The idea that Ohio’s art scene looks to New York for validation has some sad truth, but sometimes Ohio brings both the spark and the fuel, and New York is just the place where they meet. Such was the case for an upcoming exhibition at moCa Cleveland, which was conceived during a conversation at Frieze—the international contemporary art fair that […]
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It is the morning after moCa’s new Curator and Deputy Director DJ Hellerman’s first curatorial project opened to a crowd of more than 700 widely diverse art lovers. DJ and I meet over Wojtila’s pastries and coffee at 10 am on Saturday, January 25; he was one of my first students in Cleveland, and we’ve not seen one another in […]
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I recently went to moCa Cleveland for the opening of Dear, an exhibit of photos provided by Birthing Beautiful Communities. Dear is a tribute to the strength, resilience, and beauty of Black motherhood and the community that supports it. Birthing Beautiful Communities is an organization in Northeast Ohio that holistically supports pregnant women from the time they find out they […]
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The excellent title of Harminder Judge’s exhibition, The Bootstrap Paradox (on view January 24 – June 1 at moCa Cleveland) might seem at this point in history to be an economic reference to the elusive American Dream. In this country we have the illusion that poor people can “lift themselves up by their bootstraps” and start companies, work hard, and […]
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Opening on Friday, January 24 are three exhibitions: Gala Porras-Kim: A Hand in Nature; Birthing Beautiful Communities: Dear; and (curated by MOCA’s recent hire, Curator and Deputy Director, DJ Hellerman) Harminder Judge: Bootstrap Paradox. This is the first U.S. exhibition by British artist Harminder, whose vibrant plaster-and-pigment pieces merge painting and sculpture, embedding paint in form, making fields of sinuous […]
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Aching traceries of grasses arch and sway across colossal canvases as part of Sam Falls’ exhibit, We Are Dust and Shadow, at moCa Cleveland now until June 11, 2023. Bits of the forest have disappeared and leave only white silhouettes behind, maybe answering the question, “What void does the natural world leave when it goes away?” Falls’ work is at […]
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If you asked me at the beginning of my summer in Cleveland what my expectations were for local activities, I would have off-handedly mentioned something about a baseball outing or maybe a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I am a student at the University of Chicago, and I’ve been spoiled by the plethora of public art […]
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Where We Overlap, on view in the Lewis Gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland (moCa), is a shining example of the age old adage “We are more similar than we are different.” Curator Davon Brantley paired several artists with seemingly different styles and approaches, so that they could learn from each other and collaborate on works of art […]
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Dolls are ancient and universal. Most often these figurines, whether large or small, call them mannequins, puppets, dummies, or children’s toys – are of comfort or of use; others are distinctly uncanny. The tools of wizards and priests, such objects focus passion and purpose, and invoke (it is claimed) the spirits of the dead. In every corner of the human […]
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Review by Vince Robinson Places for art can be found in a myriad of eclectic spaces. Curator / organizer LaTanya Autry’s Imagine Otherwise, presented by moCa Cleveland, creatively demonstrates what happens when boundaries are stretched beyond the figurative and literal walls in Cleveland’s art ecosystem. The show challenges the status quo and offers opportunities for artists and patrons who, for […]
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