Front Room presents:

Through Wilderness
A series of paintings by Hilary White.

Opening Reception Friday, May 2, 2008 Open May 2 - June 15, 2008

Front Room is proud to present a solo show by Philadelphia artist Hilary White. In her most recent work, White brings her paintings off the canvas and constructs wall pieces that have no boundaries. Accessible from all angles, this work touches on the complexity of "wilderness," described as both "an empty or pathless area or region" or "a bewildering situation." Wilderness is a place for testing physical, mental and spiritual strength. In her work it is depicted cyclically; as an indicator for sustenance.

Accompanying her new series is a selection of paintings from a previous body of work. These large scale paintings show the dualities of life and death in nature and the relationship of this cycle to mankind.

Hilary was born in Texas and grew up in Gainesville Florida. After studying sculpture for a brief time at Colorado University, she earned her BFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in June 2007 and now lives and works in Philadelphia.
2615 Superior Ave. 4203A
info@frontroomgallery.com

exit (a gallery space) presents:

Mark Keffer
The Future of Heads

May 9th – June 21st 2008

Artist's reception: Friday. May 9th 2008. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

In his first solo exhibition at exit (exit a gallery space), Cleveland artist Mark Keffer will feature his most recent series of paintings in an exhibition entitled The Future of Heads. Describing his work as the layering of several disparate elements, all of which flirt with representation and imaginary landscapes, Mark Keffer seeks to reflect the fragmentary, open-ended nature of thinking and to do so in a way that is simultaneously austere and joyous.

“I see each work as an empirical experience, not an equation. I want to empty my work of subjects that can be expressed verbally in order to emphasize those that can only be addressed through the language of painting.”

Please join us Friday, May 9th 2008 for an Artist’s reception at the gallery from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Mark Keffer studied at the University of Akron, Kent State University and Ohio State University, receiving and MFA from Ohio State University in 1991. Mark has shown his work on a national and international level, including recent exhibitions in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Illinois and the Midyear Exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art.

exit (a gallery space)
2688 W. 14th St.
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
www.exitgallery.com
(p) 330.321.8161 (e) info@exitgallery.com
gallery hours: Friday 5-7 p.m. Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appointment for private viewing.

CALL FOR ARTISTS FOR INGENUITY 08

ALL GO SIGNS have things in store for Ingenuity 08 on the weekend of July 25-27. Any artists that have any working ideas to transform the large cavernous urban space as shown in the photos, such as large scale site-specific installations, video, or performance, any large-scale works of art, or if you have any art to exhibit that is intended to be outside in the elements. This is a great opportunity to showcase your work in a major event.
If interested please email any working ideas to - clevelandartproject@hotmail.com

THOM ROSSINO @ Brokebridge Gallery

Meat - Jeffery Paul Gadbois - pen, ink and painting
James Michael Hurley - painting
Thom Rossino - pen, ink and painting
Yumiko Goto - ceramics
Bobby Sabo - furniture design

Opening Reception - May 9th and 10th ONLY
Jazz performance by 5 West
BrokeBridge Gallery
2678 West 14th St
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

"All Things Cleveland" CALL FOR ARTISTS

"All Things Cleveland"

Group exhibition about Cleveland by Cleveland artists.

An open call for artists in all mediums for an exhibition about this glorious city. Artists must be originally from or are currently residing and working in Cleveland – this is very important. The work has to be from the perspective of a Clevelander.

Please absolutely no beautiful little cityscapes, pictures of the bridge man sculptures or vibrant photos of the fireworks on the 4th at Edgewater etc. I am attempting to produce an exhibition that promotes a self deprecating view of Cleveland by Clevelanders. The work must represent or depict Cleveland in some way, shape, or form. Think more of a less positive Harvey Pekarian viewpoint, burnt perogies, the Big Chuck and Little John show on a black and white television with no antenna, the continual grief and despair we feel each and every day, the adverse effect our sports teams have on our mental state, our bleak and depressing outlook on life, etc, etc. All the good things.

The opening reception will be complete with a live polka band and sauerkraut and kielbasa will be available along with POC beer - lukewarm of course.

Please submit images or working ideas by July 1, 2008 to: contact@asteriskgallery.com

Opening Reception - Friday, Nov 14th., 6-10pm. Show runs through Dec. 6th

Steve Ehret - "If All Else Fails" @ Artchitecture

Steve Ehret - "If All Else Fails" @ Artchitecture
A collection of recent works.
Opening reception 7-10pm Friday, 2 May 2008
Exhibition of view 2 May - 1 June 2008
Artchitecture Gallery - 1667 East 40th Street Unit 1-A
Cleveland, Ohio 44103
216.533.5575
www.artchitecturegallery.com

The 2008 Ohio Independant Film Festival

Thank you for your interest in the Independent Pictures. At this year's Ohio Independant Film Festival we have a line up of feature length and short films from all over the world, an entire day dedicated to Ohio filmakers, and a benefit screening and party. Truly something for everyone. Please join us!

For complete festival information - http://www.ohiofilms.com/

for directions and advance ticket sales - http://www.ticketweb.com/

May 5-11

Cleveland Public Theatre

6405 Detroit Ave

Cleveland, Ohio

Blimps over the Cuyahoga Continued

Art Donations being accepted for benefit

Donations are being accepted for an event to support Tremont West Developmental Corp's Adopt-A-Senior Program. If you are interested in donating a work of art please email at - contact@asteriskgallery.com or call 330-304-8528


For immediate release - Cocktails & Art Please join us for cocktails, great food and an art auction to raise money for Tremont West Development Corporation's Adopt-a-Senior and Community Organizing Programs. When you think of Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, what comes to mind? Great food and great galleries! On Saturday, May 3rd at 8 p.m. at Asterisk Gallery in Tremont, Cocktails & Art guests will be able to indulge their appreciation for cocktails, great art and food from some of Tremont's famous restaurants while benefiting Tremont West Development Corporation. An open bar and hors d'oevres from many of Tremont's eclectic, exceptional and fun restaurants will tempt the tastebuds, while the art is a feast for the eyes. Asterisk Gallery, located at 2393 Professor Street, is one of Tremont's finest art galleries, showcasing talented, cutting-edge artists from the Cleveland area and around the country. Owner Dana Depew, known for his eye for great art, is coordinating the art for the auction. A silent auction of unique gifts baskets, vacation destinations and other surprises also will be held. Fundraising events are crucial to support TWDC programming, and all money raised will be used to continue and enrich programs such as our Adopt-a-Senior Program and Community Organizing. Please join us on May 3 at Asterisk Gallery, 2393 Professor Street at 8 p.m. This event is being sponsored by City Architecture and Third Federal Savings and Loan. Tickets are $60 a person or $100 a couple and are tax-deductible. There are a limited number of tickets; the event will sell out. For more information, contact event co-chair Sandy Smith at 216/375-0484 or send an email to marketing@twdc.org.

Three of A Kind

Coming this Friday for the May artwalk - "Three of A Kind" an exhbition of ceramic based work by renowned artists Kirk Mangus, Candy Depew , and Tom Bartel

Blimp race over the Cuyahoga

There were several near misses as the Goodyear blimp and the DirectTV blimp jockeyed for position over Progressive Field during the Indians and Yankees game on Sunday afternoon.

Review from Scene Magazine 4-16-08

Blakxtraploitationism — Billed by curator Julius Lyles as "a visual, social, political, racial interpretation art exhibit," Blakxtraploitationism presents work by artists who refuse to shy away from loaded content. And, with more than 50 objects by 11 artists, the group exhibition smartly contrasts artworks relaying up-front, blatant messages with more nuanced pieces. Richard Karberg's "The Sons and Daughters of Darfur" consists of photographic reprints of three slides of Darfurian children that the artist took while traveling in Africa in the 1970s. Beneath the casual vacation-snapshot aesthetic and bright, carefree colors lies the question of whether the children remain alive as adults today. On a nearby podium stands one of ceramist Tracy Amenn's cookie jars, Aunt Jemima-type figures with bloated red lips shown doing menial household tasks like baking and the laundry. Amenn's unapologetic appropriation of the black mammy stereotype is undeniably shocking. Viewers' responses to Lyles' "Seduction of the Colored Preference" may depend on their political leanings: The artist paints rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama cozying up to each other, with an adoring Clinton leaning her head on Obama's shoulder. The most powerful images in the show are the three black-and-white portraits of Iraqi men photographed by Frank Xavier Weiss, a member of the U.S. military — pictures that possess a humanizing element absent from the barrage of war images supplied by the news media. Through May 3 at Asterisk Gallery, 2392 Professor Ave., 330-304-8528. — Theresa Bembnister

'Blakxtraploitationism' is a group art show on racial diversity: Art Matters
by Dan Tranberg/Special to The Plain Dealer
The show features more than 50 works by 11 artists, all responding to myths, meanings and stereotypes connected with the word black.
Over the past few years, Cleveland-born artist and graphic designer Julius Lyles has devoted himself to curating exhibitions that aim to promote greater understanding of racial diversity. They've been held at such Northeast Ohio venues as Spaces, Doubting Thomas Gallery, the Cleveland State University Art Gallery and the gallery at Youngstown State University.
His latest effort, a group show titled "Blakxtraploitationism: A Visual, Social, Political, Racial Interpretation," opens with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at Asterisk Gallery, 2393 Professor St. in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.
With more than 50 works by 11 artists (including Lyles), the show is exceedingly inclusive, favoring content over artistic achievement. Lyles said he wants to expose artists who may not have any history of publicly exhibiting their work. Consequently, some of the work on view is amateurish, and the overall selection is highly varied in terms of technical mastery.
That's not to say the show is without merits. In fact, it's quite interesting, in part because the work was chosen expressly to represent a challenging range of views on the subject of race -- a topic that many local galleries tacitly avoid.
Lyles himself is anything but squeamish. His own paintings are done in diverse styles, ranging from the boldly graphic to the wildly expressionistic. One of his larger canvases is a word painting against a depiction of an upside-down American flag, declaring a long list of personal attributes preceded by the phrase "Entrance into the United States of America is strictly prohibited to."
The list isn't limited to ethnicities; it also includes "smokers, drug addicts, homosexuals, people with mental disabilities, people without computer skills, people without bank accounts" and numerous other categories, suggesting that America has become hyper-intolerant of anyone who isn't a white-collar, heterosexual Caucasian male.
Other artists in the show are more symbolic in their approach. Ronald Clayton makes figure paintings on old plywood, which he said he gathers from crack houses and abandoned buildings in the region.
"I paint on refuse about my own experience," he said.
One of his largest paintings is a variation on a traditional Madonna and Child, showing a black woman who has just given birth to a white baby. In her hand, the new mother holds a bright white mask, while the newborn holds a similar mask painted black.
One interpretation of the painting is that the mother needs to pretend she's white in order to provide for her child, while the child needs to pretend he's black in order to appease his mother.
A group of photographs by Tericka Henderson is subtler. Her "Invisible People" series is based on black-and-white images of homeless people, which she shot last year on a trip to Peru. Each image in the series is treated with a different process to suggest a gradual transformation of her subjects from ghostlike to fully formed.
That process is echoed with sculptural frames Henderson made to surround each work, which range from frail and sticklike to visually weighty and substantive.
Lyles, who began pursuing art as a child in summer workshops at the Cleveland Institute of Art, studied graphic design at Kent State University in the 1980s and then returned to school five years ago to study photography at Cleveland State University. While he has exhibited his work in Ohio, New York, Chicago and elsewhere, and continues making new work, he is devoting more and more time to his work as a curator, with plans for three to four exhibitions a year.
He referred to that role as a kind of "forced alter ego," keeping him resolute in his ongoing quest to provide platforms for artists who might otherwise remain unseen.
The show runs through Saturday, May 3. Call Asterisk at 330-304-8528 or go to http://www.asteriskgallery.com/
Tranberg is an artist and writer living in Cleveland.

BlaxXtraplotationism

BlaxXtraplotationism @ Asterisk Gallery
4/11/2008 - 5/03/2008
Julius Lyles Presents:Blakxtraploitationism: A Visual Social Political Racial Interpretation
Opening Night Reception is Friday April 11th. 2008 from 6pm until 10pm
Cleveland, Ohio, April 11, 2008 ~ May 3, 2008 - The Asterisk Art Gallery proudly presents a group exhibition of new work by emerging and professional artists assembling a compilation of collective unconscious visual arrangements. Ronald Clayton collides raw manipulation and rough treatment applied to found objects used for the purpose to illustrate a political message. Bob Walls elaborate approach to design explores the interior fabric of any environment, which allows the viewer to interpret volume in his pieces. Tracy Amenn Sculptures are Super-extra-blaxulistically Suburb! SHE WILL KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF, TWIST YOUR HEAD AND MAKE YOU RE-EVALUATE YOUR CULTURAL EXISTENCE! With fellow artists Devlin Collier, Tericka Lynnette Henderson, Linda Herman, Richard Karberg, Craig Brent Sullivan, Angelia Thompson and Frank Xavier Weiss these ten artist have tackled social issues dealing from war, stereotypes, politics, slavery, religion, and equal rights through visual documentation and interpretation.
Blakxtraploitationism focuses on the meaning, myth and stereotype of the word (BLACK), apropos of culture, race, politics, war, environment, economics and class. To encourage mental change and viewpoints of disturbing, negative racial identities, false judgments based on a fear based education, as well as, establish free thinking minds towards our ever changing diverse society.
Organized by Curator, Julius Lyles, this exhibition includes over 50 visual representations exploring multicultural perceptions and expressions.
All the participating artists will be at Asterisk Art Gallery for further Discussion, April 11th, 2008 from 6 to 10 pm. Blakxtraploitationism, finally, here is an opportunity to be a part of this sensitive controversial exhibition withs a forum where artists, diverse communities come together and discuss future solutions. Join us as Julius Lyles and Asterisk reveal the boldest body of work, currently on view.
ABOUT JULIUS LYLES
Julius Lyles was born in1964 in Cleveland, Ohio and still lives and works in the Cleveland area. He began studying art at the youthful age of eleven at Cleveland Institute of Art summer workshops. After high school, he studied Graphic Design at Kent State University from 1983 to 1987. In 2002, he studied Photography under the astuteness of Masume Hayashi at Cleveland State University. His work has been featured at numerous galleries in Ohio and has been included in exhibitions in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., New York and Chicago. Over the past five years he has been curating shows with a company of artists that exhibit diverse, challenging, provocative works of visual expressions
Creating works in painting, photography and collaborating with other artist to speak out against the injustices that face our society. Julius Lyles is one of the most innovative artists exhibiting. His artistic strategy is innovative, aggressive, colorful, diverse and complex. His mission is to create a visual voice for change.
For further info log on to www.lylesart.com/blakxtraploitationism.html