saxophonist, Saxappeal. Pictured: Markus Linnenbrink FROMHEREWEGOSUBLIME1972GERMANTOWN
Harley Valentine’s The Dream Machine; Interior of pavilion by Markus Linnenbrink and Nick Gelpi
Wassermann Projects’s ‘goal is to become one of the many threads in the vibrant fabric that is Detroit’
INFORMATION
Photography: Wasserman Projects
ADDRESS
3434 Russell St #502
Detroit,
Michigan 48207
-
A new Oxford Street pop-up celebrates IKEA's blue bagsIKEA's iconic blue bag gets its own pop-up concept store, the 'Hus of Frakta'.
-
Audemars Piguet and Kaws have created the Royal Oak Concept watch we didn't know we neededThe Audemars Piguet x Kaws Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Companion' is slick wrist-worn art
-
A friendly rivalry coloured by kinship: Wendy Maruyama and Tom Loeser on their two-artist show'I wanted to make furniture, just not traditional furniture, but weird furniture,' says Wendy Maruyama on ‘Colorama’, a two-artist show presented at design gallery Superhouse (until 11 January 2025)
