main gallery

The Love Boat (abandoned)
& other new sculptures by Travis Townsend

For this third in Manifest's series of season 8 solo exhibits we are proud to present the work of regional professor and artist, Travis Townsend. His large scale toy-like sculptural assemblages promise to transform Manifest's Main Gallery into a mysterious and engaging archaeological playground for discovery. Townsend skillfully walks a thin line between low-craft and high design, whimsy and irony, and he does so in such a way as to create truly unique objects which, ultimately, survive their polar distractions and take on an implied life of their own. With a wry and direct honesty, like a child's drawings, they humbly represent an absolute joy for shared creativity.

Of his work Townsend states:

My idiosyncratic sculptures play off the forms and function of tools, toys, boats, and, perhaps, military equipment. These process-oriented works take a winding path to completion, evolving from continuously redrawn sketches and traveling through many transformations before being cut apart, reassembled, and reworked. Parts are often transplanted, left behind, or recycled. Through this method of construction and reconstruction, I am able to intuitively build and then, at a later time, make necessary changes. 
 
Embracing the unplanned, these oddly familiar, nearly useful-looking sculptures are imbued with human characteristics and gestures. Curious inspection and patient observation reveal previously unseen drawings and room-like interiors, many with small chairs and ladders “left over” from previous inhabitants.  These things have handles, openings, drawn symbols, and moveable parts, but like the mystery of a ritual object from a broken-down culture, the physical or metaphorical functions are left to the imagination.  In an increasingly commercialized, displaced society, I’m attempting to build slow, somewhat clumsy, objects that reveal a layered history.  

Bio:

Travis Townsend studied at Kutztown University (BS 1996) and Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA 2000), has recently presented solo exhibitions at Doppler PDX (Portland), Bloomsburg University (PA), the Southwest School of Art and Craft (San Antonio), Weston Gallery (Cincinnati), Georgetown College (KY), and the New Arts Program (PA), and been included in group exhibitions at the University of Hawaii, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts (IL), Kendall College (MI); Spaces Gallery (Cleveland); Lehigh University (PA); and Zone: Chelsea (New York).  Images of his artwork have been published in The Penland Book of Woodworking, New American Paintings, and the Manifest National Drawing Annual. 

His awards include an Emerging Artist Grant from the American Craft Council, a Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council, three grants from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, and a National Young Sculptors Award from Miami University. Townsend has participated in residencies at Oregon College of Art and Craft, Penland School of Crafts, Vermont Studio Center, and the Emma Lake Collaboration.  He lives in Lexington, KY, teaches drawing, design, and concepts at Eastern Kentucky University, and has taught workshops at Penland (NC), Peters Valley Craft Center (NJ), Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (TN), and Oregon College of Art and Craft.  Townsend recently curated an exhibition titled Generously Odd for the Lexington Art League. Ongoing projects include a series of drawing-based installations with the SmithTownsendCollaborative.

      The Love Boat (abandoned)

    Renovated Newky Toy

Opening
Reception
Friday Jan. 27
6-9 p.m.

Date Night*
Saturday, Feb.. 18
5-7 p.m.

*25% off dinner
at Suzie Wong's
with voucher from
Manifest

catalog

drawning room + parallel space

OUT OF THE GRAY
An International Exhibit of Works
Made Using Graphite

According to Wikipedia:

The mineral graphite /ˈɡræfaɪt/ is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω (graphō), "to draw/write",[4] for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead (not to be confused with the metallic element lead). Unlike diamond (another carbon allotrope), graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal. It is, consequently, useful in such applications as arc lamp electrodes. Graphite is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Therefore, it is used in thermochemistry as the standard state for defining the heat of formation of carbon compounds. Graphite may be considered the highest grade of coal, just above anthracite and alternatively called meta-anthracite, although it is not normally used as fuel because it is difficult to ignite.

Manifest continues its eighth season with a project featuring works made from graphite. We of course expected to see a good many straight forward graphite 'drawings,' but we also realize that graphite is used as a primary media in many other art forms as well. So through its rigorous jury process Manifest was eager to see just how artists make work, including sculpture, mixed media, and non-traditional art, using graphite as a primary (but not necessarily exclusive) media.

For this exhibit 224 artists from 37 states and 20 countries submitted 473 works for consideration. Eighteen works by the following 16 artists from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Germany and Mexico were selected for presentation in the gallery and catalog.

Linda Anderson
Bloomington, Indiana

Olga Chorro
Mexico City, Mexico

Marshall Harris
Ft. Worth, Texas

Nathan Heuer
Victoria, Texas

Lauren Lake
Gainesville, Florida

Marc Leone
Cincinnati, Ohio

Michelle-Marie Letelier
Berlin, Germany

Paul Lorenz
Paducah, Kentucky

Armin Mersmann
Midland, Michigan

Felicity Papp
Paderborn, Germany

Anthony Pessler
Phoenix, Arizona

Suzanne Proulx
Erie, Pennsylvania

Seana Reilly
Atlanta, Georgia

Ryder Richards
Princeton, Texas

Lena Schmid
Leverett, Massachusetts

Robin Smith
Littleton, Colorado

    Untitled_2 by Marc Leone

      ménage-à-trois by Armin Mersmann

    GenetiveCase by Seana Reilly

    Adán y Eva by Olga Chorro

main gallery

TEXTUALITY
An Exhibit of Works Involving Text or Letterforms

___ Call for Entries ___  

Opening
Reception
Friday March 9
6-9 p.m.

catalog

drawing room

INK AND AIR
A Group Show of Prints, Drawings, Paintings, and Photographs by four artists

parallel space

DAVID KASSAN
Recent Drawings

    Drawing by David Kassan

main gallery + drawing room

BOTANICAL
An Exhibit of Works Exploring Plant Life

___ Call for Entries ___  

Opening
Reception
Friday April 20
6-9 p.m.

catalog

parallel space

SELECTIONS
From the 7th International Drawing Annual

___ Call for Entries ___

main gallery

RITES OF PASSAGE 8
An Exhibit of Works by Current or Recent Undergraduates from Across the U.S.
and beyond.

___ Call for Entries ___

Opening
Reception
Friday June 1
6-9 p.m.

catalog

drawing room + parallel space

MAGNITUDE 7.8
8th Annual Exhibit of Small Works

___ Call for Entries ___

main gallery + drawing room + parallel space

MASTER PIECES 6
An Exhibit of Works by Current or Recent Graduate Students from Across the U.S.
and beyond.

___ Call for Entries ___

Opening
Reception
Friday July 13
6-9 p.m.

catalog

main gallery + drawing room

NUDE 4
An Exhibit of Works Exploring the Uncovered Human Form

___ Call for Entries ___

Opening
Reception
Friday August 17
6-9 p.m.

catalog

parallel space

PRINTMAKING
Works of printmaking by Sean Caulfield (with collaborators) (Alberta, Canada)

main gallery + drawing room

ABSTRKT
An Exhibit of Works of Abstraction

There are at least three components to a work of art. Often one of them, Subject, supercedes the others, bordering on distraction and flirtation with nostalgia. Abstraction diminishes or sublimates the role of Subject in such a way as to allow Form a chance to take center stage. In essence, Form becomes the Subject. Ironically, this rebalancing gives way to a clearer, and perhaps more truthful, experience of a work of art as a real thing - something that is itself rather than a reference to some external 'other.'

Manifest launches its eighth season with a project intended to feature and explore contemporary abstraction. From non-objective, geometric, expressive, etc., to figurative abstraction (works in which there is a recognizable subject matter that is distorted, is in some way not 'realistic', or is clearly secondary to the overall formal nature of the work).

For this exhibit 374 artists submitted 977 works for consideration. Twenty-two works by the following 19 artists were selected by our two-part jury/curatorial process for presentation in the gallery and catalog.

Barbara Blacharczyk
Chicago, Illinois
 
Brock Cagann
Indianapolis, Indiana
 
Laura Carpenter
Fort Collins, Colorado
 
Joel Edwards
Livingston Manor, New York
 
Kim Flora
Cincinnati, Ohio
 
Lili Francuz
Fort Collins, Colorado

Benjamin Gardner
Des Moines, Iowa
 
Daniel Good
Oakland, California
 
Amanda Lee
Bloomington, Indiana
 
Marc Leone
Cincinnati, Ohio
 
Noel Paris
Santa Ana, California

Allison Reimus 
Chicago, Illinois

Jeff Robinson
Normal, Illinois

Mary Pat Turner
Nashville, Tennessee

Bart Vargas
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Josh Willis
Brooklyn, New York

Jason Tanner Young
Lincoln, Nebraska

Boris Zakic
Georgetown, Kentucky

Angie Zielinski
Pocatello, Idaho

    The Tempest by Marc Leone

      Different Speeds by Jason Tanner Young

    Primitive Tumbler by Noel Paris

    Ripple by Bart Vargas

SEASON 8
KICKOFF

Opening
Reception
Friday Sept. 30
6-9 p.m.

catalog

parallel space

CITY-HAZE
Recent Paintings by David Smith

For Manifest's 8th season we received 130 solo, group, and concept proposals for consideration for six spots in our schedule. The fierce enthusiasm of so many artists wishing to exhibit in our humble place in Cincinnati was remarkable, and worth pausing to appreciate. We did.

Then we set to work as a committee winnowing down so many excellent options to a concise few. The results, we think, are perfect. And we begin our season with one of them - City-Haze, an exhibit of recent paintings by David Smith helps launch this season by offering an intimate and unique look at paintings being made today on the other side of the world.


Of his work Smith states:

My work has always engaged with the idea or notion of landscape. I explore the elements of space, light, scale and materials through a restricted format. The subjects are often isolated, cropped or momentary, showing interplay between architectural/man made elements like buildings, tankers, jets and changeable environmental conditions like light, weather, pollution etc. A grand and mysterious space displayed through a small and intimate scale.

The processes involved are central to the work. The approach is often fluid and adaptable, employing washes and the chemical qualities of oil to disrupt, dissolve, shroud or alter a piece. This facilitation sets the stage for a flexible outcome. The small scale of the paintings is a deliberate attempt to engage with the polarity of depicting vast, elusive spaces on an intimate scale. The simple compositional design, coupled with minimal colour and the unyielding surface of MDF panel, allow the paintings to grow and command more space than their small size suggests.

The overall intent is to present works that are open ended and spare, in scale, content and treatment. The idea of something or somewhere being empty, shrouded, isolated or suggested is intriguing and works as potential for the audience to fill. As an Irish artist based in Hong Kong, the work may also suggest a sense of transience or a feeling of being in a place, yet not in it fully.

Bio:
David Smith is an Irish artist currently based in Hong Kong. He graduated from Galway/Mayo I.T. in 1998, I.T. Sligo in 2001 and the University of Ulster 2003 with a Masters degree in Fine Art. He has participated in various exhibitions at the national and international level, including shows in Ireland, the US, Canada and Hong Kong. Most recently he has exhibited in a number of Manifest's juried shows and has work included in Manifest's 1st International Painting Annual. He has also participated in collaborative works in Hong Kong including the Hong Kong Shenzhen biennale of Urbanism/Architecture. Smith is primarily a painter but also works on music based projects and soundtracks for video artworks, solo works and soundtracks for short films. More details can be found at www.davidsmith-studio.com

    Chopper-rain

      Bus-bridge-haze

    Billboard-haze-evening

main gallery + drawing room

OBSERVED
An Exhibit of Works Made From
Direct Observation

The process of making artwork from life, from direct observation, is more than just a convenient way of providing a clear platform for judging achievement of the mastery of technique and form. Of course everyone who has been an art student realizes that this is an excellent rationale for doing so - so that our work can be compared directly with its source. However, too often does the mistake occur in assuming this is the only reason for working from life. Even professional artists sometimes get lost in the art-school loop, and forget that mastery is not the only content of their artwork. Those who manage to overcome this simple drive often leverage mastery, and pure dedication to the light the eye sees, while also elevating the work to a level beyond, to one of enlightenment, even from the simplest of subjects. It is this, the distillation of precious insight from our tangible world, discerned first through meticulous observation, that 'Observed' sets out to explore, present, and document.

Manifest continues its eighth season with a project featuring works made by artists from a very broad geographical radius, all working from direct observation. While the first assumption may be that pure objective realism was the expectation, Manifest was also eager to see just how artists make work, even non-traditional art, still using the process of looking, working, and looking again. We were curious just how this is done in the world today, and what our broad invitation would turn up. Through its common themes and subtle variety OBSERVED reveals some interesting trends.

For this exhibit 254 artists submitted 577 works for consideration. Twenty works by the following 18 artists were selected by our two-part jury/curatorial process for presentation in the gallery and catalog.

Neil Callander
Louisville, Kentucky

Curtis Cascagnette
Perrysburg, Ohio

Bryan Christie
New York, New York

Michael East
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Brett Eberhardt
Macomb, Illinois

Richard Gilles
Cottonwood, California

Marshall Harris
Fort Worth, Texas

Dan Hudson
Berlin, Germany

Tim Kennedy
Bloomington, Indiana

Eve Mansdorf
Bloomington, Indiana

Brad Nelson
Falmouth, Massachusetts

Erin Quinn
Dublin, Ireland

Scott Ramming
Cincinnati, Ohio

Stefani Rossi
Crawfordsville, Indiana

Nicole Mccormick  Santiago
Williamsburg, Virginia

David Stanger
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sheldon Tapley
Danville, Kentucky

Derek Wilkinson
Emporia, Kansas

    Self-Portrait with Glasses by Derek Wilkinson

      Real Dinosaur Teeth by Richard Gilles

    Saddle Sketch #1 by Marshall Harris

    16:45:32 by Erin Quinn

Opening
Reception
Friday Nov. 11
6-9 p.m.

Date Night
Saturday, Dec. 3
5-7 p.m.

catalog

parallel space

CONSUMPTION
Recent Sculptures by Alysia Fischer

For this second in Manifest's series of season 8 solo exhibits we are proud to present the work of regional professor, artist, and anthropologist Alysia Fischer. Her sculptural works intrigued our exhibit committee because of their intentional recycled nature, and because of the fitting irony that they seem so particularly alive. "Consumption" promises an artful yet also somewhat of a 'natural-history' experience in the intimate Parallel Space gallery.

Of her work Fischer writes:

I feel an affinity for the history of craft. In my work I focus on skill building, repetitive action, and creating a pleasing visual and/or tactile experience. My studio practice involves hand-cutting, hand-sewing and hand-forging objects, with an industrial sewing machine stitching what my hands cannot.

One purpose of my work is to reflect on the local waste cycle. I work with locally sourced discarded materials in order to demonstrate they have a use-life extending beyond their intended or expected one. It is my hope that the resulting works will challenge the viewer to reconsider what they send to landfills and think about whether those objects may have value within another context. All of the work I will be showing has been made of materials diverted from the Rumpke landfill in Colerain Township. Additionally, I try to consume all of the material, thus the cut outs from the hanging pieces can be found on the floor or sewn into new objects.

Bio:
Alysia Fischer is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. An Artist and Educator, she has always followed her interests. This led her to study many subjects, including Glassblowing, Religion, Near Eastern Studies and Archaeology, culminating with a Ph.D. in Anthropology and an M.F.A. in Studio Art. When she's not in Jordan working with local glassblowers or trying to understand that country's refuse/recycling system, she can be found in Oxford, Ohio. There she spends her time teaching for the Center for American and World Cultures at Miami University and creating artwork that slyly comments on the waste produced by our consumption-driven culture. Her current medium of choice is discarded bicycle and tractor inner tubes.

      Projectile

    Flight

main gallery + drawing room

TAPPED 2
An Exhibit of Works by Professors
and their Students (past or present)

The relationship between art students and their professors can be a powerful one. Even when this bond is left unstated, we carry our professors' voices forward in time as we mature as artists and people. We eventually realize that the instruction given by our teachers during our relatively brief careers as students continues to expand within us. We realize that the learning they inspired (or insisted upon) is a chain-reaction process that develops across our lifetime. All of us who have been students carry forward our professors' legacy in one form or another. And those who are, or have been professors, bear witness to the potency of studenthood.

Out of respect for this student-teacher bond, and in honor of professors working hard to help their students tap into a higher mind relative to art and life, we offer TAPPED, an annual exhibit that presents works of art by current or former professor/student pairs in our Main Gallery and Drawing Room in Cincinnati.

For this exhibit 224 artists submitted 522 works for consideration. Twenty-eight works by the following 28 artists were selected for presentation in the gallery and catalog. The artists are listed in pairings to illustrate their past or present relationships.

Opening
Reception
Friday Dec. 16
6-9 p.m.

Date Night
Saturday, Jan. 7
5-7 p.m.

catalog

parallel space

ONE2
The 2nd Annual Manifest Prize

A special workshop "On Seeing: Figure and Space" co-instructed by the artist, Brett Eberhardt, and his wife, TAPPED exhibitor Elena Peteva, will be offered at Manifest's Drawing Center in Madisonville on Saturday, December 17th. (Workshop details and registration can be found here.)

All of Manifest's calls for entry are competitive. The stiffness of the competition has increased in proportion to Manifest's growing reputation, powerful mission, and international reach. Our mission to stand for quality, to create a system whereby works are judged with objectivity as a primary aim, and assembled with as little subjective ego as possible has gained the respect of thousands of artists all over the world, and a vast following of arts lovers, patrons, and supporters.

We maintain that a smaller gallery enables intensely refined exhibits to take place, and we respect the creative principle of reduction to an essential conclusive statement for each exhibit we produce. This is what has led to the high caliber of each Manifest exhibit, and to the gallery's notable reputation.

With this principle of reduction in mind, we were once again inspired by the intensity of our jury process to whittle down a collection of entries to a suitable exhibit. With this we determined to push the process to the ultimate limit - from among hundreds to select ONE single work to be exhibited in a gallery all to itself.

Manifest's jury process for ONE included three levels of jury review of 252 works by 119 artists by a total of 10 different jurors. Each level resulted in fewer works passing on to the next, until a winner was reached. The size and nature of the works considered was not a factor in the jury scoring and selection.

The winning work is a painting entitled "Red Plate (after Lopez)" by Brett Eberhardt of Macomb, Illinois. It will be the recipient of the 2nd annual MANIFEST PRIZE, and presented in the Parallel Space Gallery as the highlight of the process, an honor to the artist, and a poignant statement for gallery visitors.

The Manifest Prize is now an annual offering, and with anticipated increased sponsorship the prize amount will grow in coming years.

Five semi-finalists will also be featured in the full-color exhibit catalog. These are works by Evan Boggess, Bain Butcher, Katherine Mann, Nicole McCormick Santiago, and Stephen Wright.

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gallery map:
2727 woodburn avenue
cincinnati, ohio 45206

drawing center map:
4905 whetsel avenue
cincinnati, ohio 45227

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