This month's Third Friday open house at 78th Street Studios takes place this Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. The 170,000-square-foot labyrinth is densely packed with local art. Let us take you through the details, from the basement to the third floor.
Lower/"Ramp" Level and Galleries Accessible From Separate Entrances
ARTneo (Suite 016):
ARTneo's Into the Canvas: Painterly Abstraction in Cleveland opened during last month's Third Friday reception, but the show continues through March 25. Into the Canvas explores three local artists whose shared technique of staining unprimed canvases with pigment contributed to the national artistic dialogue during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The exhibition includes work by Carl Krabill, Barbara Smukler and William Ward.
Tregoning & Co. (Suite 101):
Opening this month, Tregoning & Co. present Face the Facts: Portraits by Mark Giangaspero. These large-scale, hyper-realistic graphite and pastel portraits depict Giangaspero's friends and family. Last year, he had an acclaimed solo show at the Butler Institute of American Art. In 2013, his work was included in the prestigious BP Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Face the Facts remains on view at Tregoning & Co. through March.
Forum Artspace (Suite 103):
February's Third Friday includes a closing reception for Jacob Koestler's Go Away Everywhere at Forum Artspace. In this multimedia installation, Koestler explores the desire to disappear through obsolete and outdated technology and household artifacts. Utilizing journal entries, photography and video, Koestler examines southeastern Ohio, where the Rust Belt meets Appalachia. The area was his home while earning his MFA in photography and integrated media from Ohio University. Originally from Pennsylvania, Koestler now lives and works in Cleveland.
First Floor
CWAL (Suite 110):
Also closing this Third Friday is Michael Lombardy and Cindy Smith's Rhythmic Geometry at the Cleveland West Art League. The exhibition features Lombardy's prints and Smith's paintings. Through their mutual use of diverse forms, textures and mediums, both artists explore the tension between the self and the chaotic universe surrounding us. Smith's abstract paintings are a combination of acrylic paint and permanent ink applied to canvas, wood, paper or panel board. Lombardy graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he was recognized for Excellence in Printmaking with the 2014 Frank N. Wilcox Prize.
Zaina Gallery (Suite 108):
Zaina Gallery hosts a closing reception for founder Leila Koury's installation, Kamins Island: Reflections of a Queer Feminine Utopia. This mixed media installation honors the love of women living on an island founded by their Matriarch, a successful adult entertainment CEO. "Absolute luxury and radical nurture" are the laws of the island that this all-female family calls home. Koury explores their love and their home through photographs and two life-size nude sculptures of the women.
Eileen Dorsey Studio (Suite 105):
As a sort of runup to St. Patrick's Day, Eileen Dorsey has produced a new series of dynamic landscape paintings inspired by a 10-day visit to Ireland last May with her sister and mother. Welcome Home showcases Dorsey's mastery of impasto landscape painting. The vibrant colors will draw you in, and the depth of the details will surprise you. Dorsey earned her BFA in painting from Kent State University in 2006. The exhibit remains on view through March 18.
E11even 2 (Suite 112):
E11even 2 hosts a closing reception for its collage-themed group exhibition. Collage 101 features 10 local artists including Rich Cihlar, Nicole Edwards and Bridget Daryl Ginley among others.
Second Floor
Hedge Gallery (Suite 200):
Opening this Third Friday, Hedge Gallery presents Threaded, featuring recent textile-based work by Libby Chaney, Rebecca Cross and Jessica Pinsky. Hedge's walls will be filled with prints, large-scale weavings and collages, showcasing the relationship between the artists and their fabric mediums. Not simply "fabric art," these artists see their work as using an ancient medium to manifest thoughts into physical form. Threaded remains on view through April 16.
Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery (Suite 212):
Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery presents a second chance to view Director's Choice 2016. This group exhibition explores both historical and contemporary art from Cleveland and beyond. Featured artists include Judith Brandon, Preston Buchtel, and Carl Gaertner among others. Director's Choice 2016 remains on view through March 12.
Gallery One Sixty Pop Up (215)
Although Gallery One Sixty's days on Waterloo may be over, founder Bryon Miller is popping up temporarily at 78th Street Studios with Tyler Zeleny's first solo show since returning to Cleveland after earning his MFA from William Paterson University. Zeleny earned his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Zeleny's recent work explores Absurd Existence. In the process, he examines his own creative process within the context of this absurd existence.
Third Floor
Survival Kit/Popeye Gallery (Suite 303):
On the top floor, Popeye Gallery presents the closing reception for Pop Goes Cleveland, a group exhibition of local emerging and established artists who share a distinctly illustrative sensibility, often inspired by comics and cartoons which themselves have a rich history in Cleveland. Pop Goes Cleveland features new and recent work by Steve Ehret, Jake Kelly, Clare Kolat, John G., Ashley Ribblett, Noelle Richard, Daniel Roth and Justin Michael Will. At 9 p.m., Survival Kit co-founder Brian Straw presents live performances from Mark McGuire (Emeralds), Matthew Ryals (asound) and Original Soundtrack (Talons, the Six Parts Seven).
There's plenty more to see and do at 78th Street Studios' Third Friday free open house. Stop by and see for yourself.
