Contemporary Cincinnati

Written by Steve Wilson and Alice Gray Stites

Today, exciting contemporary art is not just happening in New York, LA, London, and Paris. Our region boasts a wealth of outstanding projects by artists from all over the world. The Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati have been presenting an especially dynamic program of exhibitions, especially since Raphaela Platow became director in 2007. Often joined by friends, colleagues, and other art-lovers, Laura Lee and I have made the hour-and-a-half pilgrimage from Louisville to see installations at the CAC recently. We have seen exhibitions that have been truly inspiring, and which makes us very excited about the prospect of collaborating with Raphaela and her staff when 21c opens next door in 2012.

Opposite page - Contemporary Arts Center, 2003. Photography by Roland Halbe.

Last winter, the mesmerizing, tactile work of American sculptor Tara Donovan covered the walls, halls, and even a ceiling at the CAC. Made from large quantities of mass-produced, everyday items like straws, Styrofoam cups, buttons, tape, and pins, Donovan’s large-scale pieces fill any space they occupy, creating a multi-sensory environment for the viewer. Standing in front of her wall of plastic straws, it was impossible not to sense movement—the sculpture almost seemed to reach out and envelop the viewer! Although the exhibition had been presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the artist re-configured it to respond directly to the exhibition spaces at the CAC. And this is no easy feat!

Installation of Tara Donovan. Photography by Scott Beseler.

The CAC, which opened its doors in downtown Cincinnati in 2003, was designed by Pritzker-winning British architect Zaha Hadid, whose work is anything but subtle: strong forms, sharp angles, carefully articulated spaces and choreographed circulation are hallmarks of her renowned practice.

Artists and curators who work within must truly engage with the design so that the architecture does not overwhelm the art. In Donovan’s case, the variety of undulating, reflective, tactile materials, installed directly on all surfaces and planes in the CAC, really created a dynamic conversation between the exhibition space and the artworks, significantly enhancing the viewer’s experience of both the art and the architecture.

Installation of Ernesto Neto: Dancing Allowed. Photography by Tony Walsh.

Subsequent exhibitions have created other kinds of conversations with their surroundings. In Marilyn Minter’s “Chewing Color,” the artist’s signature photographs and enamel paintings on aluminum feature models—or parts of them—adorned in high fashion but dripping smeared makeup, or splashed with food, mud, and more. These images of flawed perfection held their own within the geometry of the galleries, especially her video, “Green Pink Caviar,” which was used by Madonna as a set background for her 2008 European tour. The title of Minter’s show refers to the artist’s process of photographing models as they lick icing, sugar, and other foodstuffs from under glass. “I wanted to shoot painting with the tongue,” Minter says.

Marilyn Minter, Bazooka, 2009, enamel on metal, 76 x 114 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Salon 94, New York.

The CAC shares our belief that art shouldn’t be confined to galleries and museums. This spring works by American artist Shepard Fairey began appearing all over the city of Cincinnati. As part of his one-person exhibition, “Supply and Demand,” the celebrated young street-artist and activist turned art-world star asked for proposals for sites to install site-specific versions of his graphic, poster-style murals, which often feature the faces of Andre the Giant, rocker Patti Smyth, and a host of political figures. Inside the CAC, Fairey’s work covers the vast column in the lobby, as well as the gallery walls, creating an especially vibrant back-and-forth with the architecture—an effect not at all surprising from an artist of his notoriety. Fairey has recently been the subject of legal action because of his unsanctioned use of an Associated Press photograph of Barack Obama. The resulting work became an icon of the 2008 campaign.

Contemporary Arts Center Opening, 2010. Photography by Brad Smith.

This spring, alongside “Supply and Demand,” CAC visitors can see the poured “waterfall” paintings of renowned American artist Pat Steir. “Water and Stone” presents the latest work by Steir, who is now in her fifth decade of experimenting with painting to create magnificently lyrical works. The CAC is also currently showcasing the multi-sensory, site-specific work of Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto. “Dancing Allowed” features Neto’s hallmark soft, stocking-like material, sometimes filled with aromatic spices or malleable Styrofoam pellets.

As the exhibition guide explains, “The soft, stretched stockings are redolent of the exterior organic world, yet they are also evocative of our skin, our interior body systems, and our senses. The spices and powders emit aromas and never leave a residue, enhancing the experience through different textures and scents. Neto brings new life to the very concept of sculpture and architecture by creating these soaring spaces and immersive environments that invite engagement on many levels, both formal and philosophical.”

Last spring, the art world was wowed by “Anthropodino,” Neto’s massive installation at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. This year, and for many more to come, art lovers will look to the CAC for innovative programming that engages both site and surroundings while offering a truly global perspective to its audiences.