One Solid Mutiny: Zachary Rawe at U·Turn Art Space

Video by Dania Eliot

U·turn Art Space, 2159 Central Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45214 hours: Saturdays, 12-4 pm

'Unemployed Title': Keith Benjamin at U·turn

A combination of hung, mounted, and free standing sculpture; Keith Benjamin’s exhibition 'Unemployed Title' now on view at U·turn Art Space suggests that moments of inspired originality can sprout forth from even the most mundane, routinized of tasks (lifting weights, maintaining physical health, and taking a shit). The form of the work succeeds in expressing content, in spite of some limitations imposed upon them by title and presentation.
Upon entering the gallery one is likely to first encounter Monster; Benjamin’s human scale assemblage of found object, and recycled cardboard.  Monster presents the viewer with an expansive web of cardboard strips that intimate the underlying structure of modern high-rise construction. These cardboard “I-beams” sprout from the stripped-down carcass of a former weight bench and expand perilously as they rise to a height just above that of the onlooker. The effect is immediate, but Monster is not without its drawbacks.

The appreciation of the formal elegance of Monster (and several other pieces) is often cut short by the constant reaffirmation of its source material: a weight bench, beer boxes, and glue. If, instead of leaving these elements in a naked state, they had been treated uniformly (unity of color perhaps?), the viewer would be free to apprehend the significance of the accomplishment and contemplate the ironic, visual paronomasia of a tense, visually heavy (but physically light) object placed precariously on a weight bench.  Instead of the potential freedom of aesthetic experience, the viewer is dragged down by the constant reminder of what these objects are, and attempts to penetrate deeper into the work are met with unnecessary roadblocks.

The high point of the exhibition is undoubtedly the modestly scaled #2 Series.  Carved from pieces of walnut to resemble stylized feces, these works exhibit a rare sensitivity to material. Benjamin shapes these pieces of wood such that we are invited to appreciate the natural beauty of substance concurrently with the hand of artist.  The elegant, architectural forms that emerge from And Then, and Signal in particular, create a graceful interplay of contrasts. These seemingly fragile, rectilinear structures pleasantly diverge from their solid, sordid, earthbound bases. In terms of presentation however, the elegance and integrity of the #2 Series is compromised by the realization that in place of a pedestal, the pieces are presented on a sheet of plywood, on a foosball table!

As a whole, 'Unemployed Title' presents a sense of heightened expectation that is satiated despite the problems mentioned above.  On view for the next month on Saturdays from 12-4, or by appointment, this show is capable of rewarding visual investment, and should not be overlooked.
- Alan Pocaro


Keith Benjamin, 'Unemployed Title' at U·turn Art Space, 2159 Central Avenue, Cincinnati, OH.
Regular gallery hours Saturdays 12:00-4:00 PM. For more information, or to make an appointment, please contact the gallery by e-mail: u.turn.artspace@gmail.com. Through March 27th, 2010.


Photos: Installation view of Monster; below, installation view of an overall shot of the #2 series on the table except for #2 #5 (Signal). Photos courtesy of the U·turn Art Space Collective.
[full disclosure: both Keith Benjamin and Alan Pocaro teach at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.]

A piece written after attending Matt Morris’ opening at U-turn

Installation view, courtesy of the artist.

   These fragile objects have their own history where they’re found, cared for, broken, lost and found again.  if they didn’t clutter your childhood home, they do now.  All that’s left to imagine is the tiffany flatware cut from foam core. This capacity to create symbol, incite dream is stunning.  
   Like Beckett’s characters’ musings, perhaps only a broken-off suggestion can be tied to a truth and therefore moral in the artistic sense that mastery precedes morality and even grace, present by its lack, will forego pity.
   In fact, the glowing playing field is so level here, hierarchically nothing, that this frozen dance becomes a just-so performance. These cardboard ballerinas showed up like this, they wanted to, and like good dancers, they place themselves at the risk of falling. They’re already imperfect, broken.
   This show is a version, the narrative abstract enough to show just the tilt of the pieces’ shoulders with everything angled in relation to one another, all speaking to one another. This monochrome low-relief mumbling is in the service of greater expressiveness. This sequined torso is holding its’ breath.

- William Renschler

Matt Morris. Recipes During Wartime at the U-turn Art Space, Brighton district (Central Ave. between Kindel and Freeman), Cincinnati, OH.  Gallery hours Saturday 12-4 and by appointment. Through Feb. 27, 2010.


[William Renschler also wrote a belated perspective of Matt Morris' show at Renschler's Aisle Gallery location.  We offer it here as a link to this piece for those who especially enjoy Renschler's writings.]

Video Journalism: 'Brought to You By' at the U-turn Art Space

Video by Dania Eliot.

'Brought to You By' at the U-turn Art Space, 2159 Central Ave., Cincinnati OH 45214. Featuring work by Evan Commander, David Dillon, Tracy Johnson, Katie Labmeier, Elaine Lynch, Annette Monnier, Ellen Nagel, Rebecca Seeman, Suzanne Silver and Lindsey Whittle. Through October 31.