Sheida Soleimani at Semantics

Semantics opened Namaz Khaneh (house of prayer in Farsi) on Saturday, January 8; the first solo show by promising young Cincinnati artist Sheida Soleimani. The permanently semi-finished gallery space at Semantics serves as a good venue for this work which consists of a series of images showing the artist's own roughly completed small-scale constructions. The greenish yellow tone of the walls of these small tableaux almost perfectly match the weathered yellow tone of the galley walls, providing a clear path for the visual allegories constructed by the artist to unfold effortlessly before the viewer. The stories which take place in these images are at first glance abstract or fantastic. Arms stretch out from the middle of a wall, chairs are strung to the ceiling and preserved animal specimens including snakes and scorpions are pinned in crude fashion within each space.

Without further clues, these images could be nothing more than the remains of particularly abject child’s play. However, there is just enough further information provided by the title and accompanying artist statement to lead the work in an entirely different direction. These are stories from the childhood of Soleimani’s mother – a political refugee from the Iranian Revolution in which the country became the theocracy it remains today. These stories have been transformed, some more literally than others into crude three dimensional forms and converted again into two dimensions by the camera. The rough edges of these tableaux – marks left with scissors around cut paper, unfinished pencil drawings on floors and back walls – reads like the gap between generations – we are literally made of the stories and experiences of our parents, but can only grasp them crudely, remotely.

These vestiges of a treasured national identity, which exist here in the form of innocent childhood memories and anecdotes of cultural tradition are not just idle recreations in the hands of the artist, but feel like an act of conciliation with a complex family history by the youngest of its generation. How refreshing to see something so concerned with issues other than the immediate self by a young artist. In plumbing the world around her, Soleimani bravely faces a dark past which underlies her national origin and touches on an idea of interest to all Americans: how do we, all of us refugees (or descendants thereof) together, start anew on equal, albeit shaky footing?

While the tools of her craft are wielded a bit unevenly throughout this exhibit (intention and accident seem to cross paths somewhat incidentally in a few of the works), Soleimani’s work refreshes in its neutral and insightful confrontation with human nature in its most brutal form.

-David Rosenthal

Namaz Khaneh, on view through January 29, 2010 at Semantics Gallery. 1107 Harrison Avenue Cincinnati, OH, 45214

Pictured Above: Jadeh. 2011 Digital Print. Courtesy of the Artist.

Pictured Below: Yech Sahl. 2011 Digital Print. Courtesy of the Artist.

The Floating World: Christopher Backs at Semantics

If you hadn’t been paying close attention you might have missed it. There is a moment in Christopher Backs’ new solo exhibition Firmament (with Sass) where, underneath one of the hard, heavy folds of his stuffed “clouds” the surface erupts into the pure malerich. Just beyond this exuberant mass of pigment and binder, on a separate piece within eye shot of the viewer, Backs’ brush unfurls an orgy of form that recalls some of de Kooning’s most extravagant drawings of the late 1960s. On the far edge of yet another work, Backs’ mark takes on the trappings of Secessionist ornament. In all of the works, Backs’ approach to color is straight out of the post impressionist cannon.

On the surface, Firmament (with Sass) tries desperately to convince you that it is something it is not. Backs’ floating putti and self gratifying figures all want you to believe that what you are experiencing is soaked in camp; a kitsch laden take on the indulgent traditions of Baroque ceiling painting. But it is Backs’ own brush that betrays this notion. The works presented are no doubt in dialogue with the art of the past, but they never amount to more than passing nods. Compared to the flawless execution of a ceiling by Baciccio, even Backs’ most compelling paean to the idiom doesn’t measure up.

As a whole, Firmament (with Sass) is never possessed of the porcelain finish associated with the Baroque; and ultimately that’s a good thing. Backs’ handling of paint is much too individual and far too unselfconscious to be pinned down as an ironic investigation of decadence. Backs’ might be poking a bit of fun at the substance, but the style is all his own. As a painter, he’s able to deploy several different “hot licks” that shift in and out of dialects at will. Rather than lifeless imitations of technique, Backs’ is able to synthesize modes so that they exist harmoniously on the surface. This ability speaks to an individual who maintains a concerted studio practice and a dedicated search for originality.

The floating sculptures that make up Firmament (with Sass) are, for the most part, a joy to behold. Backs’ painting is bubbly and slick as it effortlessly guides you in and around the clouds. Occasionally, the forms can feel heavy and stiff and “Oh Plato” in particular suffers from a nasty tear at the top that just looks careless. But the moments that take the viewer out of the exhibition are few and far between and do not hamper an otherwise worthy show.

-Alan D Pocaro

Firmament (with Sass) on view through September 25th at Semantics. 1107 Harrison Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45214. 513-348-7261. http://www.facebook.com/semanticsgallery

Pictured Above: Firmamnet (with Sass) Installation View. Oil on Muslin with Fluff (2010)
Courtesy of Semantics Gallery

Pictured Below: Firmamnet (with Sass) Installation View. Oil on Muslin with Fluff (2010)
Courtesy of Semantics Gallery

Constantine: Comic Images to Abstraction

Jake Constantine's paintings in his current exhibition at Semantics Gallery were composed by manipulating, via video editing software, cartoon/pop imagery from television and other forms of entertainment (per the artist, “Ren and Stimpy, Spongebob Squarepants, Transformers, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Futurama”, among others).
The original figures were sketched by artists and designers to communicate a kind of personality or charicature (in general). In Constantine's art the figures' personalities become inessential, even an obstacle, to be sufficiently mutated beyond recognition through a total concern for their formal properties. For example, in his piece Happy Happy Joy Joy (2009), he has perfectly centered a small red fragment of the figure's head. The rest of the composition falls mostly under this central point.  A large swathe of negative space remains in the upper portion. Perhaps inspired by Mondrian, Constantine has balanced the colors harmoniously, and used the black lines to assert the relationship of all the parts.  As opposed to Mondrian, the lines are more sinuous (also, a lesser-known fact of Mondrian's work is the  the presence of palette knife strokes).
Cartoons and comic book figures traditionally utilized a limited color range due to the exigencies of early media (i.e. the comic book printing press used primary colors). Contemporary cartoons (such as Sponge Bob) have moved beyond this limitation, but nevertheless offer a color range far more limited than that typically available to a painter. Hence the color palette of Constantine's work has a somewhat small color range, although within the context of art history his art almost accidentally falls under the De Stijl approach, sans the aesthetic ideals.
In his latest pieces, such as Big Sponge (2009), the transformation is total. The original figure (SpongeBob) has disappeared; the only aspects remaining are the color, line etc. I find them to be the most attractive of all his works. They give context for all the other pieces: the exhibition as a whole becomes the visible process of the artist's push towards abstraction.
- A.C. Frabetti

Jacob Constantine. 'This is Not a Test' at Semantics Gallery, 1107 Harrison Avenue, Cincinnati, OH. Through March 27.
In photos: Above, Happy Happy Joy Joy (2010). Oil on Panel, 32x40in. Below, Big Sponge (2010). Oil on Panel, 32x40in.
Visit Constantine's web site by clicking here.

Paul Coors, 'Before I Start Singing' at Semantics Art Gallery

Video by Dania Eliot

Paul Coors, 'Before I Start Singing' showed recently at the Semantics Art Gallery, 1107 Harrison Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45214. Saturdays or by appointment 513-207-5262.  October, 2009.
For the exhibition description on Facebook, click here.

Semantics: IDEA

IDEA: replace the D with a K to decode the title to the show curated by Julia Ranz. Twelve artists have created works that look at IKEA through a variety of lenses.

As an example, In “Inter-IDEA Systems” William R Howe and L.A. Howe have created a series of counterfeit storage system assembly manuals. These manuals tightly conform to the IKEA template and seem like ready-mades at first glance. Upon closer inspection the viewer realizes that the systems to be assembled are stackable prisons, an all-in-one brothel stand, a highly profitable healthcare system, and a fully customizable relationship. By taking mass-produced, customizable storage systems and ascribing them to human institutions the Howes have interjected humor into poignant observation: institutions have the ability to dehumanize by treating people as commodities.
The observation is most blatant and not as nuanced in EFFECTIV (the stackable prison storage solution) and IVAR (the profit maximizing healthcare solution). In STOLMEN (the all-in-one brothel system) and BILLY ( the fully customizable relationship) the message is stronger by being more nuanced and personal.

In a diverse and thought-provoking show other IDEA artists explore themes from compulsive shopping to the store-bought aesthetic.
- David Jarred

IDEA, Curated by Julia Ranz, at Semantics, 1107 Harrison Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45214. Through Sept. 26. Saturdays or by appointment 513-207-5262.
Photo: William R. Howe and L.A. Howe, 'Billy' InterIDEA Systems, 2009. Print.
[Editor's note: I met David Jarred while reviewing his show (see two posts earlier than this one) and invited him to write for AEQAI ]

BRINK: Joe Civitello at Semantics Gallery

Frenetic, even harrowing, short cyclical videos dominate Civitello's show at the Semantics Gallery.

One is mounted within a long, black jaggedly broken column in the front room. Three are suspended under a slat-wood canopy in the back area. All display ambiguous imagery, inviting interpretation. One appears to mimic a heart's palpitation, ready to burst from nervousness, while another has a human figure of indiscernible form, struggling somewhat. The images are haunting, their soundtrack menacing and their pacing rapid: his 'brinks.'

A young artist, this is the technological and restless world of a new generation, honestly rendered. He builds these works out of discarded televisions and other such materials, unlike many video installations that utilize new, expensive equipment.

The rhythmic nature of the installation causes its frenetic aspects, in time, to become a quiet, even tolerable, background hum (Civitello's own observation). Hence what was overpowering here at first then reveals itself as the embodiment of a sensitive, observant soul to contemporary urban realities.
It is then that one notices the five photos on the wall. They feature light breaking through darkness, a motif of Christian illumination. For Civitello, and perhaps us as well, they represent hope.
-A.C. Frabetti


BRINK: work by Joe Civitello, Semantics Gallery, 1107 Harrison Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45214. April 4-April 25, 2009. Closing Reception: April 25, 7-10pm. For gallery appointments, contact the artist at civitellojoe@gmail.com.
In photo: view inside Broken Tunnel, mixed media installation. Photo by AEQAI staff.

Eric Ruschman at Semantics Gallery

Eric Ruschman cleverly occupied the Semantics gallery space with his recent show ‘My Tiger, My Heart.’ He integrated a mantelpiece into his art while painting (and grouping) several empty pedestals of different colors to coincide with his paintings. This occupation of the space and inventive transformation of its resources speak well of his talents.

The subject matter of his paintings is cuteness, using mostly images of kittens and color abstractions. This latter element creates a graphic arts effect, aided by the rounded corners of his works.

Normally, I am not drawn to this style of art. But his is so consciously made to be charming that it resists becoming bad kitsch or some other decorative arts disaster (singular here?). There is adoration and skill in the rendition of his subject matter and a successful balancing of abstraction, illustration and proportion.

I learned that he takes inspiration for his theme from the Japanese, like Hello Kitty and perhaps Anime. I find in this Japanese aesthetic the veiled form of an anxiety about Little Boy (the codename for the atomic bombing). Ruschman, instead, creates an art that is joyful through-and-through.

-A.C. Frabetti

my tiger, my heart: paintings and improvisations by Eric Ruschman. March 7-28th, 2009
Semantics Gallery, 1107 Harrison Ave. in the Brighton area of Cincinnati, Ohio.