Arts

Volume 15, Issue 19
Published September 12th, 2007

Fall Arts Guide

Ubiquity Now

Gallery Shows Here, There And Everywhere

By Tami Gadbois

Modern Houses - Not of the cookie-cutter variety, at the Cleveland Artists Foundation.

The visual art season began with a bang last weekend as exhibitions opened citywide in at least seven galleries on September 7. If you didn't make all these opening receptions in one night, you've got a lot of catching up to do. On the east side of town, Heights Arts features 11 artists working in, and pushing the limits of, collage (through October 27). In a collaborative event celebrating the Cleveland Institute of Art's 125th anniversary, there are three related exhibitions. At the Sculpture Center, the spiritual sculptures of mixed-media artist Gary Spinosa are on view in the exhibition Gary Spinosa: Through Forests of Symbols (through October 27); From Here to Infinity, curated by Bruce Checefsky, is on view at the CIA's Reinberger Galleries, and The Big Bang, curated by Julie Langsam, may be seen at SPACES (through October 19). Collectively, the three exhibitions feature artwork by 54 CIA alumni at diverse stages of their careers. SPACES is also exhibiting drawings and paper sculptures of Libby Black, the 20th artist-in-residence to partake in the SPACES World Artists Program (SWAP) (through October 19). Also downtown, William Busta Gallery offers the rare opportunity to see woven paintings by textile artist Hildur Asgeirsdottir Jonsson. Nearby at the Wooltex Gallery, spouses Amy and Misha Kligman's artworks address physical and metaphorical Pentimenti (through October 12). Of final note, already open, but on view through October 13, the Front Room Gallery is showing If I Remember Right, a group exhibition of paintings and drawings exploring the malleable nature of memory.

Here's a chronological look ahead to what the rest of the season has in store:

Cleveland Artists Foundation Cleveland Goes Modern: Design for the Home 1930-1970 (September 10-November 24)

As housing developments increase and new neighborhoods arise, the Cleveland Artists Foundation is taking a moment to step back and look at the early modern trends that informed home designs from 1930-1970. The exhibition looks at how movements in early 20th-century art, architecture and technology influenced the work of Cleveland architects, artists and craftspeople in the mid-20th century; it focuses on the work of six architects working in Cleveland residential architecture to expose their creative flair and ingenuity.

exit [a gallery space] Articulating Space (September 14-October 26)

Cleveland native (and Free Times critic) Douglas Max Utter and New York artist Beka Goedde come together to explore movement and psychological themes that reflect their own individual sets of interests and sensibilities. Goedde's etchings and sculptural objects show an interest in light, buoyancy and the natural decay of structural material while Utter's latest series of storm paintings and monoprints show sentiments of distance, isolation and loss. Together, their unique visions will enter a dialogue with one another within the gallery space, complicating their meanings and creating additional subtexts.

Zygote Press Prints of Paintings and Drawings: New Work by Jean Kondo Weigl

(September 14-October 27)

Berkeley-born artist Jean Kondo Weigl has spent her last year in residence at Zygote Press. During that time, she worked with printmakers to transform her paintings into that medium. Acrylic paintings, charcoals and pastels have been rendered as etchings in aquatint, chine collé, monoprinting, soft ground, sugar lift and spit bite. Viewers will have the opportunity to enjoy her original paintings alongside the prints made by various techniques.

MOCA Cleveland Beyond the Line: The Art of Diana Cooper, and Julie Moos: Loyalty (The Cleveland Project) (September 28-December 30)

In her first solo museum exhibition, Beyond the Line, New-York artist Diana Cooper's small and large-scale drawings, large-scale wall reliefs and installations will be displayed at MOCA Cleveland. Cooper has followed the gallery scene across the globe, but MOCA will offer the first opportunity to look comprehensively at her work created since the 1990s. Cooper's constructions are bursting with energetic tension and whimsy; her imagery is harried yet precisely ordered; networked but with uncertain connections. Enjoy this mesmerizing work while it's in Cleveland.

Also on view at MOCA are the photographs by Julie Moos. Consisting of sparse backgrounds, Moos' photos of individuals and couples confront and challenge social relationships. Often, the photo's informative title relays a source of tension or guides the viewer in their considerations.

BEKA GOEDDE - Shows her work with Douglas Max Utter at exit [a gallery space].

The Art Gallery at Cleveland State University The Robbie Kirkland Memorial Art Show (October 1-20)

In 1997, 14-year-old Robbie Kirkland took his own life after struggling with his sexual orientation as a homosexual teen. Facing great external pressures, Robbie turned to art as a vehicle for self-expression within his short lifetime. The Art Gallery at CSU, in this memorial art show, celebrates Robbie and the themes of diversity, creativity and life that his history encapsulates. Works by high school and college students will be on view; all deal with issues of respect and acceptance.

Local Girl Gallery Three Bodies (October 6)

Columbus artist Rebecca Jadway's painted nudes, "street hieroglyphics" and mixed-media collage will be showcased at Local Girl Gallery - a place where high art gets knocked off its pedestal a bit and neighbors matter. In the first body of work - painted nudes - Jadway strips away details and distinctions to simplify her forms and create self-admittedly unseductive figures. Her "street hieroglyphics" is a set of paintings that relay the hidden language beneath our urban footsteps that is often overlooked, such as worn chalk drawings by children or painted symbols left by street crews.

Asterisk Gallery Private Empire: The National Portrait Gallery of Kessa (October 12-November 2)

Counterculture meets the monarchy at Asterisk Gallery. Artist Arabella Proffer has created a fictional National Portrait Gallery. High-collared aristocrats sport thickly streaked hair and face piercings. Mohawks and tattoos top elegantly pearled necklines. Intended to resemble late medieval and Renaissance portraits, Proffer's body of work suggests a traditional lineage for contemporary forms of self-expression.

Cleveland Museum of Art Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art (October 21-January 13)

Alternatively titled From Monet to Dalí, this world-touring exhibition organized by the CMA features favorites from the collection by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Rodin. It offers a firsthand survey of art historical trends and movements from 1864-1964: impressionism, post-impressionism, modern sculpture and the avant-garde movements dadaism, cubism and surrealism. This is a rare opportunity to revisit and reconsider iconic works from the museum's collection while the rest of the building remains temporarily under construction.

The Akron Art Museum, Cleveland State University Art Gallery, MOCA Cleveland, SPACES Gallery Masumi Hayashi, Meditations (October 27-January 27)

Masumi Hayashi's photographs are well known to Clevelanders, as is her tragic death on August 17, 2006. Four Northeast Ohio arts venues will pay tribute to Hayashi in exhibitions running from October to January. They will focus on her development as an artist, including both early and late images. Among them will be Hayashi's stark reconstructions of post-industrial Cleveland and her documentation of temples and ancestor worship sites throughout Asia. Together, the exhibitions intend to celebrate and pay tribute to Hayashi's rare and paramount talent.

Sculpture Center Brent Green: Animation in Four Dimensions (November 9-January 5)

In a rare mingling of mediums, six stop-motion animated movies by artist Brent Green will be screened at the Sculpture Center. Green's movies take on the topics of philosophy, American history and life struggles in general. A jack-of-all-trades, Green fully directs and creates all of his films; he composes his own music, produces his own animation and builds his own props. Staying true to the center's three-dimensional mission, Green's hand-carved wooden film props will be on view, as well as his small-scale movie sets and sculpture.

Akron Art Museum 330.376.9185