Temporary Utopia: “431 Gallery: Art and Impact” at Indiana State Museum
Almost 25 years ago, Bill Ross and I had our first two-person art show in Indianapolis, Indiana at 431 Gallery. We were both 24 years old. The title was “The Fifteen Dollar Museum” and was a manifesto of sorts, an accidental action plan for the rest of our lives. 431 Gallery was a cooperative, artist-run, […]
Letter from Lebanon
I returned from a visit to Lebanon in March 2014 with my head, eyes and emotions all over board, triggered in all directions, confused but at the same time fulfilled and satisfied. Lebanon was a chaotic whirlwind of energy, creativity, contrasts, contradictions, peaceful and agitated moments, fears of violence, restful encounters. It was the occasion […]
Deborah Butterfield’s New Sculptures, at Zolla Lieberman Gallery
Deborah Butterfield’s sculptures are not like the sculptures of the civilized and perfectly groomed horses standing beneath important men that adorn public places. They’re just themselves, seemingly contemplating their own existence with a serenity that belies their power. At Zolla Lieberman Gallery most of them gently stand while one lays prone, each comfortable with their […]
MASS MoCA: A Fusion of Arts
In fall of 2009, I sat on my bed in a small apartment surfing the web with the fervor only a student soon-to-be graduate has. I wanted an internship—preferably an affordable one (a tall order in today’s arts economy, to be sure)—at a decidedly Really Cool Place. Somewhere along the way, I […]
Flannery On My Mind
“Nobody admires my painting much but me.” ~Flannery O’Connor “I have come to think that the true likeness of Flannery O’Connor will be painted by herself, a self-portrait in words, to be found in her letters.” ~Sally Fitzgerald “I am always astonished at Flannery’s pictures which show nothing of her grace. She was […]
Rough Art for Hard Times
“Cries in the Night” Cincinnati Art Museum June 21 – August 17, 2014 In spite of sailing scenes, landscapes, and portraits, it’s not possible to miss the sharp tang of cynicism in German Expressionism. Like all movements in art, it was initially founded on defeating the traditional bourgeois tastes of the majority. Both insider and […]
“Power of Place”: Celebrating International Women Artists
YWCA Women’s Art Gallery June 20 – Sept 11, 2014 A variety of work made by women artists born abroad are featured in this exhibit, expressing their diverse styles in a variety of mediums and formats. Selected from eight different national backgrounds, these artists live in the Cincinnati area. Their roots run deep in their […]
Is Entertainment Enough?
We have been hearing for several decades now that the arts have to compete with all entertainment. Since the advent of the “24/7” work schedule, wherein everyone is supposed to be available all the time, made significantly worse by the advent of technology, people who work have less and less available free time. The assumption […]
Michael Sailstorfer: Every Piece is a New Problem
A dip into the waters of sculptural history reveals a spectrum of works ranging from the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius (erected somewhere between 176 and 180 AD) to Dieter Roth’s 1972 biodegradable rabbit (excreted probably that same year). What defines sculpture as sculpture is ever evolving, and right there, swaying between dry land and […]
What The CAC Has Done For Me
It started me collecting contemporary art. During my college years I had taken Art 101, and had also seen an exhibit in New York City, at the then Museum of Non-Objective Art, of all Kandinski’s, which opened my eyes to abstract art. In 1946, when I returned home to Cincinnati, The Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center […]