April 2016

The Suspicion of Life: Paul Kohl’s Photography

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in *, April 2016

The Suspicion of Life: Paul Kohl’s Photography

A quick cyber-jaunt reveals surprisingly little about photographer Paul Kohl, but the internet did offer one interesting morsel, stored within the digitized archive of the Crimson. A 1974 review by Susan Cooke included a couple sentences about Kohl, whose work had been featured in a group installation of artists decidedly unburdened by the parameters of […]

The Liminal landscape at Marta Hewett Gallery

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in *, April 2016

The Liminal landscape at Marta Hewett Gallery

With The Liminal landscape at Marta Hewett Gallery, Guggenheim Award winner and Cincinnati native Frank Herrmann presents an enlightening shift in a body of work that has been remarkably consistent and serious for the last 15 years. I encourage you to go see the exhibition; Herrmann is the breed of artist that is rare in […]

All over the Damn Place: “30 Americans” at the Cincinnati Art Museum

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in *, April 2016

All over the Damn Place:   “30 Americans” at the Cincinnati Art Museum

Kenya Barris’s Black-ish, a Wednesday-night sitcom on regular old ABC television, is simultaneously zeitgeist-y genuine, frantically people-pleasing, and deliciously aware of its own precarious situation:  a high-energy comic take on the foibles and follies of a loving upper-middle-class African American family living in the lap of Southern California luxury.  That luxury and status are constantly […]

Shinji Turner Yamamoto’s Sidereal Silence, at Weston Art Gallery

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in *, April 2016

Shinji Turner Yamamoto’s Sidereal Silence, at Weston Art Gallery

Turner-Yamamoto’s paintings and sculptures are so commanding yet austere that, depending on temperament, a viewer either pays little attention or becomes lost in front of them. The latter of course is preferable and, I would suggest, the point of art, conjuring an experience of a new thread of reality; and with any luck becoming a […]

Clifton Cultural Arts Center – An Indispensable Asset

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in *, April 2016

Clifton Cultural Arts Center - An Indispensable Asset

Clifton Cultural Arts Center (CCAC) is in very real of danger of losing access to the historical building it calls home. Leased from Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), CCAC has been notified that Cincinnati Public Schools is considering prematurely terminating their lease. Committed neighborhood residents, artists, institutions and friends of CCAC have rallied to garner support […]

The Art of Not Giving One F*ck

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The Art of Not Giving One F*ck

Professing to let your freak flag fly and actually raising it on one’s pole for all to see are two different things. More often than not, we succumb to social standards and allow a subliminal code to dictate how we look, feel and act. We can’t help but find comfort in ordinary belonging. However, when […]

Raw Sewage

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Raw Sewage

I never thought I would miss the smell of raw sewage. Being a graffiti writer can take you to a lot of places your average city-dweller never sees. Graffiti thrives in the underbelly. Hidden behind retaining walls, sound barriers, and drainage ditches is a culture very few have the privilege of knowing about, let alone […]

Gonzo247 and the Nation’s First Graffiti Museum

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Gonzo247 and the Nation’s First Graffiti Museum

In February, I attended what I thought was the opening of Graffiti and Street Art Museum (GASAM) among the warehouses of Houston’s East Downtown. Much-hyped in local media since the fall, the museum currently lives in a fairly average gallery space populated by bright canvasses and display cases of graffiti ephemera. At the event, a […]

Hunt Slonem at Miller Gallery

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Hunt Slonem at Miller Gallery

Hunt Slonem at Miller Gallery 3715 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45208 513-871-4420       millergallery.com April 15 – May 21, 2016 The concept of repetition isn’t new, nor is the simplicity of subject matter.  Artists have long been expanding on these inspirations.  Think Warhol.    Hunt Slonem’s chosen milieux of birds, bunnies, and butterflies […]

Ahora Cuba

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Ahora Cuba

The story behind this exhibition, which runs through April 29 at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, is important.  In June 2015 Cincinnati artists M. Katherine Hurley and Jens G. Rosenkrantz, Jr., visited Havana for a week as part of a people-to-people cultural exchange, the only legal way for Americans to travel to Cuba.  Such travel […]

White People: A Retrospective

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The exhibit, “White People: A Retrospective” which opened on March 25 and runs through May 13, at Art Beyond Boundaries Gallery, delivers a captivating glimpse through the lens of photojournalist, Melvin Grier. A compilation of photos spanning Mr. Grier’s 33 year career with the Cincinnati Post, as explained by curator and gallery director, Mr. Jymi […]

Fotofolio: Sal Taylor Kydd

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Fotofolio: Sal Taylor Kydd

  “Origins” In Origins artist and photographer Sal Taylor Kydd explores the essence of childhood and how it relates to our sense of place. The work is also a reflection on time and how we become aware of change and transformation both within us and in the world around us. As the title suggests, Origins […]

The New Sexy

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

  Versace’s Fall 2016 ready-to-wear collection was presented right around the time of the Moschino MFW runway show featured in last month’s AEQAI. While both brands have a penchant for drama, the collections couldn’t have been more different. Enough so that it deserves a second trip back to Milan during this runway off-season. The fashion […]

The Irwin M. Krohn Conservatory, Finding Nature in the Middle of Walnut Hills

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The Irwin M. Krohn Conservatory, Finding Nature in the Middle of Walnut Hills

A trip to The Irwin M. Krohn Conservatory, an indoor botanical garden with 3,500 plant species from all over the world, may be second nature to some Cincinnatians, but executive director Andrea Schepmann said she is always looking for new ways of displaying seasonal exhibits and special shows.  Annual attendance is approximately 200,000. Botanical artist […]

Emil Robinson Interviews Sculptor/Installation Artist Matt Jones

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Emil Robinson Interviews Sculptor/Installation Artist Matt Jones

What are your ambitions as an artist?   To work my fingers to the bone, as long as it makes me happy!  Also to create works that revolve around human/environmental interactions.  I will continue to explore new materials and discover new places in which they resonate.   Describe your art in its current form. What […]

Letter from the Mother Road

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Letter from the Mother Road

In late winter, when my skin’s its palest and the sky its grayest, I head southwest to get some sun and some heat. About 2700 degrees worth of heat – the temperature that melts scrap iron down into a molten pool that gets poured into a mold and becomes a sculpture. I’ve made artwork this […]

THERE AND THEN

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Here and now mercilessly morphs into there and then, but sometimes a news release Now brings up a Then.  The Museum of Modern Art reports a new hanging of some of its permanent collection, bringing to mind a visit I made to New York in late winter, 2005, to see what the Modern was showing […]

Releasing Cuba

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

From March 3 to 9, 2016, I traveled to Cuba, one in a group of 21 Americans and two Canadians.  This immersion in a different culture, landscape, and climate was an intense experience for me.  Cuba, for all its differences, is so close to the U.S. that I never left the time zone where I […]

The Columbus Museum of Art

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The Columbus Museum of Art

The quick road trip to Columbus just became even more worthwhile. The new addition to the Columbus Museum of Art is beautifully done with light filled spaces, clean lines, high white walls, wood floors and floor to ceiling windows at either end of the cantilevered gallery spaces. The New York firm of TodWilliamsBillieTsien were the […]

An Evening of Miniature Art, History and Books

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

An Evening of Miniature Art, History and Books

Around one hundred people gathered at The Mercantile Library to listen to Scott Huler, author of Defining The Wind, and Robert Off, miniature rooms creator, on a cold March night.   Under the direction of John Faherty, the library regularly sponsors lectures by guest authors.  Off called Faherty and suggested the collaboration. Huler, an author of six […]

The Bedroom and the Keyhole: “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” at the Art Institute of Chicago

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The Bedroom and the Keyhole:  “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” at the Art Institute of Chicago

If your appetite for Van Gogh was whetted by the five wonderful canvases shown at the Taft Museum’s current “Impressions of Landscape,” you should promptly schedule a road trip to Chicago where the Art Institute is showing “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms,” an exhibition designed to contextualize the three different versions Van Gogh painted of “The Bedroom” […]

Binary Harmonies

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Binary Harmonies

Binary Harmonies was one of the more carefully assembled exhibitions of printmaking on display at this year’s Southern Graphics Conference International in the ever-eccentric Portland, Oregon. It opened on April second at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center. It didn’t even rain, and the exhibition was a joy. Dylan McManus curated the exhibition through the aesthetic interface […]

Equal Representation for All

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Equal Representation for All

Spearheaded by Los Angeles based painter David Spanbock, BLAM debuted its first show, “Concrete,” at their Los Angeles exhibition space on Saturday, April 16. A bicoastal artist collective created for the purpose of establishing an invigorating synergy between two very diverse yet thriving art scenes, BLAM’s mission is to showcase works by emerging and mid-career […]

The Formal Behind the Surreal: “Abstract Alternatives,” Jeff Mihalyo, Dendroica Gallery, April 14 to May 8, 2016

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The Formal Behind the Surreal: “Abstract Alternatives,” Jeff Mihalyo, Dendroica Gallery, April 14 to May 8, 2016

The Formal Behind the Surreal: “Abstract Alternatives,” Jeff Mihalyo, Dendroica Gallery, April 14 to May 8, 2016   Seattle-based artist Jeff Mihalyo has built an international reputation on his mesmerizing, large-scale narrative artworks depicting surreal architectures and fantasy worlds in brilliant oil colors. This versatile creator has also experimented with cast-paint objects, and his video […]

Carlos Hernandez Hard Luck Honky Tonk

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Carlos Hernandez Hard Luck Honky Tonk

Hard Luck Honky Tonk showcases the devilish and defiant screen printing of Carlos Hernandez at Austin’s premier venue for the printed multiple, Flatbed Press and Gallery. Importantly, Hernandez has been synonymous with his shop Burning Bones Press in Houston, TX for six years now in partnership with one-time Flatbed Master Printmaker, Pat Masterson. Burning Bones […]

Documentary Review: “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power”

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Documentary Review: “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power”

Louisville, KY is a town known for many southern aesthetic qualities. Bourbon, horses and poignantly relating to this article, Muhammed Ali. The Muhammed Ali Center exists in the heart of downtown Louisville where it stands tall representing more than its biographically titled occupancy; the center most importantly exists to represent cultural awareness and heroism. A […]

Maxwell’s Poetry Corner

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Three Steeples   Three steeples patina glimmering mossy green after rain.  Green as copper does after salt and pollutant-filled raindrops clobber for years, after intermittent wind burns and sun bleaches beat their surface like flint for fire; the parts most exposed are most faded, as with us humans.   Three steeples centered in the heathen […]

MY SINS REMEMBERED by Louis Z. Bickett

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

“…sweating like Judas tired of dying…”—Samuel Beckett (from Enueg II) MY SINS REMEMBERED In the confessional, ramrod straight, mouth cotton dry, lips like crazed china, hands a fidget, I concentrate, rehearse, wait my turn. The window slides open. Father Keller’s ghostly image emerges, dour silhouette, a mystery barely discernable through the thin curtain. I cross […]

Hannah Tennant-Moore’s Wreck and Order

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Two novels by young American women writers popped onto the literary scene in the past month or so; Wreck and Order (perhaps poorly titled), is a debut novel by Hannah Tennant-Moore, and Innocents and Others, the fourth offering by Dana Spiotta, one of the world’s most astonishing newer talents.  What these two novels have in […]

Dana Spiotta’s Innocents and Others

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Dana Spiotta’s Innocents and Others is a truly remarkable–brilliant–novel, centering around two young women from the Greater LA area, who attended a private high school specializing in film studies/film history. Meadow Mori, the real narrator/protagonist of the novel, is, no doubt, aptly named, as she begins to create films of her own back in high […]

Sunjeev Sahota’s The Year of the Runaways

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

The Year of the Runaways, by Sunjeev Sahota, is the best novel to date of 2016, and may well end up as one of the year’s finest.  Sahota, an Indian man living in Sheffield, England, follows the lives of four young Indians from the Punjab, all of whom come to England (by methods most reminiscent of so […]

Roger Rosenblatt’s Thomas Murphy

April 23rd, 2016  |  by  |  published in April 2016

Yet another superb small novel appeared in the past couple of months, titled Thomas Murphy, and written by Roger Rosenblatt, better known to many as a playwright. This novel is roughly equivalent to last year’s small, splendid Academy Street, little noticed by critics, but listed on my “top twelve” books of the year as third.  […]