Fri 9/25 @ 7-8:30PM
The upcoming show at Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is called Bridges & Barriers, and it’s a sober look at the obstacles Cleveland’s physical landscape throws in the paths of people who live there. It features the word of three regional artists — Chuck Mintz, Jef Janis and Lauren Pacini — along with work by the social justice/visual arts collective Shooting Without Bullets. It includes traditional photography, video and multimedia installations, exploring foreclosure, homelessness, immigration, access to the ballot and racial justice protests.
Shooting Without Bullets’ Keep Me Posted is a multimedia installation that draws on sound, photography, and hip-hop performance to “juxtapose the precariousness of Black life and radical resistance against the forces that threaten it, seen through the lens of Shooting Without Bullets.” Its underlying theme movement in all its aspects. “We are not here to ask nicely for equity, or to evoke empathy,” says Shooting Without Bullets founder Amanda D. King. “We are here to take up space. To make our voices heard.” Artists participating in the creation are visual artists Jasmine Banks (age 19) and Lai Lai Bonner (19), and hip-hop artists James Banks (JB- 19), Maurice Philpott (Los P- 20) and Shatara Jordan/Mixxedrose (18).
Chuck Mintz’s Every Place – I Have Ever Lived. The Foreclosure Crisis in 12 Neighborhoods features 2’ x 2’ constructions with images of abandoned homes mounted on wood with shades that roll down to show alternate views. They include fact sheets with information about the neighborhoods as well as Mintz’s personal history. The show will include three of the pieces.
Jef Janis’ body of work looks at the impact of the Irish Bend Stabilization and Restoration Project on the homeless population, which has lived there for 20 years, many of whom were forced out in 2019. His black and white photos show the personal belongings of these people being piled into garbage bags to be discarded.
Finally, Lauren Pacini’s work uses the Cleveland Cultural Gardens to explore the trajectory and impact of immigration in Cleveland over the past 100 years (The gardens were founded in 1916).
The show opens with a Zoom reception on Friday September 25. It includes a video tour of the exhibit, brief talks by the artists ad a multidisciplinary performance by Shooting Without Bullets, featuring dance, hip hop and spoken work.
The show runs through Saturday November 14. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday @10am- 4pm, and Saturday @ noon-4pm.
artistsarchives/bridges-barriers/
Cleveland, OH 44106