BY ROB JANSEN

Photo By Jymi Bolden

How's this angle (top left) of Manglano-Ovalle's "Cloud Prototype for an Edition of 3," aloft at the new CAC?

With the opening of the new CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER (CAC), the addition of the CINCINNATI WING to the CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM and the expansions at the TAFT MUSEUM expected later this year, artistic energy is pulsating at a higher rate then ever. While other cities are trying to fix financial problems by drastically cutting arts budgets, it's certainly exciting to be in a place where there is arts expansion. Which makes one wonder: Is there support for the arts "somewhere better than this place"? Here are some exhibits that would suggest there is not. ...

An intense energy surrounded the opening evening of the new Contemporary Arts Center (44 E. Sixth St., Downtown). Blocks away from the CAC you could hear live bands blasting their sounds from a tent outside the building. SHAKE IT RECORDS provided the eclectic musical soundtrack for the night spanning "skewed interpretations of Country/Western music" to Drum and Bass to Rock & Roll to turntables. The event certainly transcended any preconceived ideas of an art opening being a bunch of intellectuals quietly standing around contemplating art. Not that there weren't some potent pieces of art to see. There certainly were. A gigantic spiraling silver cloud suspended from the ceiling, Indigo Manglano-Ovalle's "Cloud Prototype for an Edition of 3," garnered many lengthy stares. Manglano-Ovalle's piece is an excellent illustration of what makes Zaha Hadid's building, which was the night's featured work, such an outstanding artistic space. In a more traditional art museum this piece would have been hung from the ceiling and the viewer would be limited to looking at it from underneath. Here, the viewer can ascend the diagonal staircase adjacent to Manglano-Ovalle's piece and see the work from a number of other angles which would not be possible in other spaces. The exhibition, Somewhere Better Than This Place: Alternative Social Experiences in the Spaces of Contemporary Art, includes works by 35 leading contemporary artists. (For another view of the CAC, please see "Place Settings" on page 47.) If you have not yet been to the new Contemporary Art Center then you need to head there soon. Info: www.contemporaryartscenter.org ...

At the CAC there are a number of artists who use video in some capacity within their work. If you are interested in exploring the video medium further then head to the CARL SOLOWAY GALLERY (424 Findlay St., Over-the-Rhine) for Video +. This exhibit features two works by NAIM JUNE PAIK who happens to be one of the pioneers of the video medium in the visual arts. Paik is well known to Cincinnati audiences for his giant robot sculpture that prominently adorned the former CAC space on Fifth Street. Some of the other video artists included in the exhibition are PETER SARKINSAN, MARK PATSFALL and TONY OURSLER. While visiting the exhibit I had the opportunity to have a discussion with CARL SOLWAY on a number of topics including Naim June Paik, the plans for an expansion of the gallery and the false perception of danger in Over-the-Rhine. The expansion follows the gallery's opening of a brand-new lighted parking lot and is expected to be finished sometime in the fall. Be sure to check out the space before it is altered and to see Video + before it closes Aug. 29. Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Info: 513-621-0069. ...

Teaming up with the Carl Soloway Gallery for a joint opening is the LINDA SCHWARTZ GALLERY (314 W. Fourth St., Downtown) with its annual Welcome! exhibition. Featuring artists LOUIS ZOELLAR BICKETT, KEITH BENJAMIN, THOMAS C. DELISLE, MARK FOX, JOEY VERSOZA and many others makes this an exhibit that is without a doubt a warm welcome for gallery-goers. The Linda Schwartz Gallery is building the exhibition as a way to "welcome all the positive new physical changes to Cincinnati's visual art scene and to welcome visitors coming to experience these changes." Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Info: www.lsgallery.com

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