ON DECK
Upcoming openings and events from around Northeast Ohio Event details provided by the entities featured. Compiled by Sammi Fremont and Jamie Insul. TRANSFORMER STATION “New Histories, New Futures” | Through Sept. 12 “New Histories, New Futures” features three contemporary Black artists addressing the present and the past. The exhibition, presented by the Cleveland Museum of Art and on view at Transformer Station in Cleveland’s Hingetown neighborhood, focuses on art by Johnny Coleman of Oberlin, Antwoine Washington of Cleveland and Kambui Olujimi of New York City. In the exhibit, Coleman creates an immersive installation including sculpture, sound and projection that centers on a family’s harrowing history moving through the Underground Railroad. Washington subverts the stereotype of the absent Black father through portraits of his own family painted in a style showing homage to artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Olujimi’s work showcases paintings and video of weightless, floating Black bodies to imagine a future where political resistance can result in complete freedom. Transformer Station is at 1460 W. 29th St. in Cleveland. : transformerstation.org.
BAYARTS “We Not Linkin’” | Through Sept. 18 Inspired by the lack of connection, understanding and the divisiveness demonstrated throughout 2020, Cleveland Heights-based artist Davon Brantley created his new show “We Not Linkin’” to take viewers through a narrative of his life and what he grapples with. Brantley uses self-portraits that reference religious paintings and Renaissance and Baroque portraits to flip the traditional expectations of these styles, as people of color were not typically depicted in the work of those eras. In “We Not Linkin’,” on view at BAYarts in Bay Village, Brantley shares his experiences with colorism, racial stereotyping, meditations on death, life, sexuality and masculinity. Brantley turns negative expectations for people of color on their head, and instead takes viewers through a series of religious-like self-portraits aimed to consecrate rather than demonize. BAYarts is at 28795 Lake Road in Bay Village. : bayarts.net.
Above: “Black Family: The Myth of the Missing Black Father” (2019) by Antwoine Washington, on view at the “New Histories, New Futures” exhibition. Acrylic on canvas; 24 x 30 inches. Collection of the artist. Image © the artist. YARDS PROJECTS “Uplifters: New Beginnings from Old Things” | Through Sept. 25 Nostalgia in art is normally frowned upon. It may even be seen as a gimmick to make people like art simply because it’s familiar and gives off a sentimental vibe. But coming out of the last pandemic year, “Uplifters” at YARDS Projects in Warehouse District of Cleveland seeks to use the old to create new possibilities. The artists of “Uplifters” work to innovate and adapt materials from the past to create contemporary work, celebrating innovation and looking ahead to a more promising future. The exhibition features bright and colorful work from artists Eleanor Anderson, Andy Dreamingwolf, Amber Esner, Connie Fu, J. Leigh Garcia, Amber Kempthorn, Loren Naji, Edward Parker, Ron Shelton, Judith Salomon, Stephen Yusko and Jonathan Wayne. YARDS Projects is at the Worthington Yards apartment complex, 725 Johnson Court in Cleveland. : yardsproject.com.
Right: “No, You Cannot...” (2021) by Davon Brantley, on view at his show “We Not Linkin’” at BAYarts. Charcoal drawing on mixed media paper, 42 x 72 inches. Image courtesy of the artist. Right: Mixed media woven material/fabric piece by Eleanor Anderson, part of “Uplifters: New Beginnings from Old Things” at YARDS Projects. Image courtesy of YARDS Projects.
8 | Canvas | Fall 2021
CanvasCLE.com
