Installation Femmetastiques (part 1)

 

Installation Femmetastiques (Part 1) 

By Tom Wachunas

 

   “The alchemy of good curating amounts to this: Sometimes, placing one work of art near another makes one plus one equal three. Two artworks arranged alchemically leave each intact, transform both, and create a third thing.”  - Jerry Saltz 

EXHIBIT: Salon des Femmes -  celebrating the work of 12 local female artists / Cyrus Custom Framing & Art Gallery, 2645 Cleveland Ave NW, Canton, OH / Through June 14, 2023 / Viewing hours Monday -Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m to 3 p.m. (closed on first Saturday of month)

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Heather Bullach, Heidi Fawver, Kat Francis, Marti Jones Dixon, Erika Katherine, Judi Krew, Aimee Lambes, Sam Lilenfield, Sally Lytle, Erin Mulligan, Emily Orsich, Jo Westfall

   Gobsmacked. Smartstruck. Dazed and bemused. Wooed and wowed by this amazing amalgam of artworks, my blog’s agog.

   For this exhibit, Cyrus Custom Framing and Art Gallery has undergone a most extraordinary transformation - a floor-to-ceiling facelift.

   Here’s a vigorous THANKYOU to keen-eyed arts champion Dan Kane, the retired entertainment editor of The Canton Repository, for conceiving and curating this marvelous show, and to his collaborator- in-design, Christian Harwell, owner of Cyrus Art Gallery.

   For his excellent April 13 Canton Repository article on the exhibit, Ed Balint talked with both men. Kane said on that occasion, "…My guiding idea was to hang the artwork salon style, with many pieces of work by each artist. Rather than a group art show, it's more like a dozen solo shows. The artists represent a wide range of styles and a 40-year age range…” Additionally, Harwell observed that “… each artist plays with their own space, showing the design and emotion that perfectly complements their artwork and message. Every one of these women are established and innovative local artists that have a message to deliver. We felt now is a timely opportunity to celebrate the important contribution that women make to contemporary art in general, but more directly to our local art scene."

   Important contributions to be sure. More than a few of the artists here have captivated me for years (including Marti Jones Dixon, Erin Mulligan, Judi Krew, Heather Bullach, Aimee Lambes and, in the last several months, Erika Katherine, Kat Francis, Jo Westfall, and Emily Orsich), all prompting ARTWACH commentaries. So it’s all the more gratifying to see again the astonishing aesthetic depth these remarkable creators bring to this context.

   The exhibit is a compelling homage, a robust and immersive soiree, a veritable sensory cornucopia of iconographic diversity. I will be posting Part 2 of my thoughts hopefully in a few more days.

   Meanwhile, you can open the following hyperlink and listen to the What’s Up Stark? Podcast from April 25. It’s a thoroughly engaging conversation with artists Marti Jones Dixon and Erin Mulligan, hosted by Dan Kane:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-up-stark/id1536305948 

 

   Félicitez les femmes!