GUIDE TO THE GALLERIES in the SHORT NORTH and nearby advertising galleries

January/February 2020

?In February and March, Studios on High features watercolors by Antonio Gonzalez-Garcia as well as collaborative works like this one titled THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE (when nature starts), by Antonio Gonzalez Garcia and Ben Sostrom. The show, A New Beginning, runs February 15 through April 2.

BRANDT-ROBERTS GALLERIES, 642 N. High St., 614-223-1655. Hours: T-Sat 11-5, Sun 12-4. JAN: Jacci Delaney Jacci Delaney graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2008, receiving her BFA with a specialization in glass and a BA in Art History. When she attended SIUC, she kept experimenting to fuse fish in glass. Her experimenting paid off, as she became the first person to ever fuse a whole fish or animal in glass, which leaves the skeleton perfectly intact. Delaney pushes these ideas and technical aspects of fusing continually in this new and intriguing work, which will lead to bigger works using bigger animals. Any of the fish or animals she uses come from the pet store that have already deceased. Through her art, they may live forever. FEB: TBA.www.brandtrobertsgalleries.com

*COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART, 480 E. Broad St., 614-221-6801. Open T-W 10-5, Th 10-9, F-Sn 10-5.

Ivy Atoms: 2019 Columbus Comics Residency Exhibition On view (SEPT 21 - APR 5) Ivy Atoms is the winner and featured artist of the 2019 Columbus Comics Residency. Her 2018 book Pinky & PepperForever, a dark comedy about two young artists whose relationship continues into the afterlife, earned her a nomination for Outstanding Artist at the 2018 Ignatz Awards. It was also named one of the best LGBTQ graphic novels of 2018 by The Advocate.

Object/Set: Gauri Gill’s Acts of Appearance (NOV 1 - FEB 2) Gauri Gill was born in Chandigarh, India in 1970, and first trained in painting and applied arts before turning to photography. She earned a second BFA in photography from the Parsons School of Design, and completed her MFA in photography at Stanford University in 2002. While traveling through Rajasthan and Maharashtra, Gill learned about the Bahora processions that take place annually within the often impoverished Adivasi villages in these regions. Performers in Bahora processions wear elaborate masks, crafted by artists to represent gods and demons, while enacting battles between good and evil. Gill began to think about figures that would reflect the lived realities of people from these communities better than these traditional archetypes. In 2014, Gill asked Subhas and Bhagvan Dharma Kadu, sons of renowned craftsman Dharma Kadu, to work with volunteers to create a set of masks that would represent contemporary life within an Adivasi community in Jawhar district, Maharashtra. What resulted were new masks that revealed a wide range of humans, animals, emotions (rasas), and experiences. In 2015, Gill began her ongoing photographic series “Acts of Appearance,” which depicts a cast of volunteer actors wearing these non-idealized masks while engaging in various everyday activities. Photographs from Acts of Appearance initially debuted in 2017 at the international art fair Documenta, held in Kassel, Germany every five years. These prints were not meant to be sold; they were scaled precisely to be shown as a group at Documenta as a ‘demonstration set’ for the ongoing series. After viewing Acts of Appearance in Kassel, Columbus collector Neil Rector persuaded Gill to allow him to acquire the entire demonstration set just as it was shown at the fair—as a Documenta Set. Versions of the photographs from Acts of Appearance have been since shown in venues such as MoMA PS1 (2018) and at the 58th Venice Biennale (2019). The full Documenta Set will be on display at Columbus Museum of Art for the first time since it was exhibited in Germany. Rector’s desire to keep this particular body of work together exemplifies his interest as a collector in thinking about photographs as art objects that have specific lives and histories.

A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber (AUG 24 - MAR 20) Celebrating the 125th anniversary of James Thurber’s birth, A Mile and a Half of Lines showcases the drawings of James Thurber. His depictions changed the nature of cartooning as he drew spontaneously with child-like abandon. The exhibition will include his work for The New Yorker, his illustrations for his own and others’ books, ad campaigns, and children’s illustration. After a childhood accident in which he lost sight in one eye, the eyesight in his other eye deteriorated as well. The exhibition includes examples of this later work and the magnifying gadget that allowed him to continue working. Sections of the exhibition will include drawings depicting: Signs of the Times (prohibition, the Great Depression, and the Lost Generation); The Bestiary in Me (the animal kingdom); and Columbustown (including OSU football).
Visit www.columbusmuseum.org

The art of Travis Bell (portraying actors, musicians, athletes) is featured at District Art + Apparel, 1251 N. High St. Additionally, see works by Chris Cropper, Luciano Carfagna, Nick Harper and apparel designs by Garrett McLaren.

DISTRICT ART + APPAREL, 1251 N. High St. 614-456-7454. Open W-Sat 12-7. Stay in the know with pop-up events and artist info by following @District614 on Instagram and Facebook. JAN/FEB: The Work of Travis Bell (@workroom74) is featured on the main wall. Many of the pieces are that of movie characters, actors, musicians, and athletes with some nature pieces of animals. With each work he incorporates several layers of color precisely aligned: an image tone is transformed into bright pop colors and separated so each is its own layer, then the layer is handcut into large stencils that are placed on the canvas and spray-painted, then pulled away. The next stencil is placed overtop the canvas and spray-painted, etc. Also on hand at District is mixed media collage/ink work by Chris Cropper (@cropperc_art), large fine-art pieces by Luciano Carfagna (@luciano____), spray-paint stencil work by Nick Harper (@harpoon614), and graphic design seasonal apparel by Garrett McLaren (@District614) Visit District Art + Apparel on Facebook District 614

HAMMOND HARKINS GALLERIES, 641 N. High St. 614-238-3000. FEB: I Am An Artist. 13 artists define themselves as an artist. Gallery Hours: T-Sat 10-6, Sun 1-5. www.hammondharkins.com

JUNG ASSOCIATION GALLERY, 59 W 3rd Ave., 614-291-8050. T-Sat 11-2 (call first) or appt. JAN: The Animal and Me, an art exhibit by JACO members who were invited to reflect on the animals in their lives - direct relationships, dream influences, historical associations – and create art for the exhibit. FEB 8 - APR 25: Oil paintings by Ellen Kandoian. Opening artist reception on Sun., Feb. 9, from 1:30-4p. The Sense of Place…can you find it? Emerging from a sense of the familiar, the iconic, the identifiable, Ellen’s oil paintings point the way. Follow the trees, the squirrels, the statues, the signs. They lead to an experience of place – one that is often ignored, overlooked, or even lost in our haste. “Where is this place?” you might ask when viewing one of Kandoian's paintings. “Can you find it in Columbus?” she might ask with a nod to exploration and childlike curiosity. Ellen Kandoian, though recently retired as a Jungian analyst, is also an author and illustrator of children books. Inspired by the calendar art of numerous artists in her home state of Maine, and with her continuing interest in place and time, Kandoian created twelve oil paintings centered on places around Columbus. She’s transformed these original paintings into a 2020 calendar with each month featuring a different place in Columbus. Her calendar “Can You Find It in Columbus?” is available at the gallery. Kandoian lives in Columbus where she has been a practicing Jungian analyst, together with her husband, Richard Sweeney, for the past twenty years. She is the author and illustrator of several children’s books, including Under the Sun (Dodd, Mead, 1987) and Maybe She Forgot (Dutton/Penguin,1990), and recognized with Junior Library Guild Selections and American Booksellers Association Pick of the Lists. Visit www.JungCentralOhio.org

LINDSAY GALLERY, 986 N High St, 614-291-1973. JAN/FEB: The gallery’s 20th Anniversary Celebration continues. Lindsay Gallery opened in Grandview in 1999 before the move to the Short North. The group show includes artists shown over the past 20 years. www.lindsaygallery.com

MARCIA EVANS GALLERY, 8 East Lincoln St, 614-298-8847. T-Sat 11-5, occasional Sundays and by appointment. JAN: After Holiday Salon Show of gallery artists continues with a variety of original art and scenes including birch trees, birds in flight, text-based fresco, the Arches, the Columbus skyline, abstracts, and more. Artists include Robie Benve, Kirsten Bowen, Zak Burgess, Annette Poitau, Justin Shaver, JT Thompson, Jim Turanchik, Truet McDowell, Linda Wesner, and Harry Wozniak. Additional items on sale include handmade winter-knitted infinity and OSU scarves, hats, Ohio-made candles, and jewelry. FEB Carved Woodcut Prints of Jennifer Lynn Cross. Lynn attended OSU earning her B.S, her M.A. and her Ph.D in art education. She draws from a variety of techniques: Eastern hand paper-making, Western pulp painting, Persian marbling and Japanese wood block printmaking. Relationships are explored through nature; waterlilies, lotus flowers, and trees. She is captivated by the fluid elegance of marbled and plant-based handmade papers. Her art has been exhibited in Los Angeles, Italy, and Australia. She has been a full-time artist and core member of Phoenix Rising Printmaking Cooperative since 2010. Visit www.marciaevansgallery.com

(NOT) SHEEP GALLERY, 17 W. Russell St. 614-565-0314. Th-Sun 11-6 and by appt. FEB: Transformation, featuring the works of Izumi Yokoyama. Intricate line drawings and time-haunted installations explore and embrace human struggles within the context of nature. Apparitional motifs in her works are dark and transcending. The concepts are characterized by the presence of absence in her use of negative space. This exhibit specifically talks about the changes we experience as humans. The work often uses animals as metaphor. Izumi Yokoyama is a multi-media artist who lives and works in Taos. Born in Niigata, Japan in 1980, she graduated with an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute. Her recent show In Birds of Appetite: Alchemy & Apparition at Harwood Museum of Art in Taos early this year, was received excellently. She has been showing work in Japan and the States for over a decade. MAR: Altered Perceptions, featuring new work by artists Char Norman and Catherine Bell Smith. Both artists tackle environmental issues. Char Norman is an accomplished fiber artist specializing in papermaking and fiber sculpture. Catherine Bell Smith is co-director of the “Sign Your Art” street art project and co-creator of Columbus Open Studio & Stage. She is the current coordinator of exhibitions for Creative Arts of Women (CAW), a collective of 90 Ohio-based artists. Her local business, Arlington Frames, is a 22-year entrepreneurial success. Her art studio is at Blockfort Studios and Gallery in Columbus. “This new work has evolved in response to this negativity-going from the reverence of the beauty of nature to the abhorrence of its destruction. Multiple images of ecological disasters, rusted artifacts’ and ghost images of what once thrived, serve as a slap in the face as to what we are doing to our universe.”Visit www.notsheepgallery.com

*OHIO CRAFT MUSEUM, 1665 W. 5th Ave., 614-486-4402. M-Sat 10-5; Sun 1-4. FEB 9 - APR 5: Found Again, a juried exhibition of contemporary fiber art by members of Art Quilt Network. Featuring 30 art quilts by artists from all over the United States and Canada, including Susan Shie, Virginia Smith, Kevin Womack, Katelyn Lizardi, Judith Vierow and more. Visit www.ohiocraft.org

*OHIO ARTS COUNCIL’S RIFFE GALLERY, State and High downtown, 614-644-9624. M - W and F 10-6, Th 10-8, Sat 11-4, closed Sun. Ohio Diaspora: Art from the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center and Ohio Artists on display Jan. 30 – April 11, 2020. The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center educates the public about African American history and culture, from African origins to the present by collecting, preserving, and interpreting material evidence of the Black experience. The exhibition was curated by Rosa Rojas. Featured artists include Tracy Ameen (Chagrin Falls), Ron Anderson (Columbus), Talle Bamazi (Columbus), Queen Brooks (Columbus), Johnny Coleman (Oberlin), Bing Davis (Dayton), Joe F. Howard (Columbus), Morris T. Howard (Dayton), Jimi Jones (Cincinnati), Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi (West Chester), Lisa McLymont (Columbus), Faith Moore (Columbus), James A. Padgett (Wilberforce), Bruce Robinson (Columbus), April Sunami (Columbus), Tariq Tarey (New Albany), and Shirley Tucker (Dayton). Visit www.riffegallery.org

PIZZUTI COLLECTION OF THE CMA, 632 N. Park St., 614-280-4004. Hrs: W, F, and Sat: 11-5; Th 11-8; Sun 12-5. Driving Forces: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Ann and Ron Pizzuti (OCT 26 - MAR 8) With work by more than 50 artists from more than 20 different countries, Driving Forces features a wide-range of work that not only responds to, but helps shape contemporary culture. Work by artists who influenced the direction of 20th-century art, such as Frank Stella and Susan Rothenberg, are joined by others who are helping to define what art means in the twenty-first century, including Nick Cave, Deana Lawson, Zanele Muholi, and Zhang Huan, among many others. With this array of inter-generational and international artists, the exhibition opens up a conversation around a range of contemporary artistic and cultural issues. SPOTLIGHT TOURS indulge visitors to the Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art with a focused one-hour experience in the galleries highlighting a featured exhibition or set of artworks on view. This program is included with general admission. All are welcome. No registration requested. The Pizzuti Collection is a non-profit space recently donated to the Columbus Museum of Art presenting contemporary art from the collection of Ron and Ann Pizzuti. www.pizzuti.columbusmuseum.org

SARAH GORMLEY GALLERY, 988 N. High St., Hours: Th-Sat 12 -5p. JAN: “Zanesville in the Short North featuring 9 wonderful artists wither from, or connected to, Zanesville, Ohio which is where the gallery owner grew up. The artists are: Jane Cardi, Alan Cottrill, Nora Daniel, Paul Emory, Linda Gall, Jana Pryor, Marti Steffy, John Taylor-Lehman and Mike Seiler. FEB: Melodie Thompson, an oil painter who has become known for her moody cityscapes inspired by the cities of Columbus, Cleveland and Chicago as well as her powerful and poignant portraits. www.sarahgormleygallery.com

SEAN CHRISTOPHER GALLERY OHIO, 815 N High St in the Greystone Building, Ste H&N, 614-327-1344. 1st Sat. 6-10. Reg. Hrs: Sat 1:30-3:30, W-F 3:30-5:30, and M-Sun by appt. JAN: CCAD Grads in theGalleries: Robert Tavani. Featuring the solo exhibition “Heads.” Robert Tavini has taught studio arts and art therapy at many colleges in OH, IL and PA. Currently he teaches at Capital University and is a specialist with Concord Counseling Services. FEB: YOUNG HEARTS Ninth Annual Juried Exhibition Visit FB Sean Christopher Gallery Ohio.

SHARON WEISS GALLERY, 20 E Lincoln St, 614-291-5683 or 614-252-5137. Open Th 12-4, F-Sat 12 -5, Sun 1-4. JAN: Salon Show features recent works by gallery artists. A reception with the exhibiting artists is held during Gallery Hop. FEB: Carlos Chang is an abstract artist known for his incredible sense of shapes and colors. It will be his first solo exhibit at Sharon Weiss Gallery. www.sharonweissgallery.com

STUDIOS ON HIGH, 686 N High St, 614-461-6487. Daily 12-6, Sun 1-6. JAN-FEB 13: Black/White/Gray All-member show of pieces that are strictly black, white and shades of gray. FEB 15 - APR 2: A New Beginning featuring watercolors by Antonio Gonzalez-Garcia as well as collaborative works. APR 4 - APR 29: Narratives: Prints and ceramics of Jennifer Jolley-Brown.Visit www.studiosonhigh.com