There is an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art right now called “Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967″ which is about art inspired by “contemporary rock” which I guess is everything since 1967.  Anyways, did I mention that right now the MCA is completely free every day?  At least until November 14, as part of 43 days to celebrate the museum’s 40th birthday and they’ve been having special events to commemorate.  The exhibit “examines the dynamic relationship between rock music and contemporary visual art, a relationship that crosses continents, generations, and cultures. Since the late 1950s this unlikely hybrid of rhythm-and-blues and country music has had an undeniable impact on society while drastically changing with the times.”  Expect to see rock ‘n roll in visual form.  Certain cities like London and Los Angeles, New York of course, had important scenes during this time.  The exhibit also has a huge space dedicated to the Detroit scene with huge murals from the Ann Arbor group Destroy All Monsters who: “On New Years eve of 1973, the first Destroy All Monsters concert was held at a comic book convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At the time the instruments were a violin, a sax, a vacuum cleaner and a coffee can. They performed a demented version of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and were asked to leave after ten minutes. The group performed “Guerilla Style” setting up for free at parties, playing for food along Ann Arbor’s frat row. They used modified instruments, a drum box, tape loops, hot-wired toys, cheap keyboards and broken electronic devices. The only formal gig they had (beside the comic convention) was at the Halloween Ball at the University of Michigan art school in 1976.”  You can see Strange Frut here:

There was also art inspired by Funkadelic in the Detroit room.

The MCA will probably have more free days in a future but it’s free every day including weekends until next Wednesday, the 14th of November.