The Contemporary Arts Center's just-announced 2010-11 season continues its support of emerging artists — including Cincinnati-based ones — in a series of shows mostly curated by Director Raphaela Platow. But it will also feature a tightly focused retrospective of the work of the late Keith Haring as well as a group show with an A-list of contemporary artists, courtesy of a Mexican collection.
A Contemporary New Season
CAC's 2010-11 lineup includes exhibits featuring Keith Haring, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto and local artists
1 Comment · Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Aloha with Pomegranates and The Buried Wires
April 23 • Contemporary Arts Center
0 Comments · Monday, April 19, 2010
In the studio, Aloha has tended to focus on an Ambient vibe, while their live sets have become known for their more relentlessly visceral presentation, a Prog/Punk/Pop amalgam that touches similarly atmospheric nerves as R.E.M. and Radiohead. This show is also the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival kickoff event, where attendees will find out the latest MPMF developments.
Sampling Culture
Kara Walker, Shepard Fairey and the controversial art of appropriation
0 Comments · Wednesday, March 17, 2010
To see just how extensively appropriation is being used in contemporary art, it's useful to compare and contrast two traveling shows now in Cincinnati: Kara Walker's 'Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)' at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Shepard Fairey's 'Supply and Demand' at the Contemporary Arts Center. The term "appropriation" is used to describe new art that incorporates in some way a pre-existing work into its imagery.
Hope and Glory
Shepard Fairey's grassroots success empowers other artists to make a statement
0 Comments · Tuesday, February 16, 2010
When it was announced last year that Shepard Fairey's traveling solo show Supply and Demand would stop at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center, it immediately seemed a masterstroke for the museum. Once it opens Friday (continuing through Aug. 22), we'll see if the attendance and community interest live up to expectations.
C. Spencer Yeh's Standard Deviation
In visual art and sound, local multimedia artist defies conventional boundaries
0 Comments · Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The cumulative impact of C. Spencer Yeh's loosely connected multimedia works at the CAC forces one to experience the world through his unique, sometimes alienating perspective — an approach the artist has investigated more prominently in his vast and various musical projects over the last dozen-plus years. Yeh's best-known musical entity is Burning Star Core, whose moody, cinematic soundscapes can be described as everything from avant-garde Free Jazz to experimental Noise Rock to the sound of the world caving in on itself.
What 21c Might Mean for Art in Cincinnati
0 Comments · Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Since Louisville’s 21c Museum Hotel has announced a planned expansion into downtown Cincinnati, the discussion has centered on two issues: What does snagging an award-winning boutique hotel mean to local economic development and what will happen to the low-income residents of the Metropole Apartments? Important questions, but as an arts writer they're not my bailiwick. I can, however, offer some insight into what 21c might mean for the visual (and other) arts in Cincinnati.
Fashion Abstraction
1 Comment · Wednesday, October 7, 2009
With the opening of 'Chewing Color,' the new exhibition of the subversive, questioning, unnervingly intimate and maddeningly beautiful fashion photography of Marilyn Minter, the Contemporary Arts Center now has three simultaneous exhibitions that prominently feature video work. That should tell you something about where contemporary art is going.
A 'Point of Pride
2009 MidPoint Music Festival persevered and thrived despite the rain
3 Comments · Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Now in its eighth year, MidPoint 2009 faced rain each of its three nights. But, in a testament to how much the festival's reputation has grown since its inception, attendance hardly seemed impacted by the grey, wet weather. Even on the Thursday opening night (traditionally the "slow" night of the event), a steady drizzle didn't stop local and regional music fans from packing the clubs, tents and makeshift venues.
Talking Shop
MPMF opens the floor to a Saturday afternoon conference
0 Comments · Tuesday, September 22, 2009
After a one-year absence in 2008, the MidPoint Music Festival has brought back the daytime "music conference," with useful panels and discussions about a range of topics of interest to all types of independent musicians. All panels are Saturday afternoon, so pace yourself Friday night — the first two are at the Garfield Suites Hotel, MPMF.09 headquarters, and the final one takes place at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Saturday Pick: You, You're Awesome
Experimental live-Electronica/Rock band puts you in the video game
0 Comments · Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Yusef Quotah draws bunnies and monsters, box-headed characters that obscure the the faces of he and his band partner Kevin Bayer in all photos, putting emphasis on the music rather than looks. Accidentally discovered, the bunny drawings have become signature band artwork, part of the package. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, in 2000 Quotah came to the University of Cincinnati to study design at DAAP. Currently, he focuses on animation ... and electronic music with Bayer.
