Like New York City in the 1970s, modern day Detroit is a paradise for street art. The miles of unused facades and loads of refuse in this "bombed-out, dilapidated urban landscape" are grist for graffiti artists and writers from the United States and beyond. In this short film, Los Angeles artist REVOK discusses the creative community that has coalesced in Detroit, highlighting the fantastic assemblages he creates from abandoned houses and buildings, and collaborates with POSE to mount a tribute mural to local icon Sean Griffin, better known as NEKST, on the western facade and southern wall of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Without local authorities policing or buffing their work, the city itself becomes an enormous canvas. 

 

NEKST tribute painted by Revok, Pose, Omens, Vizie, Screw, Dont.

 

Featuring work by Nekst, Revok, Pose, Askew, Risk, Rime, Flying Fortress, Nychos, Decolonize. 

 

Shot & directed by Colin M. Day. Edited by Tony Gonzalez. Audio mix by Steve Thorpe. Music director Nic Norton. Produced by Ethel Seno and Richard Enriquez.

 

Music: Ritual Howls: "Rosabelle Believe" and "Keep Those Stones Up Boys." Anonymous Touch: "D." Nick Speed: "Detroit City Blues." 

 

Special Thanks: Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), Leto Rankine, Matt Eaton, Jesse Cory, George N'Namdi, Revok, Pose, 1xRun, The Seventh Letter, Noah Banks, Lyndon French, Ben Saginaw, Nikki Sass, DABLS, Roula David, Nic Notion, Nick Speed, Monica Canilao, Oscar from the Block, and the city of Detroit. 

 

Made in Detroit. 

 

MOCAtv and Colin M. Day Films.