Have you noticed that the Cincinnati Art Museum is becoming a pretty exciting — provocative, even — place lately, edgy and with a sense of experimentation, rather than stodgy and risk-adverse?
The next bold move in shaking things up is The Way We Are Now: Selections from the 21c Collection, now on view in CAM’s Schiff Gallery.
The exhibit’s very existence shows the museum can respond quickly to opportunity — shows often are scheduled a year or more in advance, but this one was announced just a few weeks before it opened. Louisville’s 21c Museum/Hotel, owned by contemporary-art collectors Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, is planning to open a branch in Cincinnati (downtown in the old Metropole Hotel), so it’s definitely timely. The show was curated by William Morrow, 21c’s museum director.
The exhibition, of about 70 pieces primarily made in this century, shows ever more clearly that CAM wants to be a major player — along with 21c and the Contemporary Arts Center — in presenting contemporary art in Cincinnati.
The Way We Are Now: Selections from the 21c Collection continues at Cincinnati Art Museum through May 15. Go here to read Steven Rosen's full review.
