Launched in 2018, “Front International: Cleveland Triennial of Contemporary Art” is a free public exhibition of contemporary art consisting of artist commissions, performances, films and public programs in Northeast Ohio every three years.
This year’s edition of Front is titled O Gods of Dust and Rainbows, taken from a poem by Langston Hughes, and has the overarching curatorial vision of seeing art as “an agent of transformation, a mode of healing and a therapeutic process. ”
Over 30 locations are participating in Northeast Ohio, five of which are in Akron.
Of course, the theme of art as an agent of transformation can be felt in one of Front’s featured locations in Akron at the former Quaker Square Inn, Restaurants and Shops. In partnership with Front and the University of Akron, the arts organization Akron Curated Storefront, which is best known for bringing art to underutilized buildings throughout downtown, took over part of the building and turned it into four galleries featuring work from regional and international artists.
The first floor hosts Front International and features works by Chakaia Booker, Charmaine Spencer and Alyssa Taylor Wendt. Three galleries located on the second floor of the former shops and restaurants feature works from the Curated Storefront and Hieronymus Objects collections, as well as regional artists or artists with local ties, the biggest name being Peter Christian Johnson.
Walking through the remodeled spaces can feel a little daunting at first. However, if you turn on your sense of adventure, you won’t be disappointed with what you’ll find as you wander around the building, which looks great, even if it’s a little rough around the edges. The work selected for inclusion in the galleries is also enhanced and enhanced by the building’s unique features.
In 2013:UA will take the remaining public rooms at the Quaker Square Inn
In 2015:UA will close the last remaining stores in Quaker Square
At the front of the first floor, Booker’s work is extremely engaging. Booker is best known for her work turning old car tires into sculptures. The work is saturated with gestures and movement. It’s as if the artist found a way to harness all the energy used by the tire throughout its life and then explode that energy into a new form.
For example, “Split Reality”, which is a 2003 sculpture made of tires and wood dominates the entrance to the gallery space. You can see jagged parts of the tire tread as well as pieces that look like they were cut out or maybe from a blowout. All the elements are arranged in what looks like some kind of frozen tire firework on a stand. The black color of the tires helps to enhance the sculpture by giving the work a presence that references the history of the original object while providing a colored surface that attracts and retains light.
On the second floor in the Curated Storefront section of the galleries, Peter Christian Johnson’s work feels right at home. Johnson makes structural forms from small, scaffold-like porcelain elements. The work is often based on a historic building such as a cathedral or even a bridge. Through the act of making something out of tons of small porcelain parts and then firing the pieces as a constructed whole, the sculptures feature movement and bending like the effect gravity has on the building over time. Johnson will often place a large amount of a special glaze mixture at one end of the work, which then flows and melts into the structure of the sculpture. The space erector quality of these pieces fit this remodeled space so well that it feels as if Johnson’s pieces are having a conversation with the walls around them.
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Some of the works from the Curated Storefront and Hieronymus Objects collections are featured in the part of the building made up of old carriages. The display is innovative and fun, and you can discover the work as you walk through it.
“Epic Pandemic Phoenix too” is a 2020 ceramic sculpture made by Brooklyn-based artist Roxanne Jackson. The piece is made of three separate parts that resemble a wavy sea serpent. In this case, the green body parts are decorated with extra eyes, golden horns, a scorpion story revealed and a shark fin. The sculpture is placed inside an old passenger car and you have to look through the windows to see it, which adds mystery to a work that already raises many questions on its own.
Curated Storefront has gone to great lengths to offer these galleries for viewing. The result is a dynamic and unique must-see gallery experience.
Anderson Turner is Director of Collections and Galleries at Kent State University’s School of Art. Contact him at [email protected]
Details
Exhibit: Quaker Galleries although 2 Oct
Where: 135 S. Broadway, Akron
O’clock: Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More info: curatedstorefront.org/quakergalleries