Hartshorn Studios presents “Questioning Identity”: A discussion by six artists on gender and identity. It used to be so simple; there were two choices: female and male. Today, it is a multiple-choice question, and even the word “choice” presupposes that we have one.

Who are we then? If science can’t tell us who we are, is it really up to each of us to figure it out on our own? But it may not be up to us! With so many external influences redirecting and undermining our self perceptions are we really deciding for ourselves? As social animals are we being manipulated and living someone else’s agenda?

For this exhibit, six artists ask you to put aside your preconceptions. We present multiple faceless images of possible choices along the widening spectrum of gender and identity. We ask that you put yourself in place of what you see. Wear that body, and see how it fits. Pause, take a deep breath and reflect on where you stand and why.

Rob Hartshorn

Rob Hartshorn, owner of Hartshorn Studios, is a fourth generation artist best known for his award winning portraits in oil, luminous glazing techniques and exacting attention to detail. Rob paints official portraits of prominent executives, civic leaders and families internationally.

Sharon Pomales

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sharon Pomales is a contemporary realist artist working in oil and pastel. She exhibits regularly in galleries and museums nationwide and is featured prominently in art publications. Sharon is a member of the Portrait Society of America, American Women Artists and International Guild of Realism.

David Adshade

Canadian artist, David Adshade received the Art Gallery of Ontario Scholarship and the Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. David works as a Industrial Abstract Impressionist, an exploration of metal based paints with applied reactive solutions combined with traditional art materials.

Lila Rose Kole and Arte Popular Apatrida

Lila paints in the style of the New American Tonalists, a contemporary interpretation of 19th Century artists who expressed the poetry of nature in their works. During world travels she encountered multimedia artist Keno and moved to Berlin to immerse and collaborate.  South American born Keno studied in Peru, Cuba, Chile, and Mexico. Using the name arte popular apatrida, Keno developed his art in the centre of social and political turmoil working with dissident artists. In Berlin since the fall of the Wall, he has been an actor in the art squat movements throughout Europe.

Fred Gearhart

Gearhart is a prolific sculptor and teacher. He has shown at the Sculpture Center, Sculpture in the Village of Gibsonburg, OH, The Massilon Museum of Art in Ohio, Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, and galleries and collections throughout the Midwest.

 

 

Hartshorn Studios

2342 Professor Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113