2009 Windsor Biennial: Nine Miles South of Eight Mile

During a recent visit to Detroit, Jay Leno remarked that the region was responsible for “winning World War II and created the American middleclass”. During the post war era, the motor cities were also the birthplace of Motown, ground zero for the civil rights movement and, at the risk of bathos, the birth place of Tom Selleck. In short, America, as it exists today in the world’s collective subconscious is largely the result of the unique material and cultural production of Windsor and Detroit.

Every two years this bi-national exhibition takes the pulse of contemporary art in Windsor, Detroit and the surrounding region. From the 138 submissions received the 2009 curatorial team-Mathieu Beauséjour (Montreal), David Diviney (Kamloops) and Dr. Lee Rodney (Windsor)-selected 14 artists: Melanie Manos, Sarah Bukius, Chris McNamara, Danielle Abrams (Ann Arbor); Steve Lyons (Petrolia, Ontario); Brenda Francis Pelkey, Jennifer Willet, Jon Edwards, Zeke Moores, Lucy Howe, Dan Bernyk, Victor Romao, Justin Langlois (Windsor); Dennis Michael Jones, and Brian Barr (Detroit). The Windsor Biennial provides an opportunity for artists, curators and the public to identify regional impulses and cultural affinities that transcend the geo-political boundaries that divide our region.