Past Perfect: “Mapplethorpe + 25: A Symposium to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of The Perfect Moment” at the Contemporary Arts Center, October 23-24, 2015
It was a pretty perfect moment. For one evening and the whole day following, FotoFocus and the Contemporary Arts Center teamed up to sponsor and
NSFW: Notes on Mapplethorpe in the 21st Century
A photograph of a black man’s flaccid, uncircumcised penis exposed through a three-piece suit may best represent the themes of sexuality, race, class and style
Perfect Mess: “After the Moment: Reflections on Robert Mapplethorpe” at the Contemporary Arts Center
Robert Mapplethorpe was an aesthete’s aesthete, trying with each photograph he took to capture a kind of formal blissfulness that shreds philosophy, politics, conjecture, and
High Style
While in the past AEQAI’s fashion focus has been on the international runways of fashion’s luxury giants, this month we are staying decidedly close to
Havana at Malton Gallery
Susan Schuler’s paintings in the exhibition Havana at Malton Gallery in Hyde Park/Oakley speak for themselves, which is fortunate as the background information I asked
The Collection of Dr. Jack and Shirley Chewning
10/30 thru 11/2 2015, Mary Ran Gallery, 3668 Erie Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208 Collectors are a rare and wonderful breed. Through them art gains a
“Surface” Phyllis Weston Gallery, O’Bryonville
On the basis of some of the works, “Surface” may be described as a portrait show with an agenda beyond the business of likeness. Colleen
Michael Wilson
Editor’s Note: Area photographer Kent Krugh, who has become Aeqai’s photography editor, and will be selecting photographers’ work from the region, nationally, and internationally and offering our readers
Aris Moore
Editor’s Note: This profile of Aris Moore is part of an ongoing series of interviews with figurative artists across the United States who have appeared
Take a Trip To Joel McDonald’s Obby Obby
I want death. These are the words I uttered aloud to artist Joel McDonald during the opening of his first solo exhibition Obby Obby at
Profile of Kevin Kelly
Kevin T. Kelly’s studio is deep in the Essex Studios building in Walnut Hills; he met me at the Essex Street door to lead me
Educator and curator Kate Bonansinga’s homecoming enhances the creative strengths of the region.
Kate Bonansinga is Director of the School of Art at the College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. After growing
Lisa Molyneux
Born in Albany, New York, Lisa Molyneux attended The State University of New York at Geneseo and received a B.A. in theater and art. Her
Slouching Toward Halloween: “This Side of Paradise: New Photography from Texas Artists”
I mean, sure. I’ll go to a photography exhibit with my friend, who happens to also have been my wedding photographer. In a time when
Charles Garabedian Evokes the Power of Myth in “Sacrifice of the Fleet” at L.A. Louver
Charles Garabedian has long embodied a non-conformist approach to his practice. The “Bad” Painting movement of the late 1970’s is perhaps the only definitive genre
Complex Simplicity: “Observing Observing (a white cup)” at Prographica Gallery
What could be blander than the ubiquitous white cup? A trusty denizen of kitchen cupboards, bedside tables, and office desks, this basic container is everywhere
Letter from Chicago: Making Their Mark: Illinois Women Artists, 1940-1960
Making Their Mark: Illinois Women Artists, 1940-1960 opened October 17 and is on view until January 17, 2016 at the International Features Gallery of the
Poems By Louis Zoellar Bickett
YOUR EYES BETRAY YOUR SECRETS for Ari You are on your side of the bed facing the window your back to me. Your Mac at
Geraldine Brook’s The Secret Chord
The phenomenally gifted Geraldine Brooks has returned with her newest novel, The Secret Chord, and, like The People of The Book before it, it’s both magnificent, historically accurate, and often
Jonathan Franzen’s Purity
Jonathan Franzen’s one of those hugely praised younger writers; sometimes I think his writing and ideas are superb, sometimes not; I often wonder about the wild
Maxwell’s Poetry Corner
Brink He introduced me to his son. He was enamored. In awe. When he introduced me to Jennings, procurer of me and D’s
November Issue of Aeqai Online
The November issue of Aeqai, which is filled with reviews and profiles, has just posted. It’s an exceptional issue, reflecting smart art, artists, and ideas
The History of the World: Jacob Lawrence at the Taft Museum of Art
In the 41 tempera vignettes that make up “Heroism in Paint: a Master Series by Jacob Lawrence” (currently on display at the Taft Museum of
A Thousand Invisible Threads | Mapping the Rhizome
A Thousand Invisible Threads | Mapping the Rhizome at the Herndon Gallery at Antioch College, finds its influence from Deleuze’s and Guttarai’s postmodern classic, A
The Dog, the Unicorn, and the Wheel: “Sublime Beauty: Raphael’s ‘Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn’” at the Cincinnati Art Museum, October 3, 2015-January 3, 2016
First of all, forget the unicorn. Or at the very least, hold it in abeyance. X-ray analysis of the painting shows us that before there
Erasing the American Pastoral in Elena Dorfman’s Sublime: The L.A. River
“See how willingly Nature poses herself upon photographers’ plates. No earthly chemicals are so sensitive as those of the human soul.” — John Muir Elena
City on the Rise: Public Art in Covington, Kentucky.
Our walls are changing for the better. Propelled by the global phenomenon of street art and sustained by an embrace of community-sanctioned murals, public art
Frank Herrman: Making Prints at Clay Street Gallery
‘Tis the season for tricks and treats, which leads to Clay Street Press presenting Frank Herrmann: Monotypes and Other Works. The tricks are the manipulations
Mark Mothersbaugh at the CAC
a plastic German mask. a pile of ruby feces. the Kent state shooting Mark Mothersbaugh uses these elements, along with a horse with double hindquarters and a hoard
The Art Academy of Cincinnati presents Jane Carver’s Nobody Home, on display now through October 30th.
Walking us through the ephemeral life of a one hundred year old house and the people who have called it home, this exposition is imaginative
Helado Negro – No Love Can Cut our Knife in Two
It isn’t my proclivity to fidget during performances but during this show was absolutely squirming in my seat. The sweet sounds of Helado Negro (which
Last Splash of Color
From the moment you ascend the staircase at the YWCA Women’s Art Gallery to see “Last Splash of Color,” you are struck by a sense
Talking Blues: Cedric Cox at the CCAC
Cedric Michael Cox is currently exhibiting an array of his colorful abstractions at Clifton Cultural Arts Center. Entitled “Talking Blues”, the exhibit presents a body
Profile of Brad Smith
Photographer Brad Austin Smith’s body of work contains a lot of bodies, including his own. One of his more iconic black-and-white images is of his
Nature as the Soul’s Mirror
Last month, aeqai posted both a profile of area artist Kay Hurley, and a review of her new work (and that of sculptor Margot Gotoff).
Marlene Steele –Portrait and Landscape Artist in the West End
On Oliver Street, a road without a sign in the West End, lies a four-story brick building, which is the studio and home of divorced
The Huguenots
When we last left off, the fashion community was migrating eastward witnessing designers’ Spring 2016 collections. The month started in New York and
Letter From Atlanta
An Atlanta visitor might easily miss Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, but as a frequent traveler there I’ve learned to stop by. Temporary shows
Randy Hage’s Lost but not Forgotten Storefronts
Los Angeles-based artist Randy Hage has been photographing New York City storefronts for nearly 20 years. Since the late 1990s, he’s amassed more than 700
"Texas Design Now” at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, through November 29
Despite featuring the work of 35 Texas designers, nothing feels jumbled about “Texas Design Now.” Impressively curated, these works satisfy on a thoroughly contemporary plane,
Lisaann Cohn, Nostalgia and Desire, Dendroica Gallery, October 8 – November 8, 2015
Lisaann Cohn’s recent small-format drawings in black and white inspire frequent comparisons to the work of illustrator Edward Gorey. However, at closer glance, her richly
Letter from Chicago: “Charles Ray: Sculpture, 1997–2014"
Midwest-born, Los Angeles–based sculptor Charles Ray’s mid-career retrospective, “Charles Ray: Sculpture, 1997–2014,” is a significant and revelatory exhibition which opened at the Art Institute of
Hard-Edged: Geometrical Abstraction and Beyond: An Important Show Featuring Works by Artists of African Descent Who Look to Abstraction as a Vehicle for Expression
It’s difficult to believe that our country’s canonized definition of art history continues to lack a comprehensive representation of the various contributions that African American
SAM FOY WITH BROOM: SOUTH, The Archive Louis Zoellar Bickett
Keepers of Our Craft: The 2015 Letterhead Meet
Lettering artists, calligraphers and sign painters of every type have nourished their love affair with the brush through centuries of human communicational needs. Sign design,
The State We’re In: Maine Stores by Anne Beattie
New stories by Ann Beattie are a literary event, because of the rarity of them. Her new work appears under the title The State We’re In:
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
Ever since I’d read Lauren Groff’s novel Arcadia, which landed on my ten best novels of the year a couple of years ago, I have
AEQAI FALL BENEFIT
AEQAI FALL BENEFIT November 10, 2015 6-9pm Weston Gallery located in the Aronoff Center for the Arts Aeqai is sponsoring its annual fundraiser on November 10,
October Issue of Aeqai Online
The month of October always brings with it not only glorious weather, but some of the most fascinating art shows tend to appear during this
la Biennale di Venezia: Part Two: Americans in Venice
The Venice Biennale, which opened in May, is on view through Nov 22 with exhibitions in the Giardini and the Arsenale, featuring 136 artists, 89