From tiffmassey.com…
Massey creates jewelry, sculpture, performance, video, and music, as well as immersive art environments. Massey was the first Black woman to earn an MFA [that’s Master of Fine Arts, regardless of what you think it means – r2 ] in metal smithing from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She draws on 1980s hip-hop culture and her experiences as a Detroit native to examine the concept of adornment as an examination of the African diaspora and contemporary issues of race, class, and popular culture.
Inspired by the jewelry she crafts for herself and others, these sculptural works address notions of self-identity, community, and of being a part of a place and group. As a direct response to gentrification in Detroit, Massey has merged her art practice with real estate development and owns several properties in the City. [emphasis mine – r2 ]
That’s an incredibly interesting concept to be expounded upon and investigated further…at another time…hmmmm…real estate as art statement…
“Well, that’s fab and all, r2, but we need context,” so say those of you who’ve learned to breathe from your noses.
From Layla McMurtie’s article at the Metro Times, the first article to cover Massey’s upcoming exhibit, BTW…
At her first Detroit Institute of Arts exhibit [emphasis mine – r2 ], interdisciplinary artist and metalsmith Tiff Massey is shining with Detroit spirit. Titled 7 Mile + Livernois, the show highlights “Black Detroit” through large, “in your face” sculptures.
“It’s the most ambitious exhibition that I’ve created to date,” Massey says. “I came to seduce and to make you question why these objects exist.”
“I wanted people to understand what I’m always gonna represent and that is Detroit,” Massey says. “People grow up all over Detroit, but I’m really trying to hone in on the specificity, the fashion, the drip, the neighborhood, paying homage to the Detroit that I know… Seven Mile and Livernois is home for me.”
…and from the DIA’s page regarding Ms Massey’s upcoming installation…
[…]Massey scales up her jewelry to the size of architecture, creating sculptures that celebrate Detroit’s evolving neighborhoods and the history of West African and Black American culture and style.
7 Mile + Livernois is Massey’s most ambitious museum installation to date, featuring new sculptures commissioned by the DIA in conversation with works by several other artists from the museum’s collection. Massey’s work reimagines art’s role in the community and offers a vibrant, inclusive view of Detroit. Her art invites us all to celebrate our collective identity, ancestral flyness, and beauty.
Ancestral flyness!
Tiff Massey: 7 Mile + Livernois opens tomorrow, May 5, 10:00am, and runs until May 11 at where?…at the № 1 art museum in the country, the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202.