Waterloo Arts is gearing up for an amazing year. Opening September 5, will be the exhibition De Materia, curated by the artist and member of the Cleveland Institute of Art Painting faculty, Lane Cooper (yes that’s me).

De Materia refers to Leon Battista Alberti’s historic work on painting, De Pictura. Like that seminal work, it sets forth a treatise on art, advocating for work that offers something “more than” the thin and instant, readily consumable experiences that dominate current culture. Its focus is on the real material of art, an unnamable something that marries the external and internal experience of the viewer. The works ground the viewer in a more expansive experience that requires that one linger. Included in the show will be works by Bruce Checefsky, Gianna Commito, Sarah Kabot, Paul O’Keeffe, Katy Richards, Charles Tucker, Barry Underwood and Nikki Woods.

As a bonus, visitors to De Materia’s opening September 5 can visit the studios housed upstairs from the gallery. Open studios at Waterloo Arts will give the public a peek into the creative work environments of some of the area’s most exciting artists. It’s a rare treat to get a look behind the creative curtain, so to speak. Some of the artists working in the studios this Fall include: Timothy Callaghan, Chris Dixon, James Holloway, Christopher Martin and Katy Richards.

The gallery is excited to present works of one of Waterloo Arts’ founding artists, Martha Ferrazza, who is now based in Oberlin. Oleander is a collection of her recent work–narratives, inspired either by her life or by books she has read. Within each is a flower Ferrazza constructed prior to painting them. The flowers can be wild and beatific, or stringent, even deadly. But they are never as they appear in nature. Oleander opens October 3.

Also working in the studios this fall will be South African photographer and filmmaker, Dale Yudelman. His residency marks Waterloo Arts’ first foray into the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion program. Yudelman was born in Johannesburg, where he worked as a staff photographer for The Star Newspaper. He later moved to London and Los Angeles, where he made his living as a freelance photographer, returning to South Africa in 1996 after the nation became democratic. Yudelman has continually distinguished himself as an artist merging his background as a photojournalist with an intense interest in the human condition. During this Fall residency, Yudelman will be producing work and interacting with members of the community, culminating with an exhibition at the gallery, opening November 7.

De Materia, curated by Lane Cooper: September 5 – 26
Oleander, Paintings by Martha Ferrazza: October 3 – 25
Work of Creative Fusion Artist Dale Yudelman: November 7 – 21

Waterloo Arts
15605 Waterloo Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44110
artscollinwood.org
216.692.9500