As The Documentary Bodega season draws to a close for the summer, we’re thrilled to kick off our final weekend of the season with Detroit, Surveying the Ruins, a new exhibit of work by Detroit-based photographer Geoffrey George closeding on Friday, June 26th at 7pm.
Despite the recent national attention given to the auto industry’s rapid decline and GM’s filing for Chapter 11 last week, George’s bold and unromantic explorations of the crumbling Motor City remind us that Detroit is no stranger to recession. The city’s social disintegration and the consequent rampant poverty left behind remain at best a complicated case study in urban decay and at worst a looming threat as to the future of America’s city centers.
George’s work poses so many questions about the fate of the American city through analogies drawn to the familiar institutions of quotidian existence. The colossal ruins of Michigan Central Station, the condemned grade schools – looted or simply forgotten, a mausoleum of pigeons discovered in a vacant skyscraper. George’s Detroit appears less like a city and more the shadow of one.
Geoffrey George has been commissioned by Slate Magazine, Big Ten Network, Blue Guides UK, and Detroit Fashion Pages. His fine art work is part of a series called American Twilight, highlighting post-industrial cities and areas affected by the economic crisis.
The reception will begin at 7pm on Friday June 26th at UnionDocs to be followed later in the evening with a Q&A with George himself to discuss his work, urban exploration and photography and what future lies in store for Detroit.
UnionDocs is a non-profit documentary arts space and donations will be gratefully accepted upon entrance. Food and refreshments will be served (at recession prices) and selected pieces of George’s work will be for sale.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Chris Huth
