Summer made a late brief appearance recently in the Metro which means autumn can’t be far behind with its palette of “Go Big Red” and much more. Fall’s colorful harvest will also include some promising visual arts events and exhibits in October and November with a few already underway here in September.
Besides openings featuring traditional mediums and genres, several venues will offer alternate takes on video, online and photography (Sweatshop, Pet Shop, RNG, MAM and MG), architecture and design (Kaneko) and multi-media performance (Apollon and Bemis Center).
Speaking of events, nothing says fall arts more than the annual Omaha North Hills Pottery Tour, Oct. 4-5, which features 18 ceramic artists at four sites including The Florence Mill, Dennison Pottery, Too Far North Wine and Big Table Studios. For details, go to omahanorthhillspotterytour.com. Ceramic art is also the medium of choice in another show, It’s All About Clay, curated by ceramicist Iggy Sumnik at Hillmer Art Gallery at College of St. Mary. His exhibit opens Oct. 27 with a reception of art and music, Nov. 13.
Other galleries highlighting 3D art in October include Anderson O’Brien’s exhibit of John Thien’s cast glass and bronze work along with his watercolors and oils which are on display in September as well; and Gallery 72’s group show, Greatness of Studio Glass Art, which opens Oct. 24 and includes such luminaries as Harvey and John Littleton, Therman Statom, Corey Broman, Tom Kreager, Kate Vogel, Chad Fonfara and more.
Yet, arguably, the most anticipated 3D arts event of this fall, if not in all mediums, is the Kaneko Open Space Soiree that previews three site specific exhibitions by international artists in industrial and architectural design. Open Space Soiree, Kaneko’s annual fundraising event, takes place Sept. 19, 6:30-9 p.m., as it showcases Cedric Hartman, Selected Works, Olson Kundig: Anthology and Wallace Cunningham: reality < an idea. Tickets are currently on sale for this gala event that Friday and a free public opening follows on Sat., Sept. 20, 6-9 p.m.
The three Kaneko exhibits, which continue through Jan. 3, 2015 feature: Hartman’s one-of-a-kind array of furniture, lighting and hardware in his first public show; large scale photos and models that survey Olson Kundig Architect projects and structures that “serve as a bridge between nature, culture and people;” and a showcase of “unrealized projects as fine art” created by Cunningham with a design philosophy that emphasizes the surrounding environment “as a primary source of inspiration.” Video projections, light and shadow will enhance the display models to “convey concepts of the built and un-built, cause and effect, ethereal, inspiration and intuition.”
Joslyn Art Museum’s main attraction this autumn will likely be the ever popular, “Father of Pop Art” in In Living Color-Andy Warhol and Contemporary Printmaking from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and foundation. The exhibit, which opens Oct. 11 and continues till Jan. 1, 2015, examines how Warhol’s use of color impacts subject and viewer, creating a dialogue between him and 19 contemporary artists who use color to shape images of culture, politics and consumerism.
The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts offers its Maximus: A Circus for the Senses, opening Oct. 30 which encourages viewers to “explore the residue of a performance” by resident Emilie Baltz that combines food, movement and human technology. The venue will also host another Baltz affair, RGB Cocktail Party, Sat. Nov. 15 that features the artist creating an immersive environment of local chefs, mixologists and more in the “intersection of gastronomy, performance and the visual arts.” These two events continue Bemis’ new vision and direction toward supporting art and its residents on behalf of social practice and community engagement.
Not to be outdone in combining visual and performance art is South O’s Apollon on Vinton Street with its following schedule of multi-genre shows and entertainment: F**K the 80s, Freakshow and So Now You’re a Zombie in September, October and November respectively. Go to Apollonomhaha.com for show details.
Also on the edgier side of Metro Arts are the Benson First Fridays popularized especially by two galleries, Pet Shop and Sweatshop, among others. The former will team up with Metro Photo Club in October to host Alternative Process Exhibition along with mini-workshops on the above medium, and in November Lincolnite Jar Schepers returns with his amazing hybrid sculpture. Sweatshop will show City View, new work by Rob Walters in October, and in November, EAT YOUR HORSEMEAT, curated by Pittsburg’s Christopher Fischer in conjunction with Junkfest #20. Incidentally, Sweatshop co-founder Kim Reid-Kuhn is the featured artist with her show, Sacraments of Domesticity, in the Nebraska Arts Council’s Fred Simon Gallery, Sept. 8-Oct. 17 while Katie Frisch shows her textiles, from Nov. 3-Dec. 12.
Other exhibits held in non-profit galleries this fall include: the Union for Contemporary Arts’ Fellow Group Show, Sept. 19-Oct. 10 and Urban Art Installation by Jeff King and Reggie Le Flore, Oct. 17-Nov.7; Creighton University’s Lied Gallery will showcase 3D artist Ying Zhu’s crumbs of tenderness, Sept. 12-Oct. 17, and John Balistreri and Greg Pugh in Digital Hands from Oct. 31-Dec. 7.
Private galleries in the Metro also offer an interesting variety of traditional and alternative shows: RNG in Council Bluffs will exhibit Freddy Rincon in October and Jeff King in November, both opening on the second Saturday of the month. But this Saturday’s opening of an Alex Meyer show is especially promising as gallery owner Rob Gilmer is tabbing it as “viral art” as Meyer’s finished work can only be viewed via online there via smart phone, tablet, etc. with the posted URL while the artist paints live onsite.
Modern Arts Midtown and the Moving Gallery are currently showing work by Italian artists Roberto Kusterle and Fulvio Pellegrin with the latter’s show continuing until Nov. 22. MAM will then exhibit rural landscapes and photography by Don Williams Oct. 3-Nov. 1 and Peter Hill’s hard-edged, acrylic abstract paintings, Nov. 7-29. MG will show the photography of Kent Behrens in its Garden of the Zodiac Gallery, opening Dec. 4. Besides the aforementioned glass art show at Gallery 72, viewers can also look forward to Her Art/Herself, Nov. 21-29, a two-part event that includes a book release for Suzanne Smith Harney with the show’s title, a collection of her articles about Metro women artists written for Her magazine from 2004-2012. The second is the exhibit of 50+ artists profiled by Smith Arney during this period. G72 will follow this with a Twentieth Century Masters exhibit, Dec. 5-27, featuring prints of Dali, Chagall, Miro and Picasso.