ArtWord: Emil Robinson

This summer, the Taft Museum of Art is introducing The Keystone Contemporary Series. This annual exhibition presenting emerging artists will debut with a solo show by Cincinnati artist, Emil Robinson.

Robinson graduated with a master of fine arts degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2006 and a bachelor of arts from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, in 2003. In 2007, he received a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, a Canadian organization that supports emerging representational artists from around the world. The grant allowed him to spend six months painting in London. Recently, Robinson was shortlisted for the “Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009.” Robinson paints daily in his East Walnut Hills studio and teaches figure drawing and painting at the University of Cincinnati and at Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center.

The artist answered a few questions about Contemporary Realism in general as well as discussed elements about his work in particular.

"Catherine’s Interior" 22" x 40" oil on panel 2007

1. As someone who finds analyzing abstract art much easier than reading realist works, I find myself looking for the abstract in your work. The angles or grids that make up your composition or are in fact subject of some of your paintings tempt me to ignore the realism for something more formal or theoretical. The birth of Contemporary Realism was spurred by its lively and perhaps frustrating competition with abstract art. Do you find that struggle between the two styles today? If so, how does it manifest itself in your work? Do you struggle with a prevalence of abstract art or minimalism in the galleries today?

That is a pretty involved question. While it is true that many painters express frustration over the divide between these seemingly separate modes of picture making, I see the question a little differently. I am not interested in mimicking the world around me. I believe that all good painting stems from invention. Painting is the act of constructing an abstraction. The most intelligent and powerful realist work exists as a formal masterpiece. The cerebral and intuitive balancing of one color value or shape against another is the silent language of painting. In the service of a sincere and private vision it is the stuff of great work. Even photorealist work engages with abstraction inherently. In my work I am interested in new ways of experiencing common spaces, objects, or actions. It is the “construction” or “invention” in a painting that creates this “new familiar”.

Despite being maligned cyclically over the last 40 years, painting of all kinds is thriving in today’s contemporary art world. Your question about minimalism is a good one for me because I was raised around a spare modernist aesthetic. I am very attracted to things that get down to the heart of an idea or image. Minimalist work can create a meditative space that I am inclined towards. I think that reflection is something that our world needs desperately. I don’t struggle with what is in galleries today when it is particularly abstract or minimal. I struggle with work that is wrapped in bullshit or fits a flavor of the minute. I find much performance work to be boring, esoteric, or lazy, and I find a lot of work across the genres to suffer in a similar way.

"Gym" 30"x 22" oil on panel 2008

2. Similarly, how does the aesthetic of digital art affect Contemporary Realism? Do you see it playing a part in your work? Is there room for other media or tools in this genre? Or is it always painting?

The computer is a new and powerful tool for making paintings. The effects of it are wide reaching and hard to assess at the moment. Certainly artists are turning to computer effects for new ways of describing forms and space. I find it dangerous to throw new aesthetics into a mix and I prefer to allow my work to slowly consume and assume various techniques and forms. That being said I am open for whatever will serve my vision. However, I am very suspicious of new ideas I have and I do not act on them until they seem inevitable. I currently use Photoshop to make some of my compositional sketches and I have begun experimenting with digital photography. One of my central concerns as an artist is the power of images. I am interested in the difference between photography and painting, and the various ways they can be intermixed. One of the pieces for the show at the Taft “Convergence” incorporates a large format digital print mounted on laser cut Dibond panel. The two paintings that flank the photo are on the same material. Dibond panel is very thin and light and in profile it nearly disappears. This is important because I am trying to expose the thin veneer that really is a painting. Many artists choose chunky structures for their work to promote the object hood of the painting, but I want to show its essential flatness. It seems more poignant somehow that something with deep space and three dimensional forms is really just a wafer of material.

3. Last year I spoke with a realist painter, Kate Holterhoff who then seemed frustrated by what appears to be a very conservative local audience for the arts that rejected the nude. Considering the monumental presence of the nude in realist art, I was surprised to learn of her experience. If I remember correctly, we weren’t sure or at least not convinced that this rejection resulted from her being a woman painting nudes but simply the local audience. Do you paint nudes? Do you sense a similar audience rejection of the nude in realist painting? If so, is this rejection expressed outside of the country as well?

Kate is a good friend of mine and I have a lot of respect for her talents! I think that among many there is a fear of sexuality that is manifested in any naked body. The power of nudity is undeniable and people can have mixed reactions. In general I would say that the art world sees nudity in work as “old fashioned” or conservative. I do paint and draw the nude and I am unashamed to admit my fascination and awe of the human body. I think that the nude figure is a powerful reminder of our shared fears and grandeur.

"A Place For Waiting" 40"x 38" oil on panel 2005

4. Now to get a bit closer to your work specifically. What immediately struck me and I found most interesting about your work is your interest in domestic settings. Your paintings are often of private settings, presumably in your home. Considering you’ve spent time outside of the country, I’m surprised all of your works are of interior private, domestic spaces. I don’t expect London landscapes, but do you explore more public spaces in your work?

The main reason for this is straightforward. I paint what I know. I seek transformational moments in the places I live my life. I want my paintings to look like a world the viewer knows well, but has never quite seen this way before. I want the works to be enigmatic and distilled. Interiors are indicative of a certain introspective mood that has suited my artistic personality for the last few years.

"Flicker 2" 28" x 42" oil on panel 2006

5. Do you find an inspiration or even refuge in the New Leipzig School? For example, I see some comparison between you and Matthias Weischer. You both share the subject of interior spaces and even more abstract emphases of angles and architectural geometries. Perhaps your work is more reflective of what you’ve studied at DAAP. Is there a comparison to be made between you and the German artist or DAAP and the German school?

Totally unrelated to the current school of art at UC, DAAP was founded on Bauhaus principles, and the building is a modernist work of importance. Matthias Weischer is a painter I admire and one of the only Leipzeig painters that holds my attention in any serious way. I like the way Weischer creates space that is recognizable yet fantastic. An artist I admire much more who also did this was Balthus. The problem with most of the Leipzeig painters of skill is that there is a facile empty mechanical quality to their paint. Christian Hellmich is a good example, in that at first glance his paintings are incredible, color, design, texture… but after a few minutes they exist as a husk. You can almost hear him saying “well I slathered the paint on over there, so I need to drag it on here, and this section should be painted with a small brush…” AND THAT’S IT
So many contemporary painters have this relationship to their work. There is an almost sheepish attitude that says “yeah Ill make it flashy, but I don’t really care about what I am painting about and I don’t actually like painting isn’t that ironic?”
Weischer has more of a sense of investment in his pictures, but he also gets a little mechanical, I really like his most minimal and abstract work.

_________

Axis Mundi will open at the Taft Museum of Art on July 31st. The four paintings in the exhibition will be seen for the first time in the Taft’s Keystone Gallery.

I will have an opportunity to talk more with Robinson about the importance of geometry to the artist and its spiritual implications. We will talk about the feeling of transcendence as a main goal in painting and how he achieves this in Axis Mundi. My continuing discussion with Emil Robinson and a review of the show will appear in the next issue of AEQAI.

SF Curator/Writer Considers Insider/Outsider Art

Back in March of this year I wrote a very critical review of ArtWorks and their hanging of their show Green Spaces: Everyday is Earth Day. My concern was what appear as a terrible lack of respect of the outsider artists from Visionaries and Voices who were featured in the exhibition.

This week, Anuradha Vikram, Bay Area curator and writer, and Director of Aicon Gallery in Palo Alto has begun a discussion on Insider/Outsider art. She plans to engage this topic from various angles over the coming weeks.

You can read Ms. Vikram's introduction to this topic and the following essays at the SFMOMA Blog.

NEA Announces New Round of Grants

The National Endowment of the Arts announced this week the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Direct Grants. The grants are awarded to support the preservation of jobs that are threatened by declines in philanthopic support during the current economic downturn. The grants represent part of the $50 million in federal aid to the NEA from President Obama's economic stimulus package.

Cincinnati art organizations awarded were the Contemporary Art Center, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and the Contemporary Dance Theatre, Inc.

Kentucky grantees include the Kentucky Dance Council, Inc., and the Lexington Children's Theatre, Inc.

You can find a complete list of these recent awards here.

The Cincinnati Art Museum responds.

After emailing the Cincinnati Art Museum about their absence from special PBS Applause program that invited Ohio art museums to participate in a panel discussion, I received this response:

"Thank you for your inquiry. Due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict, Director Aaron Betsky was unable to attend the panel discussion. The Cincinnati Art Museum looks forward to working with our Ohio art museum counterparts on future initiatives to reduce the economic challenges facing the arts today."

Applause Special on Ohio Arts. Why wasn't the Cincinnati Art Museum part of this discussion?

A recent discussion on the state of the state's art museums included directors from the Wexner Center For the Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Akron Art Museum. and of course the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Why didn't the Cincinnati Art Museum participate in this discussion?

Here is the link with a feed of the program.

Timothy Rub Resigns as Cleveland Museum of Art Director

Former Cincinnati Art Museum Director, Timothy Rub, who has since led the Cleveland Museum of Art since 2006 and who just finished guiding construction of the museum's gleaming new East Wing, has decided to leave his post in September to direct the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the story here.

ArtWord: Alton Falcone Interview

Alton Falcone is a sculptor currently exhibiting at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, KY. He discovered sculpture during his long sojourn in San Gimignano, Italy in the province of Tuscany. He was profoundly influenced by the ancient ruins and Renaissance spirit. He founded his own art gallery and hosted a continuous exhibition of his work for several years before returning to the United States to earn graduate degrees in both Fine Arts and Philosophy from Stony Brook University, New York.

Variation in Grey#2, 2009 (Recovered wood, 40"x25")

1. While your sculptural work seems to adopt the Minimalist language of the cube and repetition, a closer look and contemplation of your pieces reveal a rather obvious and perhaps intentional reference to architectural forms and constructions. Hardly Minimal. The weathered wood and rusted nails with the clean “industrial cut” permit a much more dynamic visual language. With what seems to present dueling geometric and organic lines in your work, explain how you see the result as harmonious.
In the wood sculptures, there is the play of the geometric and the organic, but also other aspects are at play. I work three: a negative space (the absence of wood), the flat plain and the clustered, ‘busier’ sections (such as conglomerations of small wood pieces and extruding nails). Each of the three negates the other two in some way; for example, the flat plane feels like a negative space next to the clusters. Hence the aesthetic play of my work is really between these three elements on one level as well as the dual play between (as you mentioned) a clean cut and the ‘softer,’ weathered touches.
The harmony arises in varied ways. The overall proportion is often based on the Golden Ratio, known for its presence in natural forms, strongly evident in my recent wall works. The straight line affords the eye a respite and ordering within or around the weathered elements which in turn afford a respite from the hardness of the line. The harmony arises from a balance between these, as well as a careful play of the three other elements listed above. Color also serves to unite disparate aspects; some of the weathering is my own intervention. It is a lot to juggle; if one views my works long enough, this balancing act reveals itself, not as a tightrope but a conscious, peaceful ordering.


2. You say you are attracted to abstract art because “there are no references to concepts, ideas, real objects beyond what is before the viewer or flights of narratives within the beholder’s mind.“ Do you believe your work makes no references to concepts or ideas? Is this your goal? If so, why?
A concept (such as occurs in art that makes reference to a conceptual theme at the expense of all other aspects of it, which to be fair does not always happen in conceptual art) acts with necessity on the viewer’s interiority and oppresses the free play of the imagination, substituting imaginative experience for ‘intellectual play.’ That for me is a poor substitute for rich visual experience (here I am inspired by Schiller). My rejection of references to real objects goes back to Plato’s rejection of mimesis. The tendency for artists to rely on narratives is for me also a substitute for visual richness - the work becomes like a mystery novel, finding its completion to the extent it is ‘read.’ And narrative works are often mimetic, simply on a more subtle level. Essentially, my rejection of the above is that the work would refer to something outside of itself and rely too heavily upon the purely mental activity of the viewer, whereas I wish my artwork to be self-referential, self-sustaining and engaging of vision and intuition.
I consider it valid that other artists work in the ways in which I reject; this is simply my own research and a demand I make upon myself.

3. During the time you spent working in Italy you found the ancient ruins your inspiration. The Roman Forum is often referred to as an architectural history book complete with inscriptions, dates, and names that chronicle Rome’s history. Do you seek a similar historicizing in your work that is itself made of pieces from older architectural structures? How to you see your own reworking of the wood as part of this history?
The weatherization and history of the wood is more symbolic of history than having an actual history, although it of course has an actual history. I rarely conserve what might be called linear, ‘obvious’ history (such as an inscription from someone on the wood, or a price tag, etc.) as I would find this distracting from the play of elements I described earlier. Anything I do to the wood would become part of its history by default; I try to conserve the more ‘naturally’ produced weatherization out of concern that too much of my own hand may appear artificial. But I do make heavy interventions with bleach, paint, scraping etc. and carefully choose methods that have unpredictable results. I also add many of my own holes and similar damages as I add, subtract, cut, reattach, etc.

4. In your artist statement for the exhibit at the Carnegie Center, you ask your viewer to imagine a personal history transformed to a higher meaning, “as a spirit greater than their outer manifestation, one evolving to an elevated and luminous state even through the most painful of experiences.” Here, you seem to refer to martyrdom or more precisely a Christ figure. This combined with the old wood and rusty nails really strengthens an allusion to the crucifix. Do you see religion as a theme in your work?
I used the image in order to reach out to viewers not in the habit of looking at abstract art. Since the work does not refer to anything they may have perceived before, I played with the idea of the intuition/feeling one may experience before, say, one’s grandparents or other venerated members of the elderly community. The materials are symbolic of lived, endured experience (experience is not always pleasant) but their arrangement and other methods of my transformation of the materials symbolize the transformation of suffering.
Such transformation is not limited to Christianity; take, for example, Buddhism and the lotus flower. It is purely accidental that my materials recall Christianity . I am Christian, but I don’t see that religious aspect in the work, unless you define religion in terms of the formless stream within it. I don’t, or I would be at church services.

5. You welcome or even celebrate wood’s ability to reveal its own weathered history and refer to the wood you use in many of your pieces as “recovered.” Yet contemporary audiences may associate your language of history recovery to environmentalism, recycling or “green” speak. Is this a misconception or an added bonus?
Added bonus. I know that many artists claim to be green through their use of recovered materials. But how are those materials worked? Do they use toxic glues, power machinery, industrial glazes? That undermines a little the green category so I don’t claim it. Not all artists fall into this of course but I for one use miter saws, paint thinners, etc.

6. Similarly, environmental artists like Robert Smithson were interested in history, more specifically ecological history. His exploration of the passage of time and human’s impact in nature is reflected in his Spiral Jetty. Do you welcome a comparison between your work and that of the Environmental artists?
Not really. My wood work is mostly what I call ‘studio work’ (not site-specific, public art, installation etc.) and is designed for the white box gallery. I ‘halt’ the weatherization of the wood, coating it with bee’s wax and hope that it is protected. My hope is that its final home is protective of the work. I would enjoy creating a body of wood sculpture cast directly into bronze (via the burnout technique) in order to deeply conserve the form but this would require funds that I do not have.
I am not limited to studio work though and I have made work with the intention of it weathering and breaking down; in that case I could be included with environmental artists.

To see more images of Alton Falcone's work visit www.altonfalcone. net.

2009 Professional Development Fund for Emerging Arts Leaders of Color in the Great Lakes Region

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce that the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation has renewed its support for Americans for the Arts' Professional Development Fund for Emerging Arts Leaders of Color. A total of five Joyce Fellows from the Great Lakes Region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) will be selected to participate in this program in 2009. Fellows will receive stipends of $3,000 to support their attendance at the 2009 National Arts Marketing Project Conference, 2010 Arts Advocacy Day, and 2010 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention. In addition, fellows will have special opportunities to meet field leaders, work alongside mentors, and receive individualized career coaching. An additional five fellows will be selected in 2010.

Here you can find more information and download an application.

DC Art Writer, Tyler Green Points to the CAM's Blue Hole, Little Miami River by Robert S. Duncanson

In an earlier post about the Cincinnati Art Museum's current exhibitions depicting women, I mentioned discussions about American Art recently taking place. I specifically looked to Tyler Green's upcoming review of the NGA's reinstalled American Art galleries.

Here is the critique, in which he recognizes the NGA's exclusion of non-white and non-male artists in these galleries. To illustrate the rather blatant inaccuracy of the presentation of America's art history, Green lists a number of artists and works, including The Cincinnati Art Museum's Blue Hole, Little Miami River by Robert S Duncanson.

Call for Artist: Manifest adds NUDE to Exhibition Schedule

The first annual Nude will be the ninth exhibit added to the Manifest Gallery exhibition schedule. For this international competition, works in any media of any style or genre and size will be considered. The deadline is July 17, 2009.

Here you can find more information and an online entry form.

PAC Gallery Updates

Last month I expressed concern over the choice to open the new PAC Gallery with an exhibition of contemporary Indian Art. My question was based on recent art market reports. Though this week, the PAC Gallery is reporting an earlier edition of one of these paintings sold at Christie’s.

According to the PAC Gallery:

“We are pleased to announce that edition No. 8/9 of Vivek Vilasini's Last Supper Gaza just sold at Christie's recent South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art Sale in London. The priced realized at the auction was $34,744 including the buyers premium. We have edition No. 9/9 and the only copy available in the United States at PAC Gallery, our new location in East Walnut Hills.”

Click Christie's to view the sale.

PAC Gallery has decided to extend this exhibition through the end of July if you would like to see this and the other paintings that make up the show.

ArtWord: Cedric Michael Cox Interview

I chose to open my artist interview series, ArtWord, with local artist Cedric Michael Cox, whose work directly reflects the urban space in which he lives and works. Over the Rhine is located north of Downtown Cincinnati and is probably Cincinnati's most economically diverse and certainly its most creative neighborhood. Since 2001, when OTR was at the center of a race riot that made national news, the neighborhood has been making strong strides towards a revitalization. The 19th century Italianate and Greek Revival architecture throughout Over the Rhine is immediately recognized as influential to Cox's work.

15th and Elm, 35x45 inches, acrylic mounted on unstretched canvas

1. You grew up in a suburban neighborhood where you lived within a well-defined grid of perfectly manicured lawns and lines of houses. You mention your move to OTR was the single most influential aspect of your work. The grid is still a commanding element in your paintings. Tell me more about the transformation of your work that reflect this influence.
The grid and its commanding element in my work goes back to my interest in Cubism and Italian Futurist like Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini who serve as a major influence. As a youth in grade school and in high school I remember the foreground and background in my paintings and drawings being rendered to the same level of intensity with my subjects having a very geometric quality. It wasn’t until college that I started relating to artist like Franz Marc and Fernand Leger. I fell in love with these artists because they handled their subjects the same way I thought I did. Growing up in the suburbs where everything felt and looked the same, inspired me and my misfit friends to take the bus and explore downtown where we thought we would blend in. We still were misfits but the noise and look of the city felt great. The architecture of OTR always inspired me but it wasn’t until I moved there in 2000 that I remembered what I learned in college. Paint what you know. The urban environment fueled by my love for the fragmentation of form and the city became my subject. The ruins of OTR were and still are my muse. The quick gestural graffiti tags against the brick wall patterns are a vision that repeats in my mind when I look up at the tallest buildings and in the cracks in the ground. The visual stimulation pulses in me as I walk. This is what I see and what I know.

Painting the Quilt #2, 40x57 inches, acrylic on tar paper mounted on unstretched canvas

2. You seem to draw on the aesthetics of various artistic genres. I am most intrigued by your admitted reference to quilting. I’m not familiar with many male painters who would offer a shout-out to the crafts. Your work does in fact share the analytical form of traditional quilting. Have you worked in textiles? Would you like to bring actual quilting into your paintings?
When describing my work to someone who hasn’t seen my work, words like patterns and rhythm come up. When these terms are used I tend to refer to my paintings and drawings as quilt-like. The same way shapes and colors bounce from corner to corner in a quilt can be related to the invisible line of the compositional pyramid used by the master painters like Leonardo da Vinci. Most of my work has this quilt-like quality to it because I have appropriated compositions and the use of pattern and color from contemporary fine art quilt makers. I believe patterns moving and shifting in space to make an implied or obvious connection to the viewer can be seen in “craft” like art and in fine arts. I will use whatever source I can find to fuel my paintings. My continuous mission as a visual artist is not only to create work that expands my interests, but also to find innovative ways of attracting new and inspired audiences to my work and to the arts in general. If associating my paintings with quilts helps others who never experienced abstract work like mine to understand how I create then I have made a connection. I have only made a hand full of quilts in my career and I will like to do more. I have not worked with textiles but I believe that I can learn a lot if I tried. I am open to anything that will enhance my art.

3. Your referencing and comparing musical composition to the visual is not so unusual. Many painters have spoken about their similarities. You are a musician, yes? Do you still play? Have you performed professionally?
As a musician, the similarities between a musical composition and a visual composition are apparent. A change in rhythm or pitch can be compared to a shift in line, brush stroke, gesture, and pattern. Fresh out of college with the notion of purely painting what I know, I looked to my apartment as a still life for inspiration. My apartment was filled with guitars. To this day you will find shapes and forms that echo the shapes of drums and stringed instruments in my work. Ever since I was a child I remember being fascinated with the guitar and wanting to be a rock star. I strummed my first guitar at the age of 4 and still to this day I will strum a six string while paint is drying on one of my paintings. For over seventeen years I have played bass with my friends in the band Morticite. Though we have played in front of large crowds opening up for major Heavy Metal and Punk bands and produced numerous recordings we never landed a major record deal nor did we ever care to. Like me with my career as a visual artist, the rest of the band has other passions and sources of inspiration that drive them beyond the stage and studio. Built on the love and passion we have for the music we play and the respect we share for each other the band will stay together forever.

4. When we spoke, we laughed a bit about how because you are black, many would assume your musical palette would include exclusively jazz, R&B, and rap. However this isn’t the case. Tell me more about your musical influences? How do these styles lend themselves to your paintings?
When I was an undergrad at the University of Cincinnati’s College Design, Architecture Art and Planning my instructor was Wayne Enstice. At that time I was creating a body of work inspired by the relationship between body and music. The paintings depicted anatomical structures of the internal anatomy intertwined with biomorphic imagery that resembled musical instruments. I was creating portraiture from the inside out in a surreal environment. At a critique I found it necessary to mention that my main source of musical inspiration was jazz. This was probably inspired by the fact that my instructor was not only a fan of Jazz but has written many essays on Jazz theory. I was trying to win him over. Wayne saw right through me and declared the drawings as strong but saw more rock n roll than jazz in my work. Later on Wayne ended up using one of the pieces in this series in the third edition of the college text, Drawing: Space, Form, and Expression and described the work better than I ever could. It is clear that though I like jazz, Hip Hop, and r&b music, my main drive to achieve artistic excellence is fueled by the driving sounds of Iron Maiden and other trash bands from my adolescence. I am privileged to do what I do now with paint as I did as youth with crayons. Rock ‘n’ Roll was in my blood then and it is still with me now. The music I compose for my band Morticite tends to be layered with riff after pounding riff leaving little room for crescendo or rest. Similar to my paintings I am driven to give the listener an all over compositional climax from start to finish. Walls of layered distortion with riffs intertwined in dense patterns, echoes the cubic area of my paintings.

The Drummer, 30 x 36 inches graphite on paper

5. Do you get frustrated with the aesthetic assumptions viewers place on you because of race? Combined with your interests in your urban living space in OTR, musical rhythms, and of course your race, how far away could a comparison between you and an artist like Jacob Lawrence be? Do you often feel compelled to defend your art from racial stereotypes? How does this play out specifically in Cincinnati as opposed to other cities, countries in which you’ve lived?
It depends on what the assumptions are. Most assumptions people make about African American artists is that our work is based primarily on our race and culture alone. Those assumptions don’t bother me to the point of frustration. I basically just accept it at face value. Jacob Lawrence’s work uses music, mythical folklore, and the urban environment as his palette for expression. This and the fact that we are both African American artists make us similar. Where we differ is that his music influence comes from jazz where mine comes from rock ‘n’ roll. I was always encouraged by my peers to paint what I know based on my experiences and how those experiences influence me. My art defends itself from these stereotypes. The same connections one might find with my work and other African American artist work can be made with the work of artist of non African decent. When creating my work I have no obligation to anyone but me. My goal to achieve artistic excellence is fueled by the desire to create work that reflects my interests regardless of my race. I enjoy living in Cincinnati particularly Over the Rhine. When visiting other cities and even my short time in Scotland I found that people were more intrigued by the art rather than my race.

For a more complete portfolio of Cox's work see his website.

Classically Competing Images of Women

With the opening of the Cincinnati Art Museum’s three new exhibitions focusing on women we have an opportunity to see how women are viewed and presented throughout art’s last century and the competing perspectives of female and male artists. The much discussed issues including the male gaze and voyeurism surround the Garry Winogrand Women are Beautiful. Similarly, the discussion of the challenges posed to women artists during the turn of the last century that seemed result in their relegation to domestic settings of the feminine present Bessie Potter Vonnoh as Mary Cassatt’s sculptural American counterpart (without mentioning Mary Cassatt).

While these are valued topics important in engaging American art in the last century, the museum’s third exhibition fails to grab the opportunity to offer something new to the discussion. Virgins to Vixens: Picturing American Women, 1881-1930 as the title suggests parades the same dichotomy.

Currently there are discussions about the presentation of American art as new galleries devoted to this subject are opening in museums throughout the country. Not only what to hang in the gallery is at issue, but what new questions to ask and new themes to engage in our changing America are needed exercises. One art critic, Tyler Green, begins this discussion here.

For now and in Cincinnati, perhaps the best place to engage in a new discussion about images and roles of women in America is the more specific Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America currently on view at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Or we can go to France.

SOS Art 2009 at the Art Academy of Cincinnati

Now in its seventh year, SOS ART 2009 presents for 10 days an art show and event of sociopolitical expressions for peace and justice.

More than 200 Cincinnati visual artists, literary artists, musicians, performers and school children will participate in this year’s SOS ART event at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, from May 29th to June 7th, 2009.

Organizer and founder, Saad Ghosn of the University of Cincinnati, has
coordinated the art event of paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, installations, poetry readings, movies, music, performances and discussions on current issues of peace and justice.

The event is a kaleidoscopic community view on the sociopolitical world. Works by local artists make powerful and diverse statements in support of peace and justice locally, nationally and worldwide.

The opening night, which includes an artists’ talk and reception, is Friday, May 29 from 6pm to midnight. Saturday programming for both weekends includes events from 7pm to 10pm. Sunday events are from 3pm to 6pm with a closing reception on the final Sunday, June 7th.

The visual art may also be seen Monday to Thursday from 9am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday from 9am to midnight and Sunday from noon to 6 pm, May 30 to June 7. The entire program is free and open to the public.

See the pdf for more information.

OAC Building Cultural Diversity Workshop Next Month

The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) will hold a Building Cultural Diversity (BCD) workshop Wednesday, June 17, 2009 from 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn –Worthington, 7007 N. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43085.

The workshop will be the OAC’s second annual Professional Development Day for leaders of culturally diverse arts organizations. The workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to learn more about fundraising in these challenging times, discuss OAC grant programs with staff and network with colleagues. Facilitator Kerri Laubenthal Mollard of Mollard Consulting will lead participants in a series of exercises designed to increase organizational and fundraising effectiveness.

The OAC’s Building Cultural Diversity program supports the development and viability of culturally diverse arts organizations whose mission, programs, and staff are representative of the Black/African American, Appalachian, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, or other culturally specific perspectives. For more information on this program visit the Ohio Arts Council’s website.

Register here for the workshop.

Looking at the Frame

In the next few weeks I will be spending time focusing outside of Cincinnati. While I will be in NYC later this month and will no doubt blog about an exhibition there, my interest is in exploring art communities and the dynamics that lie just outside of our city.

I am looking forward to taking a closer look at Covington, and Newport, KY, and Yellow Springs, OH as well as finally making a trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. If there is a gallery, museum, or artist you think I should check out, let me know.

The CMA to Celebrate Dr. Sherman E. Lee

The Cleveland Museum of Art will celebrate its former Director, the late Dr. Sherman E. Lee in an exhibition, Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The exhibition will include 50 masterworks acquired by the CMA during Lee's tenure.

The exhibition will run from June 27 to August 23, 2009.

Bad News for the new PAC Gallery?

There has been understandably some excitement about the recent local collaboration presenting contemporary Indian art. In partnership with ArtWorks, Cincinnati's new private gallery, the PAC Gallery recently opened Metamorphosis – Change and Continuity in Indian Contemporary Art.

However, according to myartspace.com, ArtTactic, a London based research company that examines the art market, is reporting that the art market confidence in contemporary Indian art has dropped 90 percent since last October.

Click here for more information.

Manifest Gallery International Call For Artist

"Master Pieces" is an annual offering, this third installment of the Master Pieces project will continue to reveal the intensity and professionalism of students working towards their terminal academic degree in the field of art or design. The exhibit successfully draws participation by artists working in a variety of approaches and media, and joins them together from afar in one momentous presentation which introduces them and highlights their work to the world. (The 1st annual Master Pieces was reviewed in the international publication Sculpture Magazine!)

Deadline is June 5, 2009.

Click here for more information.

NEA Announces FY 2009 Grant Awards

The NEA announced a number of FY 2009 grants awarded in Ohio.

Access to Artistic Excellence I/Challenge America Fast-Track Grants/Creativity & Aging/Literature Fellowships (Poetry)

Access to Artistic Excellence II/American Masterpieces
Arts on Radio and Television/Learning in the Arts for Children & Youth/Partnerships

And the Ohio Arts Council received an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant of $353,400.

Congratulations to all of our Ohio artists and art organizations.

To see all NEA FY 2009 awards by state start here.

The CAC responds

Following is the email I received responding to my questions about the the inclusion of Supply and Demand on the next season at the Contemporary Art Center:

Thank you for your note. It’s clear you have passion for contemporary art and the artists who produce it. And as you pointed out, you are not alone in your opinion. These types of debates are very important to the health of the art world. They should, and I'm sure will, continue. The CAC believes it is important to express and present the different viewpoints and opinions not only in art, but of the art as well. It's wonderful to know we have community members involved and engaged in this type of dialogue. There is no shortage of worthy issues to debate considering all the factors involved in all the forms contemporary art takes, and we hope you and others continue to express your concern, enjoyment and passion--it's a great contribution.

Best,
Molly

Molly O'Toole
Director of Communications and Community Engagement
Contemporary Arts Center
Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art


We'll see how the CAC plans to present "different viewpoints." For now, the only viewpoint on the season schedule is that of Shepard Fairey.

Is the CAC on the wrong side of art?

When I heard the rumor last week that Shepard Fairey’s Supply and Demand will be in Cincinnati next year, I contacted the CAC with my concerns regarding Fairey’s practice “appropriating” works by artists who he simply neglects to attribute. To date, the CAC has not responded to my inquiry.

I hope the CAC intends to address these issues. That Supply and Demand is scheduled to travel to the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh before arriving in Cincinnati will not wipe clean the problems Fairey brings. Warhol celebrated the copy. Fairey is no Warhol In fact, up to this point Fairey has cloaked himself in a willingness by the public be ignorant of his “lifting” of art. Is Raphaela Platow, Director of the CAC counting on the same kind of protection? Also, if the CAC plans to present him as a “street artists,” they should know there are a number of street artists who have issued challenges to Fairey and his work….challenges he has up to this point ignored. I presented this discussion in an earlier post.

Despite the loud cries of disdain for Fairey from much of the art world, Ms. Platow insists, “He has made a successful move into museums.” Successful? Really? As the Director of the CAC, Raphaela Platow should be the city’s leading advocate for contemporary art and artists. A blind eye to Fairey’s "lifting" of art and a deaf ear to the protest by artists puts her advocacy into question.

Coming Soon: Artist Interviews

In my interests to maintain and strengthen the regional artistic discussion, I am introducing a new element to my blog: ArtWord. ArtWord will be a regular (weekly or monthly) feature inviting artists to discuss their work. Rather than the interviews being about the artists as seen too much here in Cincinnati, my hope is to provide a space for artists to discuss the direction and goals of their work.

Ideally, artists will find this blog as a space not for mere promotion of their art, but will welcome and gain artistic critiques.

Cleveland Museum of Art to return Italian ancient art

AP reports that the director of The Cleveland Museum of Art says museum officials are prepared to hand over 14 art works to Italian authorities.

Timothy Rub says the transfer of the art, which includes ancient pieces looted or smuggled out of Italy, will take place Wednesday.

Rub and the Italian arts minister agreed to the handover in November. It was unclear which Italian agency would carry the objects back home.

As part of the agreement, Italy has promised to lend 13 objects comparable in quality to the returned antiquities and to cooperate on future exhibitions.

Rub says those works will go on view in Cleveland in 2010, when the museum reopens galleries devoted to ancient art after the completion of a $350 million expansion and renovation.

Gray's Auctioneers Fine Art, Antiques, and Decorations Auction, May 2nd

Gray’s Auctioneers announced its 20th Fine Art, Antiques and Decorations auction to be held Saturday May 2nd at 1pm. Gray’s Auctioneers Llc has quickly established itself as the region’s premier auction house and appraisal facility, capitalizing on both its extensive industry experience as well as its strategic positioning in the upper Midwest region. The Cleveland area in particular provides an abundantly rich and varied source of fine art, antique and decorative pieces - due in part to the prosperous and thriving philanthropic community present here at the turn of the 20th century. While the age of the Rockefellers has past, the passion for extraordinary art works has not. The chance to obtain any number of unique art and decorative pieces at exceptional prices draws individuals not just from the upper Midwest, but all over the globe through our online, absentee and telephone bidding options.

Click here for more information.

Art Critic or P.R. Person

Years ago when I wrote an art column for a northern Ohio newspaper, I saw my role as one that not only announces local exhibitions, but also teaches and introduces an art historical context for many of the shows. It didn’t take me too long to discover the editorial line I was not allowed to cross. While my editor loved my writing, I had to remember that the goal of the newspaper was to bring people to the museums and galleries and there were certain shows that would be the lead story regardless of its strength. As an art historian and not a journalist, this was a real eye-opener for me. How could loyalty to certain artists, museums, and even private galleries supersede an allegiance to the discourse of art? Not only can this poisonous bias permeate throughout mainstream art criticism if not kept in check by writers, but it is the backbone of Cincinnati’s art community.

Last week while visiting a few shows at the Weston Art Gallery, I was asked by a few gallery employees if I knew personally the local artist whose photographs were being exhibited in one of the galleries. I didn’t and in fact had never heard of him. I know personally almost no local artists. What interested me were their claims to how long they’ve known him and very little comment about his work. Here we go. Another example of a Cincinnati gallery exhibiting the artist, not the art. When I saw the work, I understood why. The black and white photographs are not bad, they simply didn’t illicit any kind of response from me so I reviewed the other two exhibitions in the gallery. Perhaps in a few days after the images brewed for awhile, I would have something to say and post it on my blog. Unfortunately, the images simply faded. Until a couple of days ago when I noticed not one but two local publications, City Beat and Cincinnati Magazine included write-ups about this artist and the exhibition this month. Does this reflect an allegiance to the artist or to the gallery? I don’t know.

Two stories about this one show that ignore the other two shows in the same gallery seems a bit saturating until I remind myself this is Cincinnati. This city not only enjoys celebrating its community support of one of its own, but proudly exhibits the incestral core of the arts community. This is far more pervasive than the old adage, “it’s who you know, not what you know.” Many Cincinnati local art critics are themselves artists who have shown in a number of Cincinnati galleries or have worked or do work for any number of our city’s art organizations. Is there a conflict of interest here? I think most art critics would agree there is a blatant conflict. But here in Cincinnati’s art world, a community that literally resides in the shadow of P&G Headquarters, the symbols of successful p.r. marketing, this is business as usual. Marketing is in the interest of the arts. No matter the cost to the creative and intellectual art discussion.

Blogging about art instead of writing for a local publication helps keep the blood of a p.r. man off my hands. I maintain absolutely no allegiance to any artist or art organization here in Cincinnati or elsewhere. My loyalty is to art. Though I have to thank Cincinnati's local arts community for a wonderful irony. Its marketing strategies has made branding myself as Cincinnati’s Art Snob effortless.

Revealing the Grid

The Weston Art Gallery seems to welcome a preoccupation with the challenge of its street-level gallery space that is nearly dominated by windows looking out onto Cincinnati’s downtown streets of 7th and Walnut. Thomas Macaulay’s House Divided: SiteSpecific Environmental Installation currently on view is another such invitation. With its maze of cardboard boxes, nearly all of them white, The Weston almost begs comparison with the CAC’s Tara Donovan, but I’ll let someone else write that review.

Perhaps my most powerful revelation as an art history student occurred when I was introduced to the grid not just as a design principle in architecture and painting, but most impressive as a concept of our living space. As a professor of art history I always enjoyed most revealing this to my students. Forcing them to recognize the tiles on the walls, ceilings and floors of the classrooms as well as the inherent design of campus buildings as nearly uniform three-dimensional grids in which they spent their days, their lives. Watching their eyes get big, I knew from that moment many of them would never see the world the same way again. House Divided wonderfully forces a similar revelation not only of the gridded space that is The Weston Art Gallery, but of how we move and live within the grid. Despite the analytical clarity of a grid we tend to be blinded to it. And like all mazes, Macaulay’s cardboard box maze forces us to move blindly through this space and in doing so reveals our blindness to the forms around us.

Similarly, the photographs of Fredrik Marsh that make up Transitions: The Dresden Project also reveal the architectural grid that constructs our living spaces. Marsh took the photographs during a residency in Dresden, Germany in 2002 and over four subsequent summers. During this time he found himself drawn to buildings that seemed to be locked in the process of reconstruction but now abandoned. The title of the show either refers to the reconstruction of these buildings or more likely to the transition to a post-Communist world. Marsh notes this transition as one that combines a grandness with decay.

While the black and white and color photographs of decaying interiors seem to present a commentary on the collapse of Socialism, these images reveal too a layering of the grid that makes up our domestic spaces. Photographs like Abandoned Apartment near Bahnhof Neustadt, 2005 presents layers of wallpaper and geometrics that make up a space now abandoned, but clearly once celebrated as expressed in the number of applications of design. Many of the photographs include and sometimes focus on doors and windows further emphasizing the gridded domestic space. Like Macaulay’s maze, these photographs invite movement into these spaces. Again, it is this layering of the grid that forces us to recognize our willingness to abandon or overlook these spaces, thus revealing our blindness.

Both shows at The Weston Art Gallery work so well together to encourage the viewer to engage both the formal and social implications of the grid.

Ohio Arts Jobs Preservation Grants Applications

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) recognizes that the non-profit arts industry is an important sector of the economy. The National Endowment for the Arts is uniquely positioned to fund arts projects and activities that preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn. As part of this important investment, the Arts Endowment is planning to expedite distribution of critical funds at the national, regional, state, and local levels for projects that focus on the preservation of jobs in the arts.

On the web page you will find the information and resources you need to apply for an Ohio Arts Jobs Preservation Grant award, including the OAC list of eligible applicants to the program, program guidelines, scoring criteria, FAQ, reporting requirements, and cash request instructions. Information will be added to the page as it becomes available, but guidelines, scoring criteria and the list of eligible applicants will be posted no later than April 17, 2009.

Except For Parking

Manifest Gallery 12-Hour Life Drawing Marathon This Weekend

Open Figure is an uninstructed life-drawing studio format whereby professionals, students, and the creative public can work side-by-side in common pursuit of excellence in the discipline of drawing (or various other media) while working from the nude model. This no-performance-pressure environment inevitably leads to new learning, support, and productivity that complements formal study (at the high school, college, or professional level), or other non-figure-related artistic work. Each session is moderated by Manifest Associates who are trained and well-qualified artists and/or instructors at the college level.

For more information and to register for the Weekend Drawing Marathon click here.

Ohio Artist goes “back and forth in history”

Columbus, Ohio, artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (b. 1940) has been creating sumptuous mixed media paintings and sculptures for more than half a century. These document the stories she has gleaned from her elders, her travels throughout the world and her study of African and African American history. Her recent series of rag paintings entitled Along Water Street is based on the stores her Uncle Alvin told her as she was growing up and on old maps of Ohio she studied at the library. The artist describes the series as “going back and forth in history” with references to early Native American and African inhabitants who may have populated the Americas hundreds of years ago.

Along Water Street is on view at the Akron Art Museum through April 5, 2009

Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center Artist Call

Call to Artists for The Carnegie's 2010 Exhibition Season Deadline May 1, 2009!

The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center is dedicated to showcasing the works of emerging and established artists in all artistic disciplines. The Carnegie is located in Covington, Kentucky, ten blocks from the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The organization was established in 1971. Each year, 30-40 group and solo shows are awarded for the five galleries consisting of over 6,000 square feet of exhibition space.


Click here for eligibility and forms.

The Sculpture Center Artist Call Deadline

Ann Albano, Executive Director of The Sculpture Center in Cleveland, Ohio is reminding artists of their artist call. The April 6 deadline for entries for After the Pedestal, the 5th Annual of Small Sculpture from the Region is fast approaching. Don’t miss this opportunity to have your artwork selected by the juror Paola Morsiani, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art and former Senior Curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Texas. This summer exhibition will run from June 5 – July 25, 2009.

Consideration will be given to work in all media of sculpture, including installation, conceptual work, and performance video, if object based. The work may be conceived for exhibition on a pedestal, on the wall, on the floor, or hanging from the ceiling – it just should not be too large, made within the last three years, and not previously exhibited in northeastern Ohio. Up to three works of art can be entered for consideration.

For full information and online entry, please click here.

Joan Snyder Goes Solo in Los Angeles

In January I wrote of how fortunate we are to have the Carl Solway Gallery in Cincinnati as a portal for modern art. Then the gallery just opened their exhibition showing Joan Snyder, Joan Miró, Hans Hoffman, and Fred Tomaselli. Now, Joan Snyder is showing at the Solway-Jones Gallery in Los Angeles in a solo debut. Check out David Pagel’s review of Snyder’s “funky art” here.

Solway-Jones in LA is owned by Carl's son Michael and his wife, Angela Jones.