The Brooklyn Rail

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) presents Tiff Massey: 7 Mile + Livernois, on view from May 5, 2024 through May 11, 2025. The show features new and recent works by Detroit-based interdisciplinary artist Tiff Massey (b. 1982), who developed the exhibition as a celebration of Blackness. This mid-career retrospective explores concepts ranging from Black opulence to labor and nostalgia, underscoring the adornments around which Massey grew up.

The show’s title refers to an intersection at the center of Detroit’s Black fashion district, not far from where Massey spent her childhood. To this end, the artist, in her words, hopes to “develop and preserve Black spaces in Detroit”—reinforcing the need for creative enclaves. Her installations, life-size jewelry, and wearable sculptures are a testament to the Black talent in Michigan’s most populous city. The first Black woman to complete her MFA in metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Massey highlights the importance of material language—not only in terms of what’s materially embedded into each work, but also in the stories communities tell. Metal is malleable and powerful, yet more forgiving than glass and ceramics, and it’s long played a role in the artist’s personal trajectory.

With that, each work in 7 Mile + Livernois is an homage to Detroit. Whatupdoe (2014) references how locals say hello; affectionate and founded in the inflection, Massey often leads with this expression when she delivers artist talks. The fifteen-thousand-pound sculptural version of this catchphrase is designed to make Detroiters feel seen—by allowing audiences to quite literally walk through the work and experience the stainless-steel chain, which the artist crafted to resemble a large-scale necklace. Though Massey admits that museum liability may prohibit audiences from actually climbing the work, she notes that her intent was for viewers to connect with Whatupdoe on a physical, experiential level.

Then there’s I’ve Got Bundles and I Got Flewed Out (Green) (2023), which features a blend of canvas, beads, and Kanekalon—or synthetic hair, dyed green in this case—that form dozens of styled hair extensions, fastened to a massive floor-to-ceiling portrait wall. The work acknowledges the Black women and youth who rely on Kanekalon, conveying the “built-in loyalty” and vulnerability inherent in trusting a professional hairstylist such that one would never even consider seeing someone else. The majority of the work is powder-coated steel, with the Kanekalon braided, twisted, and beaded by the artist herself. The work came to life with expert input from Massey’s own hairstylist, Modid, and with the notion that Detroit is widely considered the Black hair capital of the world in mind.

The colors in the show—black, red, green, and gold—are those of the Pan-African flag, and where I’ve Got Bundles and I Got Flewed Out (Green) depicts different hues of green, Baby Bling (2023) offers a consistent cherry red with hints of black and gold in a stacked formation. Composed of metal beads, woven rope, and brass, the latter work unveils a series of hair knockers—or the special hair ties made of elastic paired with two balls—created with Donald Judd’s Stack (1969) and portrait artist Louise Nevelson as a point of reference. Massey refers to the work as the beginning of an art battle, not unlike the explosive rap battle that occurred between Drake and Kendrick Lamar in the spring of 2024, only Judd and Nevelson can’t actually respond. Nonetheless, Massey set out to develop the Black equivalent of these sculptors’ stacked works, in hopes of shedding light on one of many significant objects that is often overlooked in Black culture. Formed at a large scale, these hair knockers hurt if you accidentally pop yourself; while they’re certainly utilitarian, Massey has commented that they can also be used as toys or weapons. “These objects are part of a ritual that Black girls go through on a regular basis,” Massey notes.

The artist—who honed her love of accessories after seeing her grandfather wear custom jewelry—likes to experiment with scale. Today, the oversized nature of her creations rivals the architecture the works inhabit, encouraging people to exist in tandem with her massive chains and rings. Here again, opulence is a vital theme in the show because, according to Massey, “Detroiters like to stunt.” It doesn’t matter where people are going, as there is no desire to peacock—Detroit residents take pride in their adornments for their own benefit. You can tell a person is from Detroit by how they dress, and as such, Massey hopes her community will see themselves in the works of 7 Mile + Livernois.