The great underground moments of art and music history are often best viewed through the ephemera and collateral collected by those who were involved in the movements themselves. You can think of the fashion in early hip-hop cultures, or the journals written by the Dadaists as examples of essential collectibles to the broader movements at hand. Punk is very much part of this ethos, as the flyers, drawings, photographs, banners and zines are just as necessary to understand the culture as the music was. This fall, opening September 8, 2017, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will host Punk House, an exhibition of items “culled from the archive of Destroy All Monsters (DAM), an influential Michigan artist collective/band that included Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Niagara, and Jim Shaw.” Curated by Loren himself, the show looks at the Detroit punk scene, but also celebrates the surrounding activism and art that grew out of and influenced what would become a blueprint for DIY cultures for years to come. This is a must see. —Evan Pricco
The show includes:
Aaron Dilloway, ADULT. (Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller), Cannibal (Cameron Jamie, Cary Loren and Dennis Tyfus), Cinecyde (Gary Reichel), Mark Thomas Dancey, Destroy All Monsters (Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Jim Shaw), Michael Dykehouse, Half Japanese (David and Jad Fair), Timmy Vulgar, Jimbo Easter (James J. Millross), Pod Blotz (Suzy Poling), Cotton Museum (Chris Pottinger), Savage Pencil (Edwin Pouncey), Outrageous Cherry (Matthew Smith), Rotland Press (Ryan Standfest), Thomas Carey, Time Stereo (Davin Brainard, Warren Defever), Trumbullplex, Wolf Eyes (John Olson and Nate Young), Sue Rynski, Jonnie Prey, Zoots Coffee House (Aaron Anderson), Jarrett Koral (Jett Plastic Recordings), Mark Dancey (Motor Booty)