Wasserman Projects’ “Tinned” exhibit honors 10 years of innovative art in Detroit’s Eastern Market. Free and open to the public.
This summer marks the 10th anniversary of Wasserman Projects located in Detroit, and it’s a time when showplace administrators plan a meaningful observance for viewers.
Gary Wasserman
They are inviting Michigan residents to visit a summer display recalling works spotlighted over the years and calling it “Tinned” in recognition of the gift given at the time of a 10th commemoration.
Beginning with an opening reception on the evening of May 31, “Tinned” can be viewed through Aug. 23. The display includes projects designed and developed by many Jewish artists whose talents have been on view internationally.
Gary Wasserman, who co-founded and co-owns the nonprofit space with Charles Kashner, talked about the exhibit he is happy to offer the public for free, and he explains the objectives of the viewing space.
“I actually started in Birmingham, and we were there for the better part of three years,” said Wasserman, chairman of Allied Metals, which is headquartered in Auburn Hills.
“It was a very nice space, but it really wasn’t what we wanted to do. Our mission wasn’t just to be a gallery that sold decorative objects. We wanted it to be more of an exhibition space in the model of what has been called in Germany a kunsthalle, a non-collecting exhibition space.
“When we found this place in Eastern Market (a former firefighting station), it was exactly what we wanted. It was part of the growing cultural community in the city. We changed programming with the exception that we do sell work if an artist wants us to sell, and we also do museum-scale exhibitions that are up for three to four months.”
It’s the ideas behind individual pieces that are important, Wasserman will stress. As an example, he will explain that some visitors to the space may look at a piece and express that he or she could do it. Wasserman will answer that the artist did not design it as a decorative piece but as a basis for contemplation.
Eclectic Interests
One museum-scale image was by Esther Shalev-Gerz. She designed a double-faced clock with one side going forward in time and another side going backward in time. She had videoed pilgrims walking the path from the site of the Bauhaus art-focused school destroyed by the Nazis to the site of Buchenwald.
“The clock was the entrance feature of her show at the Louvre Museum in Paris, and it was also the entrance feature of our show in Detroit,” said Wasserman, who studied art history at the University of Michigan but does not create works of art.
Although Wasserman Projects is at the curatorial directorship of Alison Wong and gallery management by Ian Rummell, the works displayed are often presented because of the longtime collection activities and artistic friendships established by Wasserman.
The exterior of Wasserman Projects
For example, there have been projects developed by Michele Oka Doner, a former Michigan resident and University of Michigan student who has made a contemporary yad (a pointer for reading the Torah). Other featured Jewish artists include Ken Aptekar, Reuven Israel, Beverly Fishman and Marina Zurkow.
An interest in displayed art is just one of many cultural projects pursued by Wasserman.
“I enjoy these associations, and my model is being a very active donor,” said Wasserman, 75. “I’m an active participant because if I’m going to be involved, I’m going to be involved intellectually as well as financially.”
His other projects in and out of Michigan include the upgrading of the Thanksgiving Parade in 1989, changing the funding and the programming and calling it “the greatest adventure of my life.”
Another has to do with his acquaintanceship with David DiChiera, late director of Michigan Opera Theatre, who interested Wasserman in that form of presentation. After DiChiera’s death, Wasserman brought in Yuval Sharon as artistic director of what became Detroit Opera.
Theater, too, is among his involvements, and Jewish-themed programs based in Florida have his attention with one production coming to Michigan. Miami New Drama was founded by Michel Hausmann and Moisés Kaufman, who left Caracas because of antisemitism.
“After Oct. 7, I said I can only remain involved if we invest in contemporary Jewish content that speaks to antisemitism and contemporary Jewish life,” Wasserman said. “There are now a number of projects in motion with that.”
Gary Wasserman and Alison Wong
Here There Are Blueberries is a production that will be presented in Detroit. It has to do with a photo album showing the leisurely family activities of Nazis who also were in charge of the brutality experienced by camp victims.
“It’s not the object, but it’s the thought behind the object,” Wasserman said about the purposes intended for some of the pieces displayed in his Detroit space. “As a writer expresses thoughts in words, a visual artist expresses thoughts in images.
“It is the thought of reading that medium that is compelling, and it’s very different from decorative art. We have decorative art that is extraordinarily beautiful, but even in the things that are beautiful, there is a deeper message to be read. It is a different way of educating or enriching yourself as it is when reading a book.
“We invite you to read the images.”
Details
“Tinned,” as a free exhibition, will be presented May 31- Aug. 23 at Wasserman Projects, 3434 Russell St., #502, Detroit. Opening reception runs 5-8 p.m. Saturday, May 31. Regular hours are noon- 5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. (313) 818-3550. wassermanprojects.com. wassermanworks.com.