Sh’Bang Fest at the Hildebrandt Building

In a single room at the Hildebrandt Building, Sh’Bang Fest presents 91 works from 60 artists crowding the walls salon-style, with pedestalled 3D and textile works hung off of mannequins that stood throughout. There are no labels, aside from a number sticker next to each piece, corresponding to the artist and their social media Linktree. There is no brochure or card given by the event hosts, no statements or biographies to describe the artists and their processes. Brought together by Hildebrandt Artist Collective and Micah Moo, a tenant at the Hildebrandt Building in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood of Cleveland, the show allows the viewer a truly blind experience (a rare thing in this age, when extensive artist statements are commonplace). The show opened with a reception October 25.

Much of this art is not what you would find in a traditional art show, juried or not. Unfiltered, visceral depictions of nudity and sex (including anthropomorphized animals) are showcased loud and proud, almost reminiscent of the Salon des Refusés–maybe not rejected by the official Paris Salon, but in the sense of being “too risky” or otherwise inappropriate for most public art venues. Which in and of itself is not an issue; sex is a part of life and has its place in art. However, not everything was about sex for sex sake.

At first glance, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Fuck by Mutt is one that seems to be the case. Through mixed media on a cutout board, two bright yellow, anthropomorphized dogs engage in gay sex. The angle shows not only the uncomfortable sight of overt sexual activity, but also the soft intimacy as the two embrace. The accompanying revision of The Lord’s Prayer, where many words are linked to particular online furry subcultures and kinks, blurs the line of raunchy blasphemy and a message only few will truly appreciate.

Alternatively, some works held a sort of tenderness for the human form and feelings, works with written paragraphs from the creator of raw emotion. My House, a miniature house constructed by plywood, paint and wool, was created by (CAN Journal staff member) James Negron. The black roof has sentences written in white marker across both panels, the dark tone bleeding through parts of the side and front. It sits on top of a green and yellow colored fabric, with littered pieces of the wood left around. The written message in first-person allows you to step into the creator’s mind, or their house, blindly and without context. Throughout my moments of stopping and staring, the quote “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” rang through my mind while taking everything in. A true feast for the eyes, in which some of the meals are more palatable for consumption than others. There were also pieces meant to be interacted with, picked up and read through by attendants, such as a miniature zine collection constructed by Em Poor or Spore by Kolczynski.

At their opening reception, there were vending artists, music, make-your-own stations, and food to create a warming atmosphere, perhaps with the intent of community-building. Moo is also starting a new network of LGBTQ+ artists in northeast Ohio, calling it QuACC, or the Queer Artist Collective of Cleveland. They aim to bring together artists both on and offline. Sh’Bang Fest will remain open until December 13th. Email Micah Moo at artist.micahmoo@gmail.com to learn more about viewing the exhibition and more going on at the Hildebrandt Building.