In speaking with any number of local artists both amateur and professional, there is a shared observation that the juried exhibition ecosystem is not serving the artists. For the uninitiated, the juried ecosystem is a ‘pay to play’ exhibition model, wherein the non- refundable entrance fees (usually about $15 a painting) are aggregated to pay for juror(s) services, award money, […]
READ MORE
Dual exhibitions at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve explore North East Ohio’s long running interest in geometric abstraction. The first, Tangents, asks the question: “Why is making abstract work still important?” Jenniffer Omaitz’s curatorial debut boasts a serious panel of artists working in abstraction, primarily of the geometric variety, each with unique and individual voices. (A second exhibition, […]
READ MORE
Three artists extend the landscape to others by freezing a moment: calculated, exuberant, and ineluctable, no matter if that landscape rides a riot of Fauve-inspired color, or stretches the delineation of deep graphite across white paper. This trio—Lawrence Baker, Joseph O’Sickey, and Brinsley Tyrrell—share a connection to Kent State University, and a fascination with the landscape. Baker studied with O’Sickey […]
READ MORE
Long before the Black Girl Magic movement of recent years, community educator and gender studies scholar bell hooks called for loving blackness as a form of political resistance. In 1992, her now famous collection of essays, Black Looks was published with goal of “transforming our ways of looking and being, and thus creat[ing] the conditions necessary for [Black people] to move […]
READ MORE
David Lusenhop’s celebrated career as an independent scholar and collector of African American art spans several decades, and includes sales to dozens of American museums, including several transactions–by sale as well as donation–to the Cleveland Museum of Art. He describes himself merely as “a conduit.” But he is so much more. He recently opened Lusenhop Fine Art, a quaint storefront […]
READ MORE
In their artist statement, Bernadette Glorioso and Dott Schneider explain Tethered as “a conversation about breaking free from restrictions and expectations,” and as collaboration between two artists who met earlier this year while installing work in a group exhibition. The new show of paintings–done in oil or mixed media on canvas, in varying square or rectangular dimensions–is not experimental in […]
READ MORE
A line of wind turbines traces perfect circles in the distance. For many of us, the scene borders on romantic: Clean fresh wind rotates graceful blades, then a network of magical machines and wires transforms this gift from Mother Nature into fuel that powers everything from our electronic devices to life saving medical equipment. As usual, it comes at a […]
READ MORE
On September 8, 2023, Ken Nevadomi, one of Cleveland’s most prolifically complex and enigmatic artists, laid down for an afternoon nap and bid farewell to life here on Earth. Suffering for some time from the degenerative effects of Alzheimer’s disease, Nevadomi continued to work in the studio until his final weeks. During his recent memorial service in Lakewood, Ohio, on […]
READ MORE
Now in its second decade, Collective Arts Network is proud to announce archiving partnerships with five of Northeast Ohio’s most respected libraries and collecting institutions: The Cleveland Museum of Art Ingalls Library, Case Western Reserve University Kelvin Smith Library, Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Institute of Art’s Jessica R. Gund Memorial Library, and Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. The project […]
READ MORE
Context Fine Art, the new gallery located on the third floor of 78th Street Studios, premiered in September with Shapes of Abstraction: Nine Women Artists. A partnership between artist Justin Brennan and art historian Christopher Richards, Context is a space for abstract art to be considered and reconsidered in thought-provoking configurations. This exhibition highlights Context’s promising potential as a smart, […]
READ MORE