JEF BOURGEAU

Since the Kresge Prize nominee first began exhibiting in the early 1990s, he has inspired controversy. His museum, which is considered by some to be a provocation against the art world itself, essentially involves the remaking of art and artists, as well as trends and movements, whether imagined or real. Bourgeau has been a vexing figure for many and his “interventions” have continued to be viewed as a subversion of traditional notions of artistic practice and integrity.

"Jef Bourgeau mines, archeologist-like, histories of various art objects, movements, moments, in unusual and determined ways. He looks at art, the market, and ways that one often, perhaps always, overwhelms the other. I look at the whole of his work as a love letter to the potential of art made by an artist perched right between his heart and his head."

- Lynn Crawford

< Jan van der Marck on Jef Bourgeau (video) >

< recent work >

Solo and Group Exhibitions

1990

Boxes (one person), Meadow Brook Art Gallery, Rochester, MI

1991

2 Man Show: with Stephen Magsig, Feigenson/Preston, Birmingham, MI

Until Now (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI

1992
The New Real (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI

Renovations (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI

1993
Beyond Art (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI

New Dada, Book Beat Gallery, Oak Park, MI

Dirty Pictures: with Jock Sturges, David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI

1994

New Work (one person), Gahlberg Arts Center, Glen Ellyn, IL

Art as Logo (one person), David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI

60 Rooms with a View, Art Hotel, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Late in the 20^th Century (one-person), LedisFlam, New York

Vis-à-vis, Focus Gallery, Detroit
New Work (one person), Zolla/Lieberman, Chicago

Art as Logo, The Drawing Room, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2xImmortal, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston

Elvis+Marilyn: 2xImmortal (video installation), Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston

touring through 1997:

Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC

Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose

Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa

Tennessee State Museum, Nashville

Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR

Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu

Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Japan

Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan

Kumamoto Museum, Kumamoto, Japan

Hokkaido Museum of Art, Hokkaido, Japan

Mitsukoshi Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan

1995

Paradise Lost (video installation), SoMa Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Reading Art (one-person), David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI

IN/Justice, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit
Interventions (video installation), Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

Words, Space Gallery, Chicago

1996

The Auto Show, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI

Ecstasy (video installation), Art Seattle, Seattle

Bathroom Venus (video installation), San Francisco Art Hotel, San Francisco, CA

1997
Founds the Museum of Contemporary Art as an artist project, Pontiac, MI

1998
Art and the American Experience, Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
A Short History of the Combustion Engine (video), Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH

1999
Documenta USA II, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI

Art Until Now (one person), Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
Famous Artists (one person), Galerie Blu, Pontiac, MI

2000-2002

Founds the Museum of New Art (MONA) and organizes and curates 24 exhibitions, Detroit

2003
Paradise Lost (video), Musee d'Art et d'Industrie, Roubaix, France

A Day in the Life (video), Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Actual Size, Detroit Contemporary, Detroit

The Sea (video), La Braderie, France

2004
Photography Now, Urban Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI
Biennale 2004 (one person), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

A Day in the Life (video), The Majlis Cultural Center, Mumbai, India

In Flux, Marygrove College Gallery, Detroit

Piss Off! (as Jan de Groot), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Untitled, 555 Gallery, Detroit

2005

Double Vision, The District Gallery, Birmingham, MI

None of the Above: A show without art, Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

New Work (as Kenzu Nagawa), The White Room, Los Angeles

Is London Burning (as Billy Conklin), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

FiftyFifty, C-Pop Gallery, Detroit

2006

Picasso’s Camera (as Picasso), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Quantum Circus (as Stig Eklund), Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN

The Face of Art (as Clara Beckmann), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

RE: The D (as Missy Wiggins), Wayne State University, Detroit

2007

Lost & Found (curated from Charles Saatchi’s Your Gallery), Brick Lane Gallery, London, England

Found Footage (as Andy Warhol), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Intelligent Design: a traveling show (as Stig Eklund), Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT

F*ck You/Commentary Criticism, Polish Yacht Club, Hamtramck, MI

The Minute-Man (as Douglas Gordon), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Bringing Back Sexy (as John Currin), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Art Photography, Jane Austen Book Club, Los Angeles

Silence (as Clara Beckmann, Hanne Bloot, Stig Eklund), Paint Creek Art Center, Rochester. MI

Intelligent Design (as Missy Wiggins, Stig Eklund), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Black & Black, UFO Factory, Detroit

A Retrospective (one person), Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, MI

2008

Changing Cities: Chicago, ThreeWalls Gallery, Chicago, IL

Almost Famous: a shortlist (as Clara Beckmann, Ford Wallace Ford, Stig Eklund, Hanne Bloot, Shen-Ba Wong, and Missy Wiggins), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Made in Detroit (as Stig Eklund, Missy Wiggins), Galerie Eva Bracke, Berlin, Germany

New Visions from China (as Shen-ba Wong), Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI

Changing Cities: Bregenz (as Clara Beckmann), Galerie Lisi Haemmerle, Bregenz, Austria

2009

Almost Famous, Detroit Industrial Projects, Detroit

Shameless, Pop Gallery, Culver City

Change, Project Gallery, Ann Arbor

Pure Detroit, Art Channel Gallery, Beijing

2010

Selections, BCB Art, Hudson, NY

In Spite of the Evidence, Project Gallery, Ann Arbor

Detroit, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna

The Geometry of Time, BCB Art, Hudson, NY

Spark, Butter Projects, Royal Oak, MI

2011

Double Lives, Malt Cross Gallery, Nottingham, UK

Magazines and Newspapers

1991 Detroit News: ‘Coloring 20^th-century art in an entertaining hue’ by Joy Colby, August 23, p.5D.

1992 Detroit Free Press: ‘Women, then and now’ by Marsho Miro, November 25, p.12D.

1992 Detroit Monthly: ‘Jef Bourgeau on the Bourgeoisie’ by Veronica Pasfield, November, p. 20.

1993 Detroit News: ‘Two artists survive a brush with controversy: Jock Sturges and Jef Bourgeau’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, June 11, p. 9C.

1994 Chicago Tribune: ‘Jef Bourgeau plays with presence and absence’ by David McCracken, February 4.

1994 Sculpture Magazine: ‘Jef Bourgeau’ by Matthew Kangas, June/July, p. 70-71.

1994 The New Yorker: ‘Jef Bourgeau’, July - August.

1994 The Village Voice: ‘Voice Choice: Jef Bourgeau’, by Sandra Levin, in the first such feature, August 24.

1994 Volkskrant (Netherlands): ‘Art Hotel’ by staff, November 2.

1995 Detroit Free Press: ‘Artists as seen through other artists’ eyes’ by Marsha Miro, March 3, p.7D.

1995 Art & Antiques: ‘Intimate Dramas’ by George Melrod, March, p. 21.

1995 The Birmingham Eccentric (Michigan): ‘Bernardino and Jef Bourgeau’ by Frank Provenzano, June.

1995 Ann Arbor News: ‘Familiar works shown in a different light at DIA’ by Roger Green, June 17, p. D2.

1995 Sculpture Magazine: ‘Provocative Issues’ by Thomas Wojtas, July-August, p.44.

1995 Detroit Free Press: ‘New icons reflect society’s divergence’ by Marsha Miro, November.

1996 Detroit News: ‘Artist goes high tech to evoke nostalgia’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, January 11, p. 6F.

1996 The Birmingham Eccentric (Michigan): ‘Contemplation fuels show’ by Mary Klemic, June 20, p. 1B.

1997 Detroit News: ‘Controversial art exhibit serves noble social purpose’ by Stephen R. Jaffe, June 15.

1997 Oakland Press (Michigan): ‘A museum that doesn’t collect’ by John Sousanis, June 20.

1997 Detroit News: ‘Naked asks us to go beyond labels in the 90’s’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, July 18.

1997 The Birmingham Eccentric (Michigan): ‘The ambiguous world of Jef Bourgeau’, by Frank Provenzano, October 26, p. 1D

1997 Hour Magazine (Detroit): ‘Consider the bird flipped’ by Veronica Pasfield, November, p. 99.

1998 Flash Art (Milan): ‘Flesh and I’ by Giancarlo Politi, January-February, p. 55.

1998 Flash Art (Milan): ‘Goings On’, by Owen Drolet, May-June, p. 50.

1998 Hour Magazine (Detroit): ‘Future of Art’ by Brenna Sanchez, September issue, p. 68.

1998 Metro Times Detroit: ‘NEWTOPIA’ by Casey Coston, October 14.

1999 Flash Art (Milan): ‘On the end of art as we know it’ by Giancarlo Politi, March-April, p. 49.

1999 Fineline (Detroit): ‘Size hardly matters’ by Frank Provenzano, Spring issue.

1999 Flash Art (Milan): ‘kaBOOM!’ by staff, November/December.

1999 Flash Art (Milan): ‘Let’s Destroy Art to Make Art: kaBOOM!’ by Giancarlo Politi, November/December.

1999 Detroit News: ‘Museum’s new director cancels exhibit’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, November 20.

1999 Chicago Sun-Times: ‘A matter of art’ by staff, November 23.

1999 The Independent (London): ‘Artist stages protest’ by John Davison, November 23

1999 USA TODAY: ‘Culture Clash’ by staff, November 23, front page.

1999 New York Times: ‘Another Art Battle, as Detroit Museum Closes an Exhibit Early’ by Robyn Meredith, November 23.

1999 Il Mattino (Naples): ‘Scandalo a Detroit’ by staff, November 24.

1999 Le Monde (Paris): ‘Un directeur de musee americain reporte une exposition par crainte de la polemique’ by staff, November 24.

1999 Boston Globe: ‘Detroit museum defends shutting down exhibit’ by staff, November 24.

1999 FineLine (Detroit): ‘A portrait of influence’ by Frank Provenzano, December issue.

2000 ARTnews, ‘The Three Day Show’ by staff, January issue, p. 50.

2000 Dialogue (Ohio): ‘Art Until Now No More: DIA CENSORS ITS OWN EXHIBITONS’ by Jeanette Wenig Drake, January/February issue, p. 41.

2000 MediaChannel (New York): ‘When did the media start hating artists?’ by Robert Atkins (Arts Editor and a Research Fellow at Carnegie Mellon's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry), January.

2000 Detroit Free Press: ‘Art dwells at 7 N. Saginaw in Pontiac’ by Keri Guten Cohen, January 16.

2000 Detroit Free Press: ‘Will controversy follow Jef Bourgeau’s new exhibit’ by Frank Provenzano, January.

2000 Flash Art (Milan): ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’ a correspondence with Giancarlo Politi, February, p. 55.

2000 Oakland Press (Michigan): ‘Artist gets ticketed as panel discusses censorship’ by Erica Blake, March 5.

2000 Oakland Press (Michigan): ‘Artist shifts from Detroit to Pontiac’ by Doug Henze, March 6.

2000 Detroit News: ‘Jef Bourgeau Fears No Art’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, March 10.

2000 Detroit Free Press, ‘Tradition, repression and censorship targeted’ by Keri Guten Cohen, March 12, p. 2F.

2000 Art Newsroom (England): ‘Police Raid Museum’ by staff, March 17.

2000 Oakland Press (Michigan): ‘Art sometimes challenges culture’ by Jillian Bogater, March 23.

2000 Real Detroit Weekly, ‘Art for the Moment’ by Natalie Haddad, September.

2000 Detroit Free Press: ‘New Space Opening’ by Keri Guten Cohen, October 1.

2000 Windsor Star (Canada): ‘Rules be Damned’ by Craig Pearson, October 12.

2000 Detroit News ‘New Museum fills Detroit’s need to showcase adventurous art’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, October 13.

2000 Detroit Free Press: ‘Museum opens with collectors’ pieces, e-mailed art’ by Keri Guten Cohen, October 15.

2000 Detroit Free Press: ‘Museum of New Art uses the term loosely’ by Frank Provenzano, October 15.

2001 Detroit News: ‘Detroit gains popularity among fine artists’ by Rhonda Bates-Rudd, April 18.

2001 Detroit News: ‘Metro Detroit artist finds home for contemporary art’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, May 16, p. 1D

2001 Detroit News: ‘Museum of New Art Downtown’ by Laura Berman, May 17.

2001 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Drowning MONA’ by Casey Coston, May 22.

2001 Metro Times Detroit: ‘There goes the hood’ by George Tysh, June 13-19, p. 21.

2001 Detroit Free Press: ‘New museum tests barriers’ by Frank Provenzano, September 9.

2001 Metro Times Detroit: ‘The latest evidence’ by Glen Mannisto, September.

2001 Detroit News: ‘Showtime at MONA’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, September 17.

2001 Flash Art (Milan): ‘Documenta USA’ by staff, October issue, p. 58.

2001 Hour Magazine (Detroit): ‘Drawing in people: new Detroit museum makes viewers part of its exhibit’ by Susan Howes, October 21, p. 99.

2001 Renaissance Times (Michigan): ‘Museum of New Art Opens Downtown’ by Gerald Scott, October.

2001 Tema Celeste (Milan): ‘Documenta USA unveiled at Detroit Museum’ by Simona Vendrame, November/December, p. 105.

2001 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Oh, MONA: the Museum of New Art shoulders the challenge’ by Glen Mannisto, December 19-25, p. 22.

2002 WSWS (Online): ‘Panel discusses role of art museum in twenty-first century’ by David Walsh, January 10.

2002 Detroit News: ‘Museum of New Art boasts 85 films from around the world’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, January 30, p. 1D.

2002 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Eve of destruction’ by Glen Mannisto, March 13-19, p. 34.

2002 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘kaBOOM! At Museum of New Art’ by Amy Bevevino, April 10, p. 45.

2002 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘Shoot! At Museum of New Art’ by Natalie Haddad, May 15, p. 15.

2002 Detroit Free Press, ‘Images of Ground Zero’ by Frank Provenzano, July 10.

2002 Detroit News: ‘Ground Zero engulfs the senses’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, July 27.

2002 WSWS (Online): ‘Ground Zero: signs of a more critical mood among US artists’ by David Walsh, July 29.

2002 Detroit News: ‘Art exhibits paint a better image for downtown storefronts’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, September 14.

2003 Tema Celeste (Milan): ‘Detroit Video Fest’ by staff, January-February, p. 116.

2003 Detroit Free Press: ‘Museum celebrates video as art form’ by Keri Guten Cohen, January 12, p. 19.

2003 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘An Artcore moment’ by Natalie Haddad, Jan 29.

2003 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘Shocking MONA’ by Jeremy Harvey, February 12, p. 18.

2003 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Pie in the eye’ by Lisa Collins, April 30-May 6.

2003 artforum: ‘Saving MONA’, by staff, Summer, p. 143.

2003 Tema Celeste (Milan): ‘Saving MONA’, artist protest, December, p. 20.

2004 Detroit News: ‘Renewed interest in reviving downtown Pontiac art scene’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, March 14.

2004 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Pontiac Pull’ by Christina Kallery, April 7.

2004 Tema Celeste (Milan): ‘New Home for MONA’ by Simona Vendrame, May/June, Issue 103.

2004 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Le Poseur in Wolf’s Clothing’ by Anita Schmaltz, May 26, pp. 20-22.

2004 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘Building Excitement: Biennale 2004’ by Natalie Haddad, May 12-18, cover story.

2004 The Detroiter: ‘When the audience becomes the art: Biennale 2004’ by Christina Hill, May 28.

2004 Oakland Press (Michigan): ‘Museum promotes new art’ by Karolyn Glowe, July 15.

2004 Art Times (London): ‘Inventing the Pixel: Abstraction in the 21^st Century’ by Katherine Honzu, August 25, p. 40.

2004 Real Detroit Weekly: ’Before the right one’ by Natalie Haddad, July 21-27, p. 11.

2004 Circa Art Magazine (Ireland): ‘Murder Mystery: Bad News or Art Sham?’ by Isobel Harbison, September 7.

2004 Artdaily (Mexico City): ‘None of the Above’ by Ignacio Villarreal, November 30.

2005 Detroit Free Press: ‘Artistic License’ by Frank Provenzano, March 11.

2005 Artdaily (Mexico City): ‘Norwegian’s first American solo show’ by Ignacio Villarreal, March 12.

2005 Detroit News: ‘Exhibit captures demise of Detroit, terrorism and war’ by Joy Hakanson Colby, March 25.

2005 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Going Dutch: a Dutch treat’ by Eve Doster, April 13, p. 43.

2005 The Detroiter: ‘Going Dutch: New Photography from the Netherlands’ by Nick Sousanis, May.

2005 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘No Staples’ by Robert del Valle, September 21.

2005 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Swinging naked, slinging pie and multiphonic monks: On 25 years of art in Detroit’ by Rebecca Mazzei, October 19.

2005 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Art damage: A night of creative destruction by Jef Bourgeau’, October 19.

2006 The Wall Street Journal: ‘The Invisible Artist’ by Jacob Hale Russell, Sunday January 1, p. 3.

2006 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘Earthshaking’ by Robert del Valle, January 18-24.

2006 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Questioning Identity’ by Nolan Simon, October 12.

2006 Metro Times Detroit: ‘The return of the minute man’ by Rebecca Mazzei, December 13-20.

2006 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘B is for ... Borrowed?’ by Robert del Valle, December 20.

2007 Reason Magazine (Los Angeles): ‘Shocking the bourgeoisie – it’s nice work if you can get it’ by Cheryl Miller, January, pp. 74-75.

2007 Real Detroit Weekly: ‘On The Wall’ by Robert del Valle, January 3, p. 42.

2007 Six New Things (Dallas): ‘Inspiring images ... just stand away from the
guy in the gallery wearing the trench coat’ by staff, February.

2007 Artdaily (Mexico City): ‘Changing Cities: Chicago at MONA’ by Ignacio Villarreal Jr., April 5.

2007 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Lake Effect (Changing Cities with Chicago)’ by Natalie Haddad, May 23, p. 48.

2007 Il Giornale Dell’Arte: ‘MONA d’Invenzione’ by Lucio Pozzi, May, p. 57.

2007 Metro Times Detroit: ‘Summer Fling’ by Vince Carducci, June 13, p. 69.

2007 Detroit News: ‘Bad boy back’ by Michael H. Hodges, September 9.

2008 Oakland Press: ‘Windy City Trade: Detroit artists send work to Chicago’ by Liz Voss, February 24.

2008 Metro Times: ‘City of Possibilities: Exhibit shows why Berliners embrace the Motor City’ by Rebecca Mazzei, July 23.

2008 Crain’s: ‘Detroit welcomes Berlin artists to the Museum of New Art’ by Liz Voss, July.

2008 Detroit News: ‘Berlin and Detroit swap artists’ by Michael H. Hodges, Thursday, July 3.

2008 Oakland Press: ‘Artwork from Europe to be displayed in area’ by Joe Szczesny, August 6, p. C-1

2008 Berliner Zeitung: “Melancholische Grüße aus Detroit” by Ingeborg Ruthe, December 5.

Catalogues, Books and Media

1993 ‘Summer Show’ by Cary Loren, Book Beat Gallery, catalogue of show, June, p. 17.

1994 ‘60 rooms with a view: Art Hotel’ by Peter Bouhof, Erik Hermida, Johan Jonker, Gabriele Rivet, catalogue of show, February 9-13, p. 42.

1994 ‘Jef Bourgeau’’, by Kathryn Hixson, catalogue essay for Gahlberg Gallery (Eileen Broido, director), College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

1994 ‘On the Cover’ by staff, Gallery Guide, September issue, cover and p. 8.

1994 ‘ELVIS+MARILYN: 2xIMMORTAL’ edited by Geri DePaoli, foreword by David

Halberstam, commentary by Thomas McEvilley, a traveling exhibition with catalogue, Rizzoli publisher, p. 68.

1995 ‘IN /Justice’ by Carol Jacobsen, catalogue, Detroit Artists Market, March 17-April 14, p. 8.

1995 ‘Interventions’ curated by Jan van der Marck, Detroit Institute of Arts, June 4-September 3, (a CD catalogue).

1996 ‘Cranbrook’s Auto Show’ by Jerry Herron, Cranbrook Art Museum, June 1 – September 1.

1997 ‘Portfolio ’97’ foreword by Evie Wheat, Pontiac Artists’ Association, p. 5.

1997 ‘Jane Speaks Modern Art’ by ArtLook staff, CD catalogue embedded in ARTnews, Summer issue.

1998 ‘A New Kind Of Museum’ by Katherine Weider, for Backstage Pass, PBS Detroit, televised Fall.

1998 ‘Art And The American Experience’ by Jan van der Marck, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, September 13 – December 6, p. 38 (image), p. 43 (text) for catalogue.

2000 ‘An Interview with Jef Bourgeau’, by Ken Paulson, Speaking Freely (for NYC Public Station 13), broadcast September 2000.

2000 ‘Arguing Art’ by Chris Walny, for Backstage Pass, PBS Detroit, televised Spring.

2001 ‘A 21^st Century Museum’ by Jef Bourgeau, foreword to the exhibition catalogue Lucio Pozzi at the Museum of New Art (Detroit), p. 3.

2004 ‘Photography Now’ by museum staff, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts-Grand Rapids, April 4-May 8.

2006 ‘Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture’ by Michael Kammen, Knopf, 2006, p. 299.

2007 ‘A User’s Manual’ by Jan van der Marck, catalogue for retrospective at Oakland University Art Gallery, Oakland University Press.

Projects to promote Detroit and its artists – coordinated, funded and directed by the artist

1997 ‘The Museum of New Art’, founding director of Detroit’s first contemporary museum.

1997 ‘The Detroit International Film & Video Festival’, bringing in 128 filmmakers from over 42 countries, from the USA, and England to Israel to Vietnam and China – sharing the screen alongside recent Detroit filmmakers’ work. Repeated over the next 8 years.

1998 ‘Aperto’, a project allowing any local artist to hang one work at the Museum of New Art until the next artist arrived. Planned for the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1999. Repeated at MONA in 2002

1999 ‘Documenta USA’, over 200 artists were invited to fill an archival box with their art. Most of the artists were from the Detroit region, but the project eventually included many established artists such as Christo, Peter Halley, Arman, Vito Acconci, and Jenny Holzer.

2000 ‘Documenta USA’, traveled to the UICA in Grand Rapids, where it also included artists from that region of Michigan.

2001 ‘ArtCore’, seven empty storefronts in downtown Detroit were renovated and given to art collectives to run as galleries.

2002 ‘Michigan Institute for the Arts’, a 10,000 square foot space in downtown Detroit was turned into a museum that showcased Michigan artists.

2003 ‘12x12’, a gallery was reserved within the Museum of New Art to present new work by a different artist from the Detroit region each month.

2004 ‘ArtCore’, revived in empty storefronts in downtown Pontiac.

2006 ‘Moving Walls’, formed a collective of Cranbrook graduates, giving them a gallery to continue their work in Michigan.

2008-2009 ‘Changing Cities’, a multi-city project to exchange Detroit artists with those of other regions, at home and overseas. Successful swaps have been mounted within the last year between Chicago, Bregenz (Austria), Berlin and Beijing. Other exchanges planned for Tokyo, London and New York.

Juror

1997-2002 Paint Creek Art Center, Rochester, MI

1999-2000 Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Bloomfield, MI

2008 All Florida Exhibition, Boca Raton Museum, Boca Raton, FL

2009 All Michigan Exhibition, Anton Art Center, Mount Clemens, MI

Guest Lectures

Cranbrook Academy, Bloomfield Hills, MI

College for Creative Studies, Detroit

Oakland University, Rochester, MI

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Bloomfield, MI

Michigan State University, Art Department, Lansing, MI

Collections

The artist’s work is in private collections throughout the USA and Europe, including Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, California, Florida, New York, the Netherlands, and France. And is currently represented in these museum collections: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Dennos Museum, Traverse City, MI; Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI.

Jef Bourgeau has also been active as the artist collective known as: