Connections: Ohio Artists Abroad

The Cincinnati Arts Association's Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts premiers two new exhibitions representing a wide range of artists working in a variety of media from across the state: Theories of Public Space, a site-specific installation by Cleveland artist Don Harvey that addresses contemporary urban themes; and Connections: Ohio Artists Abroad, a group exhibition curated by Susan Channing of SPACES featuring thirteen Ohio artists who participated in international residencies supported by the Ohio Arts Council.

Connections: Ohio Artists Abroad was organized by the Ohio Arts Council to recognize artists who have participated in the Council’s international residency program. Curated by Susan Channing, director of SPACES, an exhibition venue in Cleveland with an established reputation of innovative and dynamic programming, the group exhibition features thirteen Ohio artists who spent five to eight weeks in cities where the OAC organizes international exchanges: Prague, Czech Republic; Dresden, Germany; Herzliya, Israel; and on international projects supported by the OAC in the Netherlands, Italy and India. The exhibition seeks to address the transformation artists undergo when they interact with a different culture, making art that reflects experiences unique to their location. The collective experience of the artists participating in Connections recognizes a world that is continually contracting and the need for cultural exchange to gain insight into other cultures as well as provide a better understanding of our own.

A variety of media including photography, sculpture, video, installation, printmaking and textiles will be presented by the following artists: Mary Jo Bole, Malcolm Cochran, Todd DeVriese, Ann Hamilton, and Aminah Robinson (Columbus); Claudia Esslinger (Gambier); Susan Ewing (Oxford); Masumi Hayashi, Kelly Novak, Christopher Pekoc and Wendy Collin Sorin (Cleveland); and Kathleen Browne and Stephen Litchfield (Ravenna).

Connections: Ohio Artists Abroad is organized by the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery, Individual Artists Program and International Program with additional support from the Ohio Building Authority.