Part I
September 9, 2026 – March 21, 2027
Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead
Part II–IV
November 4, 2026 – April 4, 2027
Julia Reyes Taubman Building
20 Years of MOCAD: A Practice of Multiplicity celebrates two decades of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) as an institution shaped by artists, experimentation, and an enduring commitment to Detroit. Since opening in 2006, MOCAD has provided a space where artists test new ideas, challenge conventions, and create work through collaboration, research, and dialogue. Bringing together artists who have helped define MOCAD’s identity, the exhibition reflects on the relationships, ideas, and communities that have sustained the Museum while looking toward its future. Across installations, sculpture, painting, sound, performance, and socially engaged practices, A Practice of Multiplicity considers how artists have continually reimagined what a contemporary art museum can be.
The exhibition unfolds in four parts that frame key dimensions of MOCAD’s evolution: Part I: Process Driven Purpose highlights experimentation and process-based practices that test new forms of collaboration and presentation. Part II: Artist as Architect foregrounds artists as generative forces who helped define the institution’s direction and ethos. Part III: Detroit as Material centers artists who engage the city’s spatial, social, and infrastructural conditions as an active material in their work. Finally, Part IV: A Practice of Multiplicity focuses on artists whose work is rooted in community, care, and shared knowledge, emphasizing contemporary art as a collective practice sustained through relationships and lived experience.
Together, these sections illuminate how MOCAD’s identity has been continuously shaped by artistic leadership, dialogue, and Detroit’s cultural life. 20 Years of MOCAD: A Practice of Multiplicity celebrates the Museum as a living ecosystem where artists, audiences, and communities continue to shape one another.
Learn more about the exhibition narrative:
Part I: Process Driven Purpose
Located in Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead, serves as the anchor for a presentation of four experimental sound installations by contemporary artists, reflecting the Museum’s sustained commitment to sound as both an artistic medium and an essential part of the creative process. This exploration runs in tandem with The Sounding Room, a six-month residency activating the Garage of the Mobile Homestead as a working studio for sound and music artists, making experimentation, collaboration, and artistic process central to the visitor experience.
Participating Artist List
Amna Asghar, Kevin Beasley, Sanford Biggers, Dara Birnbaum, Judy Bowman, LaKela Brown, Bryce Detroit, Allora & Calzadilla, Leith Campbell, Halima Cassells, Edson Chagas, Jim Chatelain, Liz Cohen, Martin Creed, Olayami Dabls, Danielle Dean, Destroy All Monsters, Conrad Egyir, Ed Fraga, James Benjamin Franklin, Martha Friedman, M. Saffell Gardner, Mark Thomas Gibson, Tyree Guyton, Ben Hall, Matthew Angelo Harrison, Nicholas Hlobo, Scott Hocking, Binelde Hyrcan, Arthur Jafa, Sydney James, Lester Johnson, Rashid Johnson, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Titus Kaphar, KAWS, Osman Khan, Ragnar Kjartansson, Mike Kelley, Glenn Ligon, Cary Loren, Kathryn Brackett Luchs, Michael Luchs, Ken Lum, Eddie Martinez, Gisela McDaniel, Charles McGee, Allie McGhee, Metabolic Studio, Shanna Merola, Nancy Mitchnick, Brittany Nelson, Sabrina Nelson, Mark Newport, Gordon Newton, Gary Panter, Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts, Rob Pruitt, Tony Rave, Vanessa Reynolds, Jason REVOK, Carlos Rolon, Robert Sestok, Chris Schanck, Bailey Scieszka, Nep Sidhu, Leni Sinclair, Gilda Snowden, The New Red Order, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Sterling Toles, Kara Walker, Nari Ward, Peter Williams, Shirley Woodson, Kennedy Yanko, and more.