Detroit-based interdisciplinary artist Ian John Solomon is set to debut his first solo exhibition, “City Wild,” this Saturday at Playground Detroit.
The 27-year-old was selected as one of three 2024 Emerging Artist Fellows at Playground Detroit, which includes a $5,000 stipend, professional development, and the chance to showcase work at the art gallery on Gratiot Avenue.
Solomon’s free exhibit is an invitation to explore Detroit residents’ relation to Detroit’s urban landscape and Michigan’s natural landscapes, employing a variety of mediums including collage, portraiture, and a series of 100 instant film Polaroid photographs encased in steel. The opening reception is 6-9 p.m. Nov. 23 and the exhibit will conclude Dec. 21 with an environmental justice panel.
Solomon, who is the host of the Emmy award-winning PBS Great Lakes Now segment “Ian Outside” said his travels around the state have shaped his perspective on environmental issues in Detroit.
“City Wild is really an invitation to approach Detroit through an environmental lens,” Solomon said. “Having traveled so frequently between places like Detroit and Lake Superior, the boundaries between them have collapsed for me. I don’t see them as separate anymore. Environmental themes like recreation and environmental justice no longer feel disconnected from urban life. I wanted to create a show that visually brings these spaces together, while also addressing the structures and systems that have made them feel apart.”
Structures like redlining, utility infrastructure, and systemic racism, he said, and challenging the notion of Michigan as a “climate haven.”
“We’ve had major floods in Detroit that aren’t just about extreme weather; they’re a result of deteriorating infrastructure, much of which was shaped by systemic racism,” said Solomon, whose own apartment flooded in 2021 when Detroit saw six inches of rain in five hours.
He aims to foster connections between all these topics. “Detroiters need to take stake in Michigan’s natural resources because they matter, especially moving forward in these times,” he said.
City Wild is focused on the environment on the east side of Detroit, Six Mile and Van Dyke, where Solomon’s grandparents’ home is, and where he feels at home.
Solomon was selected as a Playground Detroit fellow out of a pool of 90 applicants. Playground Detroit Director Paulina Petkoski said his work stood out due to the unique and pertinent conversations he was starting with his art.
“The narrative that he’s connecting — Michigan and Detroiters in a broader sense — is really important, especially with a lot of the different environmental justice concerns that exist in Detroit in comparison to the rest of the state,” she said.
In a University of Michigan study assessing environmental injustice hotspots across the state Detroit was identified as one of the worst for reasons like heavy air pollution and traffic and prevalence of lead paint.
To give people relevant resources, City Wild will culminate with an environmental justice panel, featuring local activists and community leaders. The event is presented in partnership with Amplify Outside, a Detroit-based organization that connects Black Michiganders to outdoor spaces in the state that Solomon founded.
“Using the gallery as a space to have these important community conversations at the intersection of art and environmentalism isn’t something we typically have the opportunity to do in the art space,” said Petkoski.
The exhibition will be open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday to Saturday. For more information, visit the gallery’s website or follow Solomon on Instagram.