Author: IRWINS

Irwin House Gallery held a memorial in honor of John Sims earlier this month, but will host another event Feb.13 on what would’ve been Sims’ 55th birthday. Beginning at 6 p.m., the Irwin House event will be similar to a party Sims held every year called the “Square Root of Love,” where guests listen to love poems, engage in discussions and enjoy some wine, she said. The event will be hosted by community organizer and poet Brittini Ward, who was a poet laureate for one of the gallery’s past exhibits. 

“Just like many of us from humble beginnings, he’s a product of our Detroit neighborhoods and Detroit Public Schools,” McGlown said. “He was able to take that upbringing and sense of self that people have who grew up in Detroit…and really take that out into the world and do incredible work.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Emerging Detroit artist, Quadre Curry, never backs down from a creative challenge. When asked to transform Irwin House Gallery’s accent wall into a tribute for the late John Sims, there was no hesitation. In less than three days, the matt black surface became a brilliant, flaming Confederate flag – symbolic of Sims’ twenty year project that dissected, reimagined and disempowered the flag and other symbols of visual terrorism.

“As a tribute to Sims’s annual birthday and Valentine’s Day event, the SquareRoot of Love, Irwin House will host a candlelight open mic poetry night called Love Language on Monday, Feb. 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Irwin House’s Black History Month programming is part of a city-wide initiative in partnership with Detroit’s Office of Arts, Culture & Entrepreneurship called Sacred Spaces that highlights Black-owned art spaces in the city.”

Read more about the mural and Black History Month @ IHG on the Metro Times website HERE.

There is much in story for Black History Month at Irwin House Gallery this year, including Ivan Quinones II’s solo exhibition in the main gallery, tributes continuing for the late, great John Sims, and an intimate exhibit featuring several of Detroit’s emerging artists in the RED (BLACK & GREEN) room. Read the full story in the Metro Times here.

Read more about Sims on their website here.

This week’s Metro Times cover story is a tribute to the late Detroit artist and activist John Sims, who died last month at the age of 54. It was written by Omo Misha, Director of the Irwin House Gallery, where Sims was an Artist-in-Residence and co-curator. The cover art was created by Shawn D. Barber or California, who was a student and friend of Sims.

While a memorial event was held for Sims at the gallery over the weekend, Misha says another opportunity to remember the artist will come on Monday, Feb. 13 — what would have been Sims’s birthday.

“John touched so many lives, across disciplines, continents, racial, and cultural lines,” Misha says. “Even in his physical absence, he is bringing creative communities together. Many of us are bonded, I believe, in the spirit of moving his work and visions forward.”

Born in Detroit, Sims was a mathematical and conceptual artist, writer, producer, and cultural activist whose inspired and courageous career spanned more than 20 years. Sims lectured and produced programs and exhibitions not only nationally but internationally in countries such as France, Hungary, Spain, and Argentina. His work has been featured locally as well as in the New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CNN, NBC News, The Guardian, The Root, Art in America, Science News, and the science journal, Nature.

Sims himself, was a force of nature whose work and legacy will continue in Detroit. Sims passed away in his Sarasota, Calif. home and studio Dec. 11, 2022. The news of his sudden passing has shaken arts and academic circles around the world.  Read more on the B.L.A.C website here.