NICHOLAS LOBO: WELLNESS CENTER
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit presents Wellness Center, a solo exhibition by Miami-based artist Nicolas Lobo based on contemporary wellness therapies and the socioeconomics of the wellness industry. The placement of Wellness Center inside Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead builds upon the idea that a home is understood by many as a place for healing, from a variety of collective and environmental harms.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
NICHOLAS LOBO: WELLNESS CENTER
MAY 10 – AUGUST 18, 2019
MIKE KELLEY’S MOBILE HOMESTEAD
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit presents Wellness Center, a solo exhibition by Miami-based artist Nicolas Lobo based on contemporary wellness therapies and the socioeconomics of the wellness industry. The placement of Wellness Center inside Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead builds upon the idea that a home is understood by many as a place for healing, from a variety of collective and environmental harms. The project also references the conventional home-based practices of chiropractors, massage therapists, life coaches, acupressurists, acupuncturists, and many others who repurpose their domestic space as a place for wellness.
All of the artwork in the exhibition is part of Lobo’s direct therapeutic work with individuals in his studio in Miami, using familiar products and objects common within the wellness ecosystem. Cannabis pain cream, rose kaolin, prickly pear, activated charcoal, medical grade honey, and hydrogel beauty masks take on the typical role of paint in Lobo’s series of “Hydrogel Paintings”. Made by applying wellness products to glass windows and then photographing them at various times of day, the translucence of the materials evoke slides under a microscope—reflecting on the physical properties commodified by the wellness industry.
Juice Trade is a new video work that explores the tension between economies of scale and safety in beverages as told through the circulation of bottled drinks sold at traffic lights and high end juice processing and consumption. Wellness Center also features functional sculptures designed to provide water based wellness services to visitors. A limited number of appointments to take part in these treatments will be available throughout the exhibition and those who are interested in participating are asked to inquire in person at the Mobile Homestead during public hours.
Nicolas Lobo received a BFA from The Cooper Union in 2004, he now lives and works in Miami. He has exhibited at internationally recognized venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami Art Museum, Marlborough Chelsea, the de la Cruz collection, Lisa Cooley Gallery, the NADA art fair, ARTIS in the Netherlands and Ines Barrenechea in Madrid.
Nicolas Lobo: Wellness Center at Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead is organized by Amy Corle, Curator of Education and Public Engagement, with insights from Larry Ossei-Mensah, Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator. Generous support is provided by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and by The Ellies, Miami’s visual arts awards, presented by Oolite Arts.
Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead is commissioned by Artangel in association with MOCAD, LUMA Foundation, and Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, with the generous support of the Artangel International Circle. Support for Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead is provided by the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts and the MOCAD Leadership Circle.
