The summer (July/August) issue of aeqai has just posted. We have an excellent mix of exhibitions from this region, and others from around the country.
Jonathan Kamholtz reviews two major exhibitions for aeqai this month, The Folk Art in America show at The Cincinnati Art Museum, and the British paintings exhibition from the Berger Collection in Denver at The Taft Museum of Art. As always, Kamholtz seeks and finds the narratives in these shows, and what they tell us about the evolution of life on both sides of The Atlantic. Karen Chambers also offers two reviews this month, one at The Women’s YWCA Gallery downtown, which features the last work made by Cincinnati artist Merle Rosen, who died just as the show opened, and work by two other women, Laine Bachman and Amy Kollar Anderson. (Rosen’s contributions to contemporary art in this region were legion and legendary). Chambers also takes a close look at the annual Bookworks exhibition at the Public Library Downtown, and finds it as strong as ever. Megan Bickel, aeqai’s Louisville correspondent, also offers us two reviews, one from The Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, and the other, a historical photography exhibition (interacting with a second show) at The Speed Museum in Louisville. And peripitatic, roaming critic Jack Wood, whose own show of 131 paintings just opened at HudsonJones Gallery in Camp Washington, Cincinnati, traveled to Vancouver, B.C., and offers three reviews of contemporary art exhibitions in that growing and beautiful city.
Annie Dell’Aria reviews a show at Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Cincinnati, while Jane Durrell reviews a large group show at WashParkArt in OTR in Cincinnati, too. aeqai’s traveling art collector/critic/friend of contemporary art, Kevin Ott, traveled to Western Massachusetts, and spent a lot of time at MASS MOCA, and also at The Clark Museum nearby, and offers us his observations and ruminations about fabulous art he saw in both places. Joelle Jameson, who’s literally moving from Houston to Boston as I write, offers her last review from Houston, of a very important show on artwork made by prisoners-for-life; we expect more shows of this nature nationally and regionally, as social justice issues begin to pervade the arts, and identity politics moves more in the direction of Social Justice, Poverty Initiatives , and the like. LA critic Annabel Osberg gives us a highly intelligent look at the work of Jonathan Monk, and his brilliant ideas about appropriation art, in her current review with aeqai. Chelsea Borgman found a new gallery in Pendleton downtown , Bunk Spot Gallery, which is showing the work only of ” womyn and queers”, a fascinating new addition to the art scene in Greater Cincinnati. Laura Hobson offers a feature of Baker Hunt in Covington, with an interview with their new director and an overview of their activities.
Photography critic Chris Carter’s review of the collaborative show (Tony DeVarco is one of the gallery’s best artists, and is half the collaboration), at Marta Hewett Gallery, which just closed, will arrive at aeqai this Friday, and we will post it as we have it. I offer four book reviews this month of brand new fiction, too.
Aeqai’s tenth anniversary will be celebrated at its annual art auction/benefit party at Cincinnati Art Galleries downtown on Sept. l4 (evites will appear soon). The event will also honor me, your editor, as I’ve just won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Who’s Who in America. We hope to see you there.
As always, we welcome your comments (and donations, wherever possible; we are a nonprofit organization and depend financially upon grants and gifts from foundations and friends). We’ll be back on our regular monthly schedule in September.
To access the new aeqai, please click onto www.aeqai.org.
Thanks and happy reading.
Daniel Brown
Editor, www.aeqai.com