Art: Coast to Coast at Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum’s print collection is local legend, and a summer exhibition gives us a glimpse of artists working near and far towards wildly diverse results in the printmaking process. Coast to Coast American Prints 1960-2010 includes fine exa

Jul 6, 2010 at 2:06 pm

The Cincinnati Art Museum’s print collection is local legend, and a summer exhibition gives us a glimpse of artists working near and far towards wildly diverse results in the printmaking process. Coast to Coast American Prints 1960-2010 includes fine examples of internationally established artists, such as Ed Ruscha’s sleekly elegant car-themed pieces, or the electric blue fount suggested in Claes Oldenburg’s print, hung beside a Christo piece that sketches out future installation pieces. Maybe even more delightful is the number of beloved locals curated into the show, including the graph-like image from artist and musician Rich Bitting, or one of Tom Shaw’s edgy relief prints of the struggles of urban life. The exhibition shares a gallery with a strange IKEA stocked reading lounge and the surprisingly engrossing What America Means to Me project of children and other visitors’ interpretations of America through drawings—maybe a bit much to crowd in at once. But that seems to be the CAM’s draw for summer: lots and lots of shows and activities going on simultaneously. Coast to Coast remains on view through Aug. 15. The Museum is located at 953 Eden Park Drive. 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday. Free admission.

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