Ryan Mendoza

DetroitHome 
Photo Dolf Pauw

Detroit was once the largest centre of automotive industry in the world. Till the credit crunch that is when car factories like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler got into financial trouble and had to close down. People were dismissed and were left with immense mortgage debts. The crisis on the housing market was the final blow. Residents left their homes and entire neighborhoods were abandoned. What once was a prospering city with 1,8 million inhabitants is now a ghost town of less than 700.000 inhabitants with chaos, decline and crime as a result. Homes are sold at auction for as little as 1.000 dollar to prevent vacancy in the area. Houses dilapidate and are being torn down with bulldozers all the time. Visual artist Ryan Mendoza, born and raised in NewYork, lives and works in both Berlin and Naples. In 2013 he returns - after 20 years - to his home ground. It is then he sees in Detroit the reality of today. With his Detroit home he tells a story we’ve hardly heard of in Europe. LINK livingstone gallery