January 24, 2024

Gordon Newton was a complex individual who perfectly encapsulated what it meant to be a Cass Corridor artist. He was born in Detroit, and therefore, remained artistically loyal to the city for many years. Newton attended Port Huron Community College, the Society of Arts and Crafts (now known as the College of Creative Studies), and Wayne State University. He had been making artwork in Detroit since the late 1960s, a time of social and political upheaval. Events such as the Detroit Race Rebellion and a general state of social inequality influenced himself and his artwork. Gordon had mainly focused on the industrialization of Detroit, social status, the concept of time, and culture. He had explored a variety of genres as well as a variation in subject matter.  

Newton was a perceptive artist who was never really afraid to experiment and often dove into the unfamiliar when it came to artmaking. He was an incredibly unique and creative soul, integrating the sociopolitical atmosphere of the late 1960s into his work. Newton’s artwork touched countless lives when he had exhibitions at the Willis Gallery, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art, The Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. His work influenced the tight-knit Detroit art scene, and defined many qualities of the Cass Corridor art movement. These qualities included unconventional use of materials with an intense aesthetic, sometimes containing social problems or political themes. 

Newton’s Oliver Twist: The Old Curiosity Shop is a maximalist, mixed-media assemblage with nostalgic imagery of children’s playthings. Reminiscent of the title, Oliver Twist: The Old Curiosity Shop displays an innate sense of child-like wonder that can also be experienced as haunting or even unsettling. This feeling is created by the artwork’s presentation of a polarizing view of industrialization and exertion, which is then juxtaposed against stuffed animals and children’s toys. While Newton’s work can be considered overstimulating at times, his work challenges the viewer with what can only be recognized as a bold truth: the heartbreaking story of a child challenged with an inhospitable nature. Newton’s work is also a great reflection of his character; a gifted individual who illustrates himself as deep and mysterious.  

While some elements of the work display a sense of grit, exemplifying urban expressionism, other parts of the sculpture hold nostalgic memories that invoke a sense of sadness instead of play. Many of the toys seem to be cast-off or secondhand, making the sculpture seem almost eerie since it is tied to the “rough and tough” style of the Cass Corridor artists. Newton is well known for his use of deviant and odd source materials. These materials can range from new objects, found objects, amputated objects, or even hand-made objects. Newton’s Oliver Twist: The Old Curiosity Shop includes an array of seemingly random items: keys, stuffed animals, jars, wooden anchors, a funnel, and much more. The contrasting horizontal and vertical wooden slabs draw your eye in two different directions, allowing the viewer to fully comprehend the mass of the sculpture as a whole.  

Notably, however, are the oversized dangling keys in the center of the sculpture that dare viewers to draw closer and inspect the artwork. The keys could have a meaningful representation to the title of the work, antagonizing the viewer with an unattainable sense of freedom from the struggles that Oliver Twist had succumbed to in his respective storybook series. The keys hold a sense of purpose, a sense of freedom, and a means of escaping.  

Gordon, or “Gordie” to his friends, created this immense sculpture that is undoubtedly one of the most incredible works of his professional career. At the heart of the sculpture lies a Marine Light boat model with children’s toys protruding from it in every which direction. Wooden slabs lie across the sculpture both horizontally and vertically. The keys extending from the sculpture also seem to grow out of the assemblage, as well as hang from it. Gordon comments on the work himself,  “It’s about historical London, the port of London. That’s why that marine thing is there again.” (1). He wanted the keys to resemble the hanging shop signs that are a trademark of London. “I like to weave a story with all of these things” Newton continues. “It’s kind of literary in a way, a story. The old tricycle, these old things are used to make statements. The animals are characters.” (2.)

The sheer size and magnitude of this work leaves viewers in awe of its presence. MaryAnn Wilkinson, former head of the Modern and Contemporary Art department at the Detroit Institute of Arts, noted the date of the work to be 1988. Photos exist of Gordon standing in front of the work in 1989. Meanwhile, The Wayne State University Art Collection holds records as late as 1992. The work is now displayed in Wayne State’s Undergraduate Library along with illustrations of the sculpture detailing its assemblage.  

written by Colleen Sikorski

(1.) Quoted in John Barron, "Newton's Universe," Detroit Monthly (March 1988), 94.

(2.) Quoted in John Barron, "Newton's Universe," Detroit Monthly (March 1988), 95.

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