Rachel Rampleman at Weston Gallery
A shallow stage, dramatic floor to ceiling curtain of silver mylar, pink lights, and disco ball have recently transformed the ground floor of Weston Art Gallery. Alluding to the settings of over-the-top performances of artifice, this open space literally sets the stage for Rachel Rampleman’s labyrinthine exploration of drag subcultures, body builders, make-up artists, and […]
Art of the International Parks Exhibit at Eisele Gallery
The best public park views in the world are the subject matter of the best painters in the current exhibit at Eisele Gallery, Cincinnati. Mountain tops and serene valleys, rushing waves, hot springs and thermal pools are moulded into aesthetic statements by the nationally noted artists in a variety of media: oil, acrylic, pastel and […]
“Vessel” at Hudson Yards: A Capitalist Christening and Architectural Narcissism
In 1996, Tom Otterness installed a bronze sculptural grouping of anthropomorphized houses and coins off the banks of Roosevelt Island in the East River titled The Marriage of Real Estate and Money (Figure 1). The figures are executed in a playful manner while offering a trenchant critique of the troubling relationship that continues to exist […]
The “Right to Look” and Nari Ward’s “Amazing Grace”
French-born American-Cuban essayist Anaïs Nin’s diaristic reflections on Havana reveal the nostalgic caprice that a city can wield – its atmospheric impulse-potential to “cure negative states of being,” as Guiliana Bruno terms it (211). Reminiscing on Havana entering her field of vision, her mood suddenly uncannily boosted, Nin’s diary entry notes that “with this, the […]
Joseph Keckler – 21c Museum Hotel – April 13, 2019
The Contemporary Arts Center’s inaugural performing arts festival, “This Time Tomorrow”, featured almost thirty acts over four days in April. Spread out over Cincinnati and into Covington, the festival aimed to unite a community of patrons in time and place. Curator of the event Drew Klein wrote “[performance’s] ephemeral nature requires a presence, an assembly, […]
Getting Lost in Rob Thom's Crowds
Rob Thom’s paintings resemble funhouse mirrors tilted towards pleasure-seeking crowds, magnifying follies and foibles that extend to American culture at large. His works in “The Beast” at M+B depict mostly white middle-class throngs at leisure in typical venues such as zoos, carnivals, and wrestling matches. Each scene appears ordinary enough until you notice comical panoplies […]
“Because I Said So… ,” Kennedy Heights Arts Center, through June 8, 2019
Robin Hartman and Kim Margaret Watling, the curators of “Because I Said So… ” at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center, neatly state the exhibition’s thesis: “Because I Said So…” (is) an exhibition encompassing the range of experiences that occur when growing up with parents or parental figures. Everyone has a story about their parents; good, […]
Severe Ascesis: Shusaku Arakawa’s Object-Oriented Ontologies and the Spectral Event
This takes me back to some of my Japanese reading, in particular to my beloved Dôgen, who belongs to a Zen tradition that is particularly severe insofar as it is particularly sensitive to the sensible. . . . The problems here are very close to those of medieval aesthetics. . . . Must creation be […]
“Everything Connects” highlights designer Christien Miendertsma’s research into the ethics and manufacturing of industrial fiber products
“Everything Connects,” exhibiting at the Art Institute of Chicago through October 20, showcases the process and discoveries of Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma. Meindertsma’s practice bridges the gap between sleek designer and obsessive fiber researcher, examining the stories of products and their raw materials. The exhibition, displayed in the Department of Architecture and Design, highlights Meindertsma’s […]
Fotofolio: James Friedman
“Interior Design” James’ statement: Although I studied with Minor White in an experimental graduate program in photography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and admired his iconic photographic abstractions, for most of my career my chief interest has been in portraiture as a personal documentary and street photographer. I never felt personally connected to abstraction […]