Detroit artist Olayami Dabls' paintings, African Trade Beads, carved N'kisi figures from his personal collection and items from his everyday life are now on display at the University of Michigan's Institute for the Humanities Gallery in Ann Arbor.
As part of Dabls' artistic residency with the Institute for the Humanities this fall, his outdoor sculpture "Iron Teaching Rocks Table Manners" — one of the 18 works of public art on the grounds of his museum and gallery — has been relocated to the U-M campus at the corner of State Street and South University, near the U-M Museum of Art, through Oct. 11.
"Working with reclaimed, discarded and natural found materials, Dabls transforms the remnants of Detroit's industrial landscape into works that honor
African cultural memory, resilience and renewal," Amanda Krugliak, curator of the Humanities Gallery, said in a news release announcing the exhibit. "His constructions are exuberant expressions of creativity and imagination; a life's force."
Dabls is the founder of Detroit’s MBAD African Bead Museum, located near the intersection of Grand River Avenue and West Grand Boulevard, and is coming off his 45-year career retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Surveying 45 years of work, the exhibition assembleddozens of previously unseen pieces, including paintings, sculptures, collages, works on paper and public art.
He's also the 2022 recipient of the Kresge Eminent Artist award.
The exhibit, called "Grand Vision," runs through Oct. 28. Dabls will be present in the gallery for stories and conversations throughout the month in a space that holds a recreation of his office mantel, scattered with early accolades and decorative items, in his own office chair, also on display in the gallery, the news release said.
Dabls will also lead an African Trade Bead workshop on Oct. 13 "String of Stories: African Trade Bead Workshop and Storytelling," on Oct. 13. Participants will learn about African history and Dabls’ creative practice through the beads from his museum, and will also have the opportunity to string their own selection of beads.
To register for the workshop, go here.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: African Bead Museum founder's works now on display at U-M exhibit
