Back in February CAN Blog reported on the disappearance of Loren Naji’s public art installation, “They Have Landed,” an eight-foot orb constructed primarily of plywood. “For more than 10 years, Loren Naji’s iconic sculpture ‘They Have Landed’ sat politely on a slip of greenspace in front of the West 25th RTA station, but now it’s gone,” noted our previous coverage. The removal was […]
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The dynamic of artists re-energizing neighborhoods only to be displaced by increased rent is so familiar that it needn’t be explored here, beyond pointing out that in Cleveland, Tremont is the go-to case in point. The gentrification dynamic has played out to such a degree in Tremont that there was a time when art scene regulars were mostly writing off […]
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Now on view at the Gallery at Lakeland Community College, we find portraits without manners, staring back at you; an exuberant post-modern sculpture looking like an escapee from the 1980s; and an extraordinary number of works made of mixed media—all part of the 80 pieces of work in this year’s May Show, on through July 14. Joy abounds, with restraint. […]
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Collective Arts Network is thrilled to have won recognition in the Press Club of Cleveland’s state-wide, peer-reviewed All Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards, held Friday, June 2 at the House of Blues. According to the Press Club’s rules, “Judging will be based on significance, clarity, writing, enterprise, effectiveness, originality and other criteria deemed appropriate by the judges. Judging will be […]
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Collective Arts Network is a mission-driven non-profit organization providing a collective voice for–and accessible, high-quality reporting and commentary on–the visual arts in Northeast Ohio. Since CAN’s first organizational meetings in 2011, CAN Journal and the website CANjournal.org have become critical pieces of Northeast Ohio arts infrastructure. We work for the success of the entire visual art sector in Northeast Ohio. […]
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My grandmother used to say: you can laugh or cry, but you must choose. She passed when she was 101 years young, at home in her own bed, sound of mind, body, and spirit. Despite that life offers inconveniences, perhaps daily, and sometimes, mind-bending tragedy, her strategy of pursuing joy throughout her life appeared to work. Brooklyn-based artist Judy Giera […]
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Velocity stands still in the portraits and interiors by Justin Brennan in his solo show, Wide-Eyed, on view at HEDGE Gallery until June 30, 2023. There’s flurry all awry here, in the unfinished movement of living. Portraits of the famous and not-famous gaze right back atcha, gallery-goer, triumphant in their purples and teals and blues and peaches. These armatures of […]
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In his solo exhibition at the Massillon Museum, Awaken in the Garden My Love, Davon Brantley extends us an invitation to step into the darkest corners of the mind. Through vulnerable subject matter, we witness as the artist battles his innermost thoughts. Brantley utilizes self-portraiture and psychology to unleash the ugliest parts of human nature, connecting them to the seven […]
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Cleveland-based artist Kristen Newell’s sculptures harness the scent of freshly burnt sage: mild but potent, transformative, warm and redemptive. The figures, animals, and vessels she sculpts all seem to carry the sound of water: rain, tears, the silence of shallow vernal pools, a rushing river, the crash and hush of an oncoming or receding tide. Adamantly whole and conspicuously vulnerable […]
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While we were in the early stages of choosing stories for the Summer 2023 issue of CAN Journal, the prospect of content generated by artificial intelligence was all the rage in media and social media. As an experiment, I considered illustrating the phenomenon by publishing a story generated via AI. How would artificial intelligence navigate the world of regional art, […]
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