Tiff Massey takes four galleries at the DIA

The Detroit Institute of Arts opens its largest show for a Detroit artist this week, and it belongs to Tiff Massey. Her solo exhibition, 7 Mile + Livernois, runs the contemporary wing for a full year, from May 5, 2024 through May 11, 2025. It fills four galleries, the most space the museum has ever turned over to a single local artist.

The title is the northwest Detroit intersection where Massey grew up, long the center of the city's Black business and fashion district. Massey trained as a metalsmith and earned her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2011, where she was the first Black woman to take the degree in metalsmithing. In the years since she has scaled the language of jewelry up to the size of architecture, building sculptures that take over whole rooms. Born in 1982, she is, per the DIA, the youngest artist ever given a solo exhibition at the museum.

The DIA commissioned new sculptures for the show and set them alongside works from its own permanent collection, including pieces by Donald Judd and Louise Nevelson. The museum frames the pairing as a way to show that artists who shaped Massey's practice still speak to the questions she is working through now. Her influences run across the four rooms: traditional African art, minimalist sculpture, 1980s hip hop, and the architecture and design she grew up around. The recurring palette of black, red, green, and gold reads as the colors of the Pan-African flag.

Massey describes the work as personal. "Paying homage to the neighborhood that raised me, 7 Mile and Livernois is where the essence of Detroit comes alive, where Black opulence and fashion aren't just words, but a living, breathing reality," she said in the museum's announcement. "I'm honored to share this work with the world, as it's a physical tapestry of memories woven from the threads of family, fashion, and undeniable spirit."

DIA Director Salvador Salort-Pons called Massey "a bold, passionate artistic voice who brings her community together," and said the museum was proud to elevate her work to audiences in Detroit and beyond.

Lead support for the exhibition comes from the Alan Kidd Estate, the Gilbert Family Foundation, and Cadillac, per the DIA.

Massey is also building an art and community space at the same 7 Mile and Livernois corner the show is named for.

Admission to 7 Mile + Livernois is included with museum admission, which is always free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Midtown.