The Oakland University Art Gallery is currently playing host to Detroit artist Graem Whyte and his exhibition titled “Remain Calm.” The collection is installation-based which includes large-scale works.

Based in Hamtramck, Whyte has taken artistic refuge in a former meat-packing facility called Popps Packing. The location serves as a home for his family, as well as a studio, gallery and community center.

Dick Goody curator and director of the Oakland University Art Gallery, explains Whyte’s work as being community based.

Due to Whyte’s large, and sometimes land-based pieces, he enlists help from community members in order to assist in creating the artworks that he designs.

According to Goody, Detroit’s surplus of cheap property has created an artistic growth in the community. Many artists, like Whyte, choose Detroit as a location to express themselves in order to bring beauty back into the city.

Whyte chooses to target the various facets of human life and nature through  pieces which shine a positive light upon current despairs.

“(The exhibition) brings optimism to a period of uncertainty.” Goody, who is also the associate professor of art in the department of art and art history, said. “I think generally after the summer we’ve had, with the extreme temperatures and the idea that climate change is here to stay, (we have realized that) we are all living in strange times. Things are not as permanent as we thought they were. So, I think this exhibit speaks to those anxieties.”

There are a total of four large installation pieces and a selection of smaller works that complement the exhibit.

The core of Whyte’s works, in reference to their physical makeup, is often composed repurposed items. According to Goody, Whyte has used old vinyl records, a ping pong table and even broccoli when he was making a cast.

The four large pieces in the exhibit draw similarities from the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

As explained in the exhibit’s catalogue, Whyte transforms the negative into the positive. For example, war becomes play and death becomes sleep.

Jacqueline Leow, assistant to the director of the Oakland University Art Gallery, is looking forward to students experiencing local culture.

“We try to expose students and the area to up and coming Detroit artists,” Leow said.

Leow also hopes students will be interested in attending the gallery on a regular basis.

“I think a lot of individuals are intimidated by art galleries,” Leow said. “They don’t know the protocol. ‘What do I do?’ ‘Is someone going to be breathing down my collar?’ So, on campus, this gallery gives individuals the opportunity to feel comfortable.”

Goody hopes students will make use of the gallery this year.

“I think that if you’re going to come to an exhibition at the gallery, you shouldn’t just come to one. You should come to every exhibition, and you should always expect something different. Art is about exposition. So don’t just come once, keep coming. That’s my message,” Goody said.

The art instillation will end Sunday, Octr 7 at 2:00 p.m. with a panel titled “The Academy, the Student and the Artist.”