More to the Story: “A Splendid Century: Cincinnati Art 1820-1920,” at the Taft Museum of Art, October 3, 2020-January 24, 2021
In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a popular genre of fiction known as “It-Narratives” or “Novels of Circulation,” which told their stories in the voice of some object which passes through many hands. Some of the earliest of these began with money (the story, say, of a bank note): the genre spread to […]
Marjolijn Dijkman’s ‘Earthing Discharge’ at the Contemporary Arts Center
A few weeks ago I made my first visit to the Contemporary Arts Center since the pandemic’s beginning. After holding up my phone so the visitor staff could scan the QR code of my timed entry ticket, I stepped over to the lobby in order to behold the Brussels-based Marjolijn Dijkman’s newly commissioned wallpaper. Earthing […]
Archiving Eden: Dornith Doherty at the Dayton Art Institute
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen Island, Norway opened in 2008 as the world’s largest secure seed storage. Located above the Arctic Circle, it is designed to remain above water in the event of melting ice caps to protect its comprehensive catalogue of the world’s seeds. The opening of this facility fascinated photographer Dornith […]
Social Justice and Art: How Do They Interact
Continuing my behind-the-scenes series is a look at smaller arts organizations and how they interact with the social justice movement. Starting off is Wave Pool, a contemporary art fulfillment center where experimental art connects community and creates change. Located in Camp Washington at 2940 Colerain Ave., Wave Pool offers a diverse menu of programs. Cal […]
“Stillness and Receptivity: Modes in Contemporary Photography and Painting” Indian Hill Gallery, September 18th through November 1st, 2020.
“Stillness and Receptivity: Modes in Contemporary Photography and Painting” Indian Hill Gallery, September 18th through November 1st, 2020. Participating Artists: Jonathan Eiten, Jordanne Renner, Sally Schrohenloher, Sarah Sedwick, Ed Shrider, John Sousa, Matthew Zory. Curated by Casey Dressell, Gallery Coordinator with support by FotoFocus The exhibit “Stillness and Receptivity: Modes in Contemporary […]
Interview with Jymi Bolden
“Art is one of the oldest forms of creative expression. . .but often everything is explained in terms of the white male,” Jymi Bolden, black and male and himself an artist, told me when we met to talk about black artists today and their inclusion/exclusion in the visual arts world. The conversation naturally moved to […]
Down the Rabbit Hole in Lesley Vance’s Surreal Abstractions
Evoking Modernist abstractions refracted through surreal prisms, Lesley Vance’s 13 paintings in “A Zebra Races Counterclockwise” showcase her brilliance as a colorist and contriver of optical puzzles. In previous bodies of work, which comprised easel-sized paintings rarely larger than 31 inches, she abstracted still lifes into oblivion; yet the nonobjective shapes did retain vestigial references […]
“Think Square 3: Virtual + In-Person Art Exhibit,” Cincinnati Learning Collaborative, through October 31, 2020
For “Think Square 3: Virtual + In-Person Art Exhibit” at the Cincinnati Learning Collaborative, 60 artists contributed 5” x 5” pieces, all presented in 12” x 12” frames, and all for sale for the “low, low price” of $100. Kate Staiger and Andrea Knarr organized the show. With a wide range of subjects, materials, and […]
Mary Gordon’s “Payback”
The joys of reading fiction by Mary Gordon seem endless, and her newest novel, “Payback”, is one of her finest to date. I’ve been reading Gordon for at least thirty to forty years now; she teaches at Barnard, and is one of America’s finest writers. And her fiction is really for and about adults, like […]
Marilynne Robinson’s “Jack”
Opinions vary wildly about the writer Marilynne Robinson. I generally find her to be commandingly brilliant, one of America’s leading Christian theologians and most exciting novelists. Her novel “Gilead” won the Pulitzer Prize some years ago, and she completes her series of four novels about life in Gilead and its inhabitants, beginning with the friendship […]