Convivium33 Gallery
The Battle We Didn't Choose: My Wife's Fight With Breast Cancer. Following last week's abrupt decision by cancer-support agency the Gathering Place to remove Angelo Merendino's powerful exhibition, the Manhattan-based photographer has found new display space at Convivium33. The images of Jennifer Merendino's battle with cancer, which she tragically lost last December, convey the courage and unrelenting honesty of their subject. An opening reception will be held Friday, July 27, from 6 to 10 p.m. The show continues through August 26 at 1433 East 33rd St. Call 216-881-7838 or go to josaphatartshall.com for more information.
Bonfoey Gallery: Living City. Newly minted Cleveland Arts Prize laureate Garie Waltzer displays crystal-clear, black-and-white photos of international cities taken to investigate the state of contemporary urban life. Through August 25 at 1710 Euclid Ave. Call 216-621-0178 or go to bonfoey.com for more information.
Cleveland Museum of Art: Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties. This comprehensive exhibition examines American art from the end of the Great War to the Great Depression with a focus on the evolving concept of the human form. Adult admission is $15. The exhibit is open through September 16 at 11150 East Blvd. Call 216-421-7350 or go to clevelandart.org.
Heights Arts: Living Room. This show assembles top regional talent to help make the entirety of the living room (not just the walls) a showcase for fine art. Contributors to the exhibition include furniture artist Doug Meyer, and ironworker and Creative Workforce Fellow Stephen Yusko. An opening reception will be held Friday, July 27, from 6 to 9 p.m. Through September 1 at 2175 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights. Call 216-371-3457 or go to heightsarts.org.
Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery: Variations on the Sublime. Del Rey Loven, professor of art at the University of Akron, presents painstakingly constructed acrylic works that combine bars of pure abstraction with swaths of color resembling titanic natural events like storms, the melting of ice caps, or the jutting of mountains. Through September 8 at 1305 West 80th St. Call 216-631-6719 or go to kennethpaullesko.com.
Kollective Gallery: Smiles Are Free. Top tattoo designer Mitch O'Connell samples and remixes a half-century's worth of trash culture. Pinups, monster movies, and underground comix are just a few of the influences evident in his works, which have been featured everywhere from album covers to the hides of his fans. Through July 31 at 1908 South Taylor Rd. in Cleveland Hts. Call 216-862-0799 or visit kollectivegallery.com.
Local Girl Gallery: Ordinary/Beautiful. Brook Figer paints still lifes and images of birds surreally perched on ornate trappings. Photographer Craig Brown turns his lens to the garden, producing close-ups of everything from polished produce to invading snails. Through August 31 at 16106 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. Call 216-228-1802 or go to localgirlgallery.com.
The Morgan Conservatory: A Thousand Stairs. CSU professor Qian Li uses painting, mixed media, and her first endeavors in printmaking to explore the cyclical influence of culture on individual decisions, and vice versa. Also: In-between. Don Lisy mixes and matches paint, charcoal, and pastels with paper, canvas, and wood to create allegorical self-portraits. Their layers of color express a mood rather than representing the circumstances of the emotion's origin. Through August 26 at 1754 East 47th St. Call 216-361-9255 or go to morganconservatory.org.
River Gallery Art: Jeff Yost and Brian Sarama. Jeff Yost recalls the Impressionists with his misty landscapes. But while the French tradition gloried in blinding light, Yost calls forms out of dusky gloom. Recent MFA grad Brian Sarama breaks down images and piles them on top of one another on ceramic backdrops, creating fields of color and shapes. An opening reception will be held Saturday, July 28, from 3 to 7 p.m. Through September 8 at 19046 Old Detroit Rd., Rocky River. Call 440-331-8406 or go to rivergalleryarts.com.
Zygote Press: In-Turn: Divided Attentions. Artists selected for their service in keeping up the day-to-day operations of cultural institutions like MOCA, Spaces, CIA, and the Cleveland Clinic's collections display pieces representing the succession of uncertainties that make up many creatives' lives. The exhibition continues through August 11 at 1410 East 30th St. For more information, call 216-621-2900 or go to zygotepress.com.
