Preview Reception: Thursday, May 31, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, June 1, 6-9pm

main gallery

RITES OF PASSAGE
14th Annual Emerging Artists Exhibit

An Exhibit of Works by Current or Recent Undergraduates.

Initiated in 2005, The Rites of Passage exhibits were developed to support student excellence by offering a public venue for the display of advanced creative research; to promote young artists as they transition into their professional careers; and to bring the positive creative energies national institutions together in one place. 

With this fourteenth annual installment of the Rites series, Manifest offers a $500 best of show prize to reward excellence at this early career level. 

The Rites call for submissions was open to students graduating or expecting to graduate in 2017, 2018, or 2019 (undergraduate juniors, seniors, and those who graduated last year). 

For this exhibit 79 artists representing 55 academic institutions in 29 states across the U.S. submitted 229 works for consideration. Thirteen works by the following 10 artists representing 9 different academic institutions in 9 states are featured in the 14th annual Rites of Passage exhibit. Artists are listed with their academic status as of the dates of their entry into this competition. 

The best of show award recipient will be designated during the June 1st opening reception.
 

Why is this important? 
Passing through an accredited college art program is one way among many to become an artist. While it does not guarantee success, it does serve as a measurable achievement, and if the degree granting institution is holding up its end of the deal, each artist who attains a degree through such a program has met or surpassed certain standards. For programs which are appropriately rigorous, passing a student is seriously meaningful business. Manifest's Rites of Passage is meant to serve as an external view into this process, across a broader scope than just one institution, and is offered as a bridge between academic pursuit and the general public. 

The exhibit catalogs for Rites, and now the Manifest Exhibition Annual, have over time become a compelling document framing a view into the state of art in academia, and quite possibly the launching place for future notable artists of the world.

 

Featuring works by:

Maggie Flanagan
Senior, Morehead State University

Sean Fox
Senior, University of Arkansas

Lorena Ganser
Senior, Eastern Michigan University

Yurie Hayashi
Senior, The Edinboro University of Pennsylvania 

Amelia McCann
2017 Graduate, Indiana University Bloomington

Kristina McComb
2017 Graduate, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts

Carly Melton
Senior, Mississippi State University

Bradley Milligan
Senior, The Edinboro University of Pennsylvania 

Sapun Ngoensritong
2017 Graduate, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Lindsey Orrin
Senior, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
 

    Sapun Ngoensritong

     Yurie Hayashi

     Sean Fox

drawing room + parallel space

MAGNITUDE SEVEN
14th Annual Small Works Exhibit

An exhibit of works from around the world, each no larger than about 7" in size.

Back in 2005 we launched the Magnitude Seven project with the idea that small works would be easier and more practical for artists to send to Manifest from anywhere in the world. This proved true, and right off it was this exhibit that lead to Manifest earning the tag line 'the neighborhood gallery for the world.' 

Inevitably MAG 7 is a wild and varied mix of works, including an extreme range of media, styles, and artist intents. The exhibit always gains unity from the common scale, so even disparate works seem to engage in playful and tolerant conversation across the gallery or side by side. We have found that having a couple galleries full of hand-sized works is a joyful experience of small things well made, a menagerie of creativity, and a poignant reminder that bigger is not always better. 

We are happy to offer this fourteenth annual exhibit of works no larger than seven inches in any dimension. For this year's project 188 artists from 40 states and 14 countries submitted 586 works for consideration by Manifest's intensely competitive jury process. Thirty-nine works by the following 23 artists from 15 states and the countries of Australia and Canada were selected for presentation in the gallery and the season-documenting Manifest Exhibition Annual.

Featuring works by:

Art Ballelli
Westerly, Rhode Island

Stephen Barnwell
Wayne, New Jersey

Douglas Barrett
Birmingham, Alabama

Pirjo Berg
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Nat Borges
Sarasota, Florida

Susan Bryant
Clarksville, Tennessee

Lisa Bryson
Jamul, California

Lyle Colombo
New Orleans, Louisiana

Peter Davidson
Baraboo, Wisconsin

Roger Derrick
Long Branch, New Jersey

Michel Gautier
Val-david, Canada

Brandice Guerra
Arcata, California

Perry Johnson
Cookeville, Tennessee

Caitlin Margaret Kelly
Hillsborough, North Carolina

Leonardo Cuervo
Livermore, California

Michael McCaffrey
Lawrence, Kansas

Steve Paddack
Indianapolis, Indiana

Victoria Ridgway
Bloomington, Indiana

Nicholas Sheldon
Lincoln, Nebraska

Julio Suarez
Jonesville, Michigan

Judy Takács
Solon, Ohio

Elijah Van Benschoten
Cincinnati, Ohio

Cleo Wilkinson
Brisbane, Australia

    Victoria Ridgway

     Perry Johnson

     Nat Borges

     Peter Davidson

central gallery + north gallery

Charlie Goering: Recent Works
Manifest Artist in Residence Showcase

The year-long Manifest Artist Residency was launched in 2012 with the goal to provide artists with a combination of free studio space, supportive resources such as teaching opportunities and free access to life drawing and other programs at the Manifest Drawing Center, access to the powerful creative culture that permeates all Manifest programs, and routine engagement with the visiting public during each of our nine exhibit receptions and nine preview events each season. To cement their year of development each artist receives another benefit of the program—a MAR Showcase solo exhibition. 

This two-room solo exhibit feature works made by our 2017/18 Artist in Residence, Charlie Goering. This marks the culmination of Charlie's residency at Manifest which concludes in June, and serves as a celebration of his achievements, learning, and adoption into the broad Manifest 'family'.
 

"This past year of work is a result of much rumination. Each large work serves as a singular thought, concept or idea. Facilitated by titles, each piece is a catalyst for conversation, touching the uncomfortable parts of us is where the works sit. The works on paper give the viewer a look into the many facets of my process, enriching the larger. A common connection can be seen between the quiet statements in communion with the bold." 
 

Charlie Goering was born in 1993 in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and lives and works in Cincinnati. He received his Bachelors of Fine Art degree from the Laguna College of Art and Design. Collections include the Art Academy of Cincinnati; the city of Colton, California; and The Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, California. He would like to thank the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation for its financial support.

Preview Reception: Thursday, July 12, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, July 13, 6-9pm

Preview Reception: Thursday, August 16, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, August 17, 6-9pm

main gallery

VISITATION
Paintings by Dustin London

Manifest is proud to launch its 14th season with five galleries of paintings, with these works by Dustin London serving as the entryway in our Main Gallery. London's seven large paintings invite visitors into an energetic conversation across the gallery and through the gallery windows out onto the street and Woodburn Avenue. The dialog buzzes with the allure of the images' electronic origins, visually expressing a life that is not quite living, but vibrant and appealing nonetheless.

Of his work the artist states:

"I think of pictorial space as something malleable, something that is shifting and subversive. In my paintings I am looking for a finely calibrated balance of idiosyncratic elements that creates a new, oftentimes paradoxical, spatial proposition. Space is not the stage for an event; it is the event itself. 

My latest works begin as self-generative digital drawings. Working in front of a monitor for long periods of time induces a disembodied state; a total immersion where a sense of the tangible world is lost in a digital space that is weightless, without surface, consisting only of light. As visual relationships develop on the screen, they suggest possibilities for translation into the tactile reality of paint. The trackpad becomes a proxy for exploring imagined terrains. The painting process is then one of testing, trying to find a specific, though sometimes antagonistic, marriage between insistent surfaces and indefinable depths. 

Portions of these paintings are made through a cumulative process similar to that of a dot matrix printer. Small, individual strokes or bands are painted in a regulated and mechanical fashion that forms gradients through minute striations of individual colors. These gradients become conveyor belts, moving planes of space with color. Multiple underlayers of contrasting color amplify and complicate chromatic relationships on the surface, and create an internal luminosity reminiscent of the screen, as painting chases the digital aura of the original image.”

Dustin London's work has been exhibited at venues including NURTUREart in Brooklyn, Heskin Contemporary in New York City, Emily Davis Gallery at the University of Akron, the Untitled Art Fair in Miami Beach, and TSA Gallery in Brooklyn. He has been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo, Millay Colony, Willapa Bay AiR, Jentel, Vermont Studio Center, and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. London is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and his work has been featured in New American Paintings, Fresh Paint Magazine, Paint Pulse Magazine, and The New York Times. He received a BFA from Michigan State University and a MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently lives and works in Ann Arbor, MI and is an Assistant Professor in the School of Art & Design at Eastern Michigan University. 

This exhibition is one of 8 selected from among 139 solo proposals submitted for consideration for Manifest’s 14th season.

drawing room

AQUACHROME
Contemporary Watercolor

Aquachrome was last presented as part of the launch of the Fresh Paint biennial in 2013. We are pleased to announce its reinstatement as a permanent element of the biennial, and look forward to showcasing and documenting works of watercolor, alongside the wider spectrum of painting, every two years.

Quite possibly the oldest form of painting, watercolor persists today, defying narrow categorization and broad stereotype. Practiced for centuries in concept development preliminary to 'finished' paintings made in oil or other scale-worthy durable media, watercolor also found favor with botanists, illustrators, and portraitists, and was applied to varied and countless surfaces.

The nature of the media itself represents a delicate and dictatorial transparency, fluidity, and a potential for expressive spontaneity. This not only makes it an ideal vehicle for contemporary art, but also one of training, intensity, philosophy, and play for any who practice it. Where an artist can easily dominate other painting media, forcing a will through viscous layers into a work of art like taming a wild horse, with watercolor there is dialog, compromise, and undeniable forthrightness. In this way the artist practicing watercolor works with a tiger in the room.

For this exhibit 44 artists from 24 states, Australia, and Canada submitted 142 works for consideration. Thirteen works by the following 9 artists from 5 states, and Canada were selected by a blind jury process for presentation in the gallery and the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication.

Presenting works by:

Nat Borges
Sarasota, Florida

Corey Drieth
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Pauline Goldsmith
Miami, Florida

Soyoung Jung
West Lafayette, Indiana

Emily Kaelin
Cincinnati, Ohio

J. Li
Brooklyn, New York

Harriet Livathinos
Kingston, New York

Yeachin Tsai
Troy, New York

Scott Waters
Toronto, Canada

     Nat Borges

     Corey Drieth

     Emily Kaelin

parallel space + central gallery

FRESH PAINT 2017
3rd Biennial Painting Exhibition

At some point many generations ago society reached a level where ordinary people could spend a lifetime perfecting their ability to mix and apply paint, in extraordinary ways. Manifest established FRESH PAINT as a permanent biennial project in 2013 to inaugurate our expanded gallery. FRESH PAINT 2017 is the third biennial presentation of this international survey of contemporary painting.

FRESH PAINT joins Drawn as a recurring gallery exhibition designed to complement our annual INDA and INPA (drawing and painting) publications. Every two years it launches our exhibition season by presenting a competitive group exhibition focused exclusively on painting.

For this exhibit 116 artists from 22 states, Canada, China, England, France, Indonesia, and Ireland submitted 362 works. Eighteen works by the following 17 artists from 15 states were selected by a blind jury process for presentation in the gallery and the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication.

Presenting works by:

Beverly Barber
Brookline, Massachusetts

Pirjo Berg
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Evan Boggess
Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Patti Brady
Greenville, South Carolina

Gerry Chapleski
Broomfield, Colorado

Craig Cully
Tucson, Arizona

Margaret Davis
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Mike Demi
Milroy, Pennsylvania

Peter Green
Lakewood, Ohio

Joseph Holsapple
Thibodaux, Louisiana

Marcus Michels
Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Jenniffer Omaitz
Kent, Ohio

Edmond Praybe
Arnold, Maryland

Adam Reed
Kingwood, West Virginia

Benjamin Shamback
Mobile, Alabama

Sheldon Tapley
Danville, Kentucky

Xi Zhang
Salt Lake City, Utah

     Xi Zhang

     Jennifer Omaitz

     Edmond Praybe

     Pirjo Berg

north gallery

BLIND SPOT
Paintings by Benjamin Lowery

Benjamin Lowery's seven paintings conclude a five-gallery suite of exhibits focusing on painting. Counterbalancing the concurrent exhibit in our other street-facing gallery, that of works by Dustin London, Lowery's paintings are also quite large, colorful, and engaging across a wide radius. Fittingly, the energy of this show matches that of its counterpart, but with a more direct and light-hearted narrative, softening expectations, and inviting consideration on what is perhaps an unfamiliar level.

Of his work the artist states:

"A swimmer is momentarily blinded while drying his face and unwittingly stumbles over sunbathers. A man with an inner tube tries to insert himself into a crowded group of strangers in a swimming pool. These humorous subjects are a foil for the formal explorations of the work. As each piece develops, they become pictorial inventions that resist, complicate or disrupt the narratives. In particular, I am looking for a formal poise careening toward imminent disaster. This is amplified by various motifs in the paintings that play graphic clarity against spatial ambiguity, formal precision against awkward form. A recurring theme is the tension between the seen and the unseen, both from the point of view of the viewer and the subject. All of these devices are employed to activate the paintings in a surprising way that is interdependent with their original narrative impetus.”

Born in Waukesha, WI, Benjamin Lowery received an MFA from Indiana University and a BA from the University of Dallas. He has also studied at the Mount Gretna School of Art and the Jerusalem Studio School. His work has been exhibited nationally in New York City, Pennsylvania, Indianapolis and Dallas. Lowery lives and works in Richmond, Indiana and is a visiting professor at Earlham College. 

This exhibition is one of 8 selected from among 139 solo proposals submitted for consideration for Manifest’s 14th season.

Preview Reception: Thursday, November 9, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, November 10, 6-9pm

main gallery

ART FROM ART
Artworks Inspired by Other Art

Like any other form of culture including language, art evolves organically. This means artists are reacting to their context—socially, historically, creatively. Often artists learn by copying existing works, usually 'master works' from history, in museums or from photos. Sometimes these are even copies of copies—for example, a drawn copy of a drawing Rubens made of the Belevedere Torso in 1601. (The Belvedere Torso itself was once believed to be a 1st-century BC original, but is now believed to be a copy from the 1st century BC or AD of an older statue, which probably dated to the early 2nd century BC). This example alone reveals the depth of historical influence—the purposeful right alongside the unconscious.

However, beyond the practice of imitating to learn, there is the overt borrowing of forms, techniques, styles, or subjects—even whole representations of an existing work—in order to recontextualize it and therefore give it an entirely new meaning while retaining a connection to the original source's context and meaning. Duchamp's "L.H.O.O.Q." serves as a prime example.

ART FROM ART sets out to showcase works that reference, borrow, recontextualize or otherwise utilize existing artworks, whether old or new, in an obvious way. The ways in which this may be realized are incredibly numerous, and we were eager, in calling for submissions, to see the various approaches artists feel fit this theme.

For this exhibit 150 artists from 37 states and the countries of Canada, England, Iran, Slovakia, and Ukraine submitted 425 works for consideration. Fourteen works by the following 11 artists from 11 states were selected by a blind jury process for presentation in the gallery and the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication.

Presenting works by:

Dennis Angel
Las Vegas, Nevada

Kenneth Batista
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Michael Bergt
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Tyler Bohm
Columbus, Ohio

Bruce Garrity
Penns Grove, New Jersey

Edward Kelley
Des Moines, Iowa

Larry Madrigal
Peoria, Arizona

Nancy McCarthy
Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Isaac McCaslin
Jefferson, Louisiana

Scott Ramming
Cincinnati, Ohio

Paul Sattler
Saratoga Springs, New York

     Tyler Bohm

     Nancy McCarthy

     Edward Kelley

drawing room

H2O
Art About Water

Water is a transparent and nearly colorless chemical substance that is the main constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. Its chemical formula is H2O, meaning that its molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, that are connected by covalent bonds. Water strictly refers to the liquid state of that substance, that prevails at standard ambient temperature and pressure; but it often refers also to its solid state (ice) or its gaseous state (steam or water vapor). It also occurs in nature as snow, glaciers, ice packs and icebergs, clouds, fog, dew, aquifers, and atmospheric humidity. (Wikipedia)

71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. It is no coincidence then that 60% of the human body is also water. We spend our first nine formative months gestating in a water-filled sack before we're born, and as many days or weeks as we can manage visiting the shorelines of bodies of water on vacations. Religious ceremonies treat water as a divine substance, and primitive mythologies assign it a correspondingly god-like character. Of all chemicals in the universe, right alongside breathable air, water is paramount to our existence. Whether or not we think of ourselves this way, we are water-based creatures. Yet ironically, as ubiquitous as it is, water quality and availability are becoming global concerns. Simultaneously solid water is melting, raising sea levels, and threatening the modern way of life for millions of people. We underestimate our connection to this simple assembly of hydrogen and oxygen. We owe our entire existence, future and past, to water.

For this exhibit 162 artists submitted 507 works from 37 states and Canada, England, France, Ireland, London, Oman, Switzerland, and Taiwan for consideration. Twelve works by the following 11 artists from 8 states, and New Zealand were selected by a blind jury process for presentation in the gallery and the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication.

Presenting works by:

Lynn Benson
Leawood, Kansas

Cathy Carter
Auckland, New Zealand

Katherine Cox
Willow Wood, Ohio

Jennifer Cronin
Chicago, Illinois

Phil Hastings
Silver Creek, New York

Ricki Klages
Laramie, Wyoming

Joseph Miller
Buffalo, New York

Lynda Nugent
Healdsburg, California

Robert Perez
Gainesville, Florida

Alice Stern
Berkeley, California

Margaret Whiting
Waterloo, Iowa

     Jennifer Cronin

     Margaret Whiting

     Cathy Carter

parallel space + central gallery

ARBOREAL
Art About Trees

Trees cover about 30% of the Earth's land surface. There are roughly 400 trees per every living human on Earth. 12,000 years ago, before people developed agriculture, there were twice as many trees.

If there is any natural form beyond the ocean that is more symbolic of nature as the origin of humanity, it is trees. Both are powerful beyond our reckoning in their own ways, and each provides an unappreciated resource, assumed, until most recently, to be infinite. Trees are the lungs of the Earth, and thereby an extension of the lungs of any breathing creature, including us.

How do artists interpret the role or form of the tree? What meaning is derived from a creative response to this force of nature? How are the fates of trees, forests, and mankind intertwined, and how is this expressed through art? How do tree-based materials, and therefore trees themselves, influence the artwork that they are used to make? Manifest invited artists working in any media to share works that either directly or indirectly address the topic of trees or related aspects. The theme was open to wide interpretation, and works were expected to explore various avenues of thought around the tree, its dependents, or its wood.

For this exhibit 238 artists from 44 states, Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, Lebanon, and The Netherlands submitted 754 works. Eighteen works by the following 16 artists from 9 states and England were selected by a blind jury process for presentation in the gallery and the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication.

Presenting works by:

Steven L. Anderson
Atlanta, Georgia

Sue Bryan
New York, New York

Paul Baron
Canton, Massachusetts

Tim Freeman
Cincinnati, Ohio

Pauline Goldsmith
Miami, Florida

Ryan Horvath
Edwardsville, Illinois

Ricki Klages
Laramie, Wyoming

Cindy Kopenhafer
Pleasant Hope, Missouri

Marlene Lipinski
New Windsor, New York

Gregory Martin
Mississippi State, Mississippi

Paul Ridyard
London, England

Meagan Shein
Ann Arbor, Michigan

John Shelton
Grantville, Georgia

Greg Thatcher
Fairfield, Iowa

Vesselina Traptcheva
Irvington, New York

Margaret Whiting
Waterloo, Iowa

     Ryan Horvath

     Meagan Shein

     Paul Ridyard

north gallery

ABSTRACT NATURE
Cut Paper by Blake Conroy

Blake Conroy's six large laser-cut paper works offer both an abstracted view of natural forms, and an intense experience of an increasingly seen art-making process enabled by technology. Conroy's stated concern about the natural environment is underscored by the seriousness of his commitment to the layered cut-paper forms—allowing, like abstract expressionism, the viewer to extract as much meaning as they wish from the inherent formal impact of the works.

Of his work the artist states:

"The core of my work is large pieces that address my concerns about the environment. I want to express this concern in an elegant way to reach as large an audience as possible.

My practice is to draw and redraw. I draw for making images that are cut out of paper or metal. When I draw, the images have to hold together as images and they have to hold together as a page. Because I am cutting through the picture plane, I stack the drawings one on top of another. The viewer sees one image through another drawing of either the same image, as in my larger pieces, or a different image as in my more abstract works.”

Blake Conroy is from Aberdeen, Maryland. He holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1981. Conroy is a recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award. Solo Shows include Hardesty Arts Center in Tulsa OK, Abstract Nature, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg PA, and Garden Abstractions, Adkins Arboretum, Ridgely, MD. Selected group shows include: Drawn, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati OH, Brand 45, Works on Paper, 45th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Brand Library and Arts Center, Glendale California, Seventh Annual Laumeister Fine Art Competition, The Bennington Center For the Arts, Bennington, VT, St. Tammany Art Association's 50th Juried Artists Exhibition, the Summer Show, Art House, Covington, LA, among others.

Conroy is the Foundry Foreman for New Arts Foundry. He has worked on projects large and small from Texas to Boston including: the renovation of the Freedom Statue atop the US Capitol, Orangutans for the National Zoo in Washington, D. C., the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC, and the statue of Tamanend, a Native American in Philadelphia.

This exhibition is one of 8 selected from among 139 solo proposals submitted for consideration for Manifest’s 14th season.

Preview Reception: Thursday, December 14, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, December 15, 6-9pm

main gallery + north gallery

8th Annual TAPPED
Artists and their Professors

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 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 teachers, 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 paired works by artists and their current or former teachers.

For this exhibit 62 artists from 20 states and 2 countries submitted 204 works for consideration. Twenty-six works by the following 26 artists from 14 states (Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) were selected for presentation in the gallery and Manifest Exhibition Annual publication. The artists are listed in pairings to illustrate their teacher/student relationship. Works on view will include paintings, drawings, sculptures, and several photographs. The exhibition layout is planned so that each pair of artists' works will be shown side-by-side or in close proximity. Visitors will be able to enjoy the variety of types of works while also considering the nature of influence between professor and student.

drawing room

ILLINOIS
Regional Showcase

In its first thirteen seasons Manifest's projects included works by artists in 50 states and 40 countries. Starting with our 10th season Manifest launched a new ongoing series of exhibits focusing on works by artists living in our own three-state region. Two years ago we added projects that also focused on other definable regions outside our own. These Regional Showcases were offered to complement the ordinarily very wide geographical makeup of most Manifest exhibits with a closer look at what's being done here in our own backyard, as well as provide a platform from which we can examine the trends, qualities, and idiosyncrasies of contemporary art within specific geographical areas and compare them to our own.

For our fifth year of exhibits showcasing works from other regions we have decided to feature states which are adjacent to our three-state 'home' region. Illinois and Pennsylvania each offer large populations and art-rich metropolitan cultures, as well as broad rural areas, which provides a starting point for conversation about the resulting simultaneous exhibitions. They are home to major international art centers and educational institutions which are involved in the global art scene. (Previously Texas and Minnesota, Michigan and Florida, and New York and California showcases provided strong and visible contrasts in our gallery.)

Manifest's several-member blind jury process reviewed 160 works by 49 artists in Illinois and Pennsylvania for this two-exhibit parallel regional survey. Eight works by the following 4 artists from Illinois were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

Barbara Kendrick
Champaign, Illinois

Mason Pott
Chicago, Illinois

Yvette Kaiser Smith
Chicago, Illinois

Mary Wagner
Chicago, Illinois

    Yvette Kaiser Smith

     Mason Pott

parallel space

PENNSYLVANIA
Regional Showcase

In its first thirteen seasons Manifest's projects included works by artists in 50 states and 40 countries. Starting with our 10th season Manifest launched a new ongoing series of exhibits focusing on works by artists living in our own three-state region. Two years ago we added projects that also focused on other definable regions outside our own. These Regional Showcases were offered to complement the ordinarily very wide geographical makeup of most Manifest exhibits with a closer look at what's being done here in our own backyard, as well as provide a platform from which we can examine the trends, qualities, and idiosyncrasies of contemporary art within specific geographical areas and compare them to our own.

For our fifth year of exhibits showcasing works from other regions we have decided to feature states which are adjacent to our three-state 'home' region. Illinois and Pennsylvania each offer large populations and art-rich metropolitan cultures, as well as broad rural areas, which provides a starting point for conversation about the resulting simultaneous exhibitions. They are home to major international art centers and educational institutions which are involved in the global art scene. (Previously Texas and Minnesota, Michigan and Florida, and New York and California showcases provided strong and visible contrasts in our gallery.)

Manifest's several-member blind jury process reviewed 160 works by 49 artists in Illinois and Pennsylvania for this two-exhibit parallel regional survey. Eight works by the following 5 artists from Pennsylvania were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

Jim Bright
Reedsville, Pennsylvania

Maurice Butler
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Cheryl Hochberg
Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Brooke Jana
Waverly, Pennsylvania

Mary Murphy
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Maurice Butler

     Mary Murphy

central gallery

ONE 8
The 8th Annual Manifest Prize

La Guerre
mixed media on paper, 40" x 34", 2016

by Michael Reedy (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

About the work the artist states:

The work entitled La Guerre could most easily be summarized as a battle for knowledge about life and death between a young child and his mortal doppelganger. However, by employing misdirection and/or contradiction I have attempted to blur the contentious boundaries between the beautiful and the ugly, the innocent and the sinful, and the living and the dying. I have always enjoyed the complex range of emotions that result when one symbol seamlessly veils another and we find ourselves navigating multiple scripts simultaneously; in which beauty, love, pain, loss, life, and death seem entwined and inseparable. In the end, the struggle to navigate these various contradictions, and our ability to persevere in spite of them, is what interests me the most.

Michael Reedy received his MFA in painting from Northern Illinois University in 2000 and his BA from North Central College in 1996. His work has been included in over 150 national and international exhibitions and can be viewed in numerous private and institutional collections including Clatsop Community College, Minot State University, Shippensburg University, and the Hoffman Trust National Collection in association with the San Diego Art Institute. Notable recent creative activities include a two-person exhibition at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco, and solo exhibitions at The International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, the Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center in Cincinnati, Arch Enemy Arts in Philadelphia, and BeinArt Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. In addition, several of Michael’s works were included in the books Dark Inspirations II by Victionary Press and Anatomy Rocks by Cernunnos Press.

ABOUT THE $5000 MANIFEST PRIZE
Two seasons ago our board of directors increased the Manifest Prize to $5000. This underscored our non-profit organization's desire to reward, showcase, celebrate, and document exceptional artwork being made today by working artists, and to do this in a tasteful non-commercial public context. Manifest's mission is centered on championing the importance of quality in visual art, supporting and encouraging artists at all levels. This project is one aspect of the realization of that mission.

We respect the creative principle of reduction (the blind jury process) as it is employed to achieve 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 following. We believe competition does inspire excellence. Therefore we determined seven years ago to launch the Manifest Prize in order to push the process to the ultimate limit—from among many to select just ONE work.

Manifest's jury process for the 8th Annual Manifest Prize included multiple levels of jury review of 1060 works by 335 artists from 44 states and 15 countries by a total of 18 different volunteer jurors from across the U.S. Each level resulted in fewer works passing on to the next, until a winner was reached. The size and physical nature of the works considered was not a factor in the jury scoring and selection.

It should be noted that the finalist and semi-finalists, 11 works, represent the top scoring 1% of the jury pool. The winner represents the top one-tenth of 1% of the jury pool.

The winning work will be presented in the Central Gallery from December 14 through January 12, 2018. It will be accompanied by several juror statements and the artist's statement.

The Runners-up:

Ten semi-finalist works (runners up to the winner) will also be featured in the season-documenting Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEAs14). These are works by Gordon Belray (Toronto, Canada), Lisa Bryson (Jamul, California), Kelly Cave (Maryville, Missouri), Jason Ferguson (Grass Lake, Michigan), John Nicholas Hutchings (Frederick, Maryland), Robert McCann (East Lansing, Michigan), Clarissa Pezone (Edinboro, Pennsylvania), Michael Reedy (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and Dustin Steuck (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

"La Guerre"

Preview Reception: Thursday, January 25, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, January 26, 6-9pm

main gallery + drawing room + parallel space

IMPRINT
Contemporary Printmaking

Like photography, printmaking is a genre of art making that is underscored by its processes. Some artists are steadfast traditionalists, anchoring themselves in age-old technical methods. Others push the boundaries of the discipline, exploring just what constitutes ‘printmaking’. For this exhibit Manifest takes a fresh look at the media last featured in season 10. IMPRINT called to artists around the world to submit works of printmaking, and shares a range of methods and results currently being achieved within the bounds of the discipline.

Manifest's blind jury process reviewed 436 works by 144 artists in 35 states and 14 countries. Fifty-four works by the following 38 artists from 18 states and 5 countries, including Australia, England, Finland, Italy, and the United States, were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

Andrew Au
Cincinnati, Ohio

Kenneth Batista
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Cahaba River Watershed Project*
Vestavia, Alabama

Jacob Crook
Starkville, Mississippi

Christine Di Staola
Coral Gables, Florida

Doug Eberhardt
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania

Rick Finn
Cincinnati, Ohio

Craig Fisher
Toledo, Ohio

Arron Foster
Kent, Ohio

Carl Gombert
Maryville, Tennessee

Beth Grabowski
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Bea Haines
Warminster, England

Marco Hernandez
Wichita, Kansas

Nicholas Hill
Columbus, Ohio

Yuji Hiratsuka
Corvallis, Oregon

Sarah Hulsey
Somerville, Massachusetts

Brian Johnson
Austin, Texas

William Kitchens
New Orleans, Louisiana

Elizabeth Klimek
Gaithersburg, Maryland

Janne Laine
Tampere, Finland

Andrew Laverty
Plymouth, Massachusetts

Beauvais Lyons
Knoxville, Tennessee

Maria Mangano
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kathy  McGhee
Galloway, Ohio

Landon Perkins
Syracuse, New York

Miriana Pino
Galatone, Italy

Jenn Rodriguez
San Antonio, Texas

Ramiro Rodriguez
South Bend, Indiana

Blake Sanders
Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Rachel Singel
Louisville, Kentucky

Mark Sisson
Stillwater, Oklahoma

Vanessa Sorensen
Cincinnati, Ohio

Nathan Weiss
Indianapolis, Indiana

Ian Welch
Toledo, Ohio

Art Werger
Athens, Ohio

Michael Whitehead
Athens, Ohio

Cleo Wilkinson
Brisbane, Australia

Ken Wood
St Louis, Missouri

* a collaboration between Scott Stephens, Elisabeth Pellathy
and Lee Somers

    Arron Foster

     Nathan Weiss

     Jenn Rodriguez

     Ken Wood

     Doug Eberhardt

central gallery

CHARACTERIZED
Invented Characters

Whether it be ancient mythology, or modern film and all points between, people clearly need characters. Maybe they're a relief from the all-too-real ones dominating life, or maybe they represent an ideal outside of current circumstances to which we can aspire. Perhaps they are a cautionary tale. Whatever the case, invented characters populate our culture, and have evolved with it over time, representing a subtle and potent symbiosis of the real with the imagined. Manifest wonders how this shows up in visual art (and design) of today. With this we assembled an intimate exhibit that provides some answers to this question, and celebrates the characters who live among us, for who and what they really are.

Manifest's blind jury process reviewed 310 works by 105 artists in 33 states and 3 countries. Thirteen works by the following 9 artists from 7 states and Australia were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

Jaime Aelavanthara
Plant City, Florida

David Michael Beck
Cincinnati, Ohio

Erik Durant
New Bedford, Massachusetts

David Hannon
Muncie, Indiana

David Hicks
Indianapolis, Indiana

Dominic Lippillo
Starkville, Mississippi

William Platz
Queensland, Australia

Steven Subotnick
Providence, Rhode Island

Nathan Vieland
San Diego, California

    Erik Durant

     William Platz

north gallery

IMAGINARIUM
Invented Places & Things

Imagination is the source of so much wonder. It is a virtual, yet natural, playground of the mind. As such it is an inseparable and fascinating aspect of life as a human. Unfocused, imagination can be a source of problems, spirals of decay, and self-destruction. However, like any tool, even mental ones, it can also be useful for health, growth, and general mental and emotional wellbeing. Along with its companion exhibit "Characterized" this show takes a slice of how imagination and invention show up in visual art.

Manifest's blind jury process reviewed 221 works by 72 artists in 28 states and 6 countries. Twelve works by the following 7 artists from 6 states and Argentina were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

TyRuben Ellingson
Midlothian, Virginia

William Haney
Raritan, New Jersey

Stuart Holland
Boise, Idaho

Katie Hudnall
Indianapolis, Indiana

Julia Romano
La Calera, Córdoba (Argentina)

Robert Sholties
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania

Katie Stacy
Northwood, Ohio

    Stuart Holland

     Katie Hudnall

     TyRuben Ellingson

Preview Reception: Thursday, March 8, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, March 9, 6-9pm

main gallery + drawing room

OHIO, KENTUCKY, INDIANA
Regional Showcase

In 14 seasons Manifest's projects have included works by artists in 50 states and 40 countries. Beginning in its tenth season, Manifest launched an ongoing series of exhibits focusing on works by artists in our own three-state region. These Regional Showcases were offered to complement the ordinarily very wide geographical makeup of most Manifest exhibits with a closer look at what's being done here in our own backyard, as well as provide a platform from which we can examine the trends, qualities, and idiosyncrasies of contemporary art within specific geographical areas and compare them to our own.

This exhibit had no specific requirement for type, media, or style of work to be submitted. This was an open call. Submissions ranged widely from traditional to very conceptual, abstract, and experimental work. Jury selections were made based on the overall quality of the works submitted.

Manifest's blind jury process reviewed 463 works by 136 artists from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Twenty-six works by the following 17 artists from our three-state region (6 from Indiana, 7 from Ohio, and 4 from Kentucky) were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

Chad Balster
Louisville, Kentucky

Brandon Briggs
Bowling Green, Ohio

Preston Buchtel
Cleveland, Ohio

Frederick Fochtman
Columbus, Ohio

Ron Isaacs
Lexington, Kentucky

Todd Kunkler
Cincinnati, Ohio

Aaron Lubrick
Louisville, Kentucky

Eric Lubrick
Indianapolis, Indiana

Patrizio M. Martinelli
Oxford, Ohio

Catherine Mulligan
Bloomington, Indiana

Dora Natella
Granger, Indiana

Steve Nyktas
Indianapolis, Indiana

Sara Pearce
Cincinnati, Ohio

Robert Pulley
Columbus, Indiana

Jack St. John
Bedford, Ohio

Susan Tennant
Indianapolis, Indiana

Hayward Wilkirson
Lexington, Kentucky

    Hayward Wilkirson

     Jack St. John

     Ron Isaacs

     Sara Pearce

     Aaron Lubrick

parallel space

FOLLOW THE MONEY
Photographs by Dan Tague

Manifest is very pleased to present this enveloping solo exhibition of Dan Tague's photographs. Merging photographic media with skillful paper manipulation of ready-made and banal subject matter Tague cleverly, with irony and humor, drops the mic at Manifest.

Of his work the artist states:

"The many nuances associated with the dollar bill serve as an unrelenting source of inspiration for me as I fold the monetary engravings obsessively to reveal messages. These manipulated promissory notes take on new meanings as the messages are realized in the ready-made light of the U.S. currency. At the very core of this fiscal narrative is the tug-of-war between politics and the pursuit of happiness. This photo series offers a moment of reflection to further consider the good, bad, and the ugly potential of a monetary centric world."

Dan Tague has an MFA in Studio Arts from The University of New Orleans, and is a multi-media artist whose work is exhibited both nationally and internationally. His work is in prominent collections including the New Orleans Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Ogden Museum of Art, Speed Art Museum, J House, Frederick Weisman Collection, and Photo House Brussels. Tague is well known for his photographic series of political commentary as told through folded paper currency. He addresses the issues of our day by rendering visual equivalents in this most influential medium. Installations, photography and artistic activism are his means of confronting and responding to the concerns of today's world. Dan Tague lives and works in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This exhibition is one of 8 selected from among 139 solo proposals submitted for consideration for Manifest’s 14th season.

central gallery

NECESSARY NOTES
Photographs by Robin Germany

Manifest paired this exhibition of Robin Germany's works with that of Dan Tague's in order to showcase two artists working photographically but generating works that are non-traditional in appearance. Germany's poetic imagery offers a framework through which to consider both form and content on equal terms—through beauty and meaning. Their richness lies in the delicate merger of these two qualities.

Of her work the artist states:

"These photos are of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the context of science, religion and history, that deliver limited facts and uncertain truths, at the nexus of a conversation about the transience of knowledge and constancy of change.

The photographs are made partially underwater, at the crux of two worlds. They are made with the camera suspended at the border between the air and water, peering into the dark water beneath at the same time as the sky and land above. The water is mostly impenetrable, a language I do not speak. They are two different environments, one in which air is inhaled and one in which water is the medium. In these images, I am more interested in what escapes us, what is obscured—the gaps and blank parts of our understanding. The border between the land and the water is tenuous but definite, and its surface reflects us as in the myth of Narcissus but reveals little below. I am seeking the stories in the water, unknowable stories of life and struggle, stories that are inextricably intertwined with ours and laden with implications for our future.”

Robin Germany (BA, Tulane, Philosophy. MFA, University of North Texas) was born in Houston, Texas and grew up further south in the small town of Friendswood, Texas. She is a professor of photography in the School of Art at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Through the lens of philosophy, Germany makes photographs that inquire into the nature of being human and the humanness of nature. Her most recent artworks are an exploration of the waters in Texas as a border between the human and natural worlds.

Germany's work has been exhibited in the Fort Wayne Art Museum; the Center for Photography at Woodstock, at the New York Hall of Science; in Arezzo Italy at the Fotografia Festival; the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christie, Texas, and in solo and group exhibitions around the country. She has received a regional NEA grant, two Polaroid artist's awards, numerous Texas Tech University awards. Her photographs are included in the collections of the Center for Photography Woodstock, Texas Tech Museum of Art, The Boise Art Museum, and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona.

This exhibition is one of 8 selected from among 139 solo proposals submitted for consideration for Manifest’s 14th season.

north gallery

ASPIRE
Art About Dreams

as·pi·ra·tion
noun

1. a hope or ambition of achieving something.
synonyms: desire, hope, dream, wish, longing, yearning; aim, ambition, expectation, goal, target 

For this exhibit Manifest asked artists to submit works of visual art which represent or suggest the notion of hopes, ambitions, goals, or dreams. Abstract, poetic expressions of the theme were welcome alongside those of technical or literal representations.

As with many Manifest projects, our curatorial staff and jurors had no expectation for what sort of works could or should fit the theme. Our offering of the project was as much of a question, and a challenge for artists to answer. The resulting exhibition, we feel, has brought together a lyrical assembly of works which, considered together occur as if they are parts of a singlular and grand lucid dream.

Manifest's blind jury process reviewed 212 works by 74 artists in 27 states and 7 countries. Seven works by the following 6 artists from 5 states were selected for exhibition and will also be featured in the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication (MEA) at the close of the season.

Presenting works by:

Adrian Hatfield
Ferndale, Michigan

John Nicholas Hutchings
Frederick, Maryland

Ron Monsma
South Bend, Indiana

Rahshia Sawyer
Sterling, Virginia

Sayaka Suzuki
Sandston, Virginia

Jared Weiss
Santa Fe, New Mexico

    Ron Monsma

     John Nicholas Hutchings

     Rahshia Sawyer

Preview Reception: Thursday, April 19, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, April 20, 6-9pm

main gallery + drawing room + parallel space

DRAWN
5th Annual International Exhibit
of Contemporary Drawing

Manifest was founded in-part to stand for the importance of drawing as a process, skill, and discipline, and as a continuing viable product of the creative fine art and design fields. Since its inception our nonprofit organization has continued to incorporate drawing-based programming, including education (Drawing Center), publications (INDA), and gallery exhibits into the broader spectrum of its projects. The artists who formed Manifest in 2004 knew that despite their diverging career paths (architecture, art history, painting, industrial design, photography) they were brought together by their connection to drawing and their mutually intense but multi-faceted pursuit of this fundamental discipline.

Four years ago, in honor of the original spirit of the founding ideals of Manifest, the gallery launched DRAWN as a new annual exhibition. DRAWN seeks to survey and present the broad scope of drawing being made today. This gallery exhibit is completely separate from but nevertheless complements, and sometimes shares work in common with, the annual INDA publication project.

DRAWN called for artists to submit works of drawing in any media relevant to the practice (including non-traditional approaches), any style, and any genre (fine art, illustration, design, conceptual, realism, etc.).

For this exhibit 217 artists from 38 states, the District of Columbia, and 12 countries submitted 632 works for consideration. Forty-four works by the following 33 artists from 18 states and the countries of Australia, Canada, England, and France were selected by a panel of volunteer jurors for presentation in the gallery and the Manifest Exhibition Annual publication.

Presenting works by:

Kim Anderson
Ballarat, Australia

Joseph Bennett
Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Katlyn Brumfield
Lexington, Kentucky

Deborah Bryan
Johnson City, Tennessee

Sue Bryan
New York, New York

Larine Chung
Bellevue, Washington

Michael DeLuca
Paoli, Pennsylvania

Roger Derrick
Long Branch, New Jersey

Olivier Devignaud
Saint-Etienne, France

Michael Diaz
Tempe, Arizona

Jillian Dickson
Rockford, Michigan

Maria DiMauro
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

Abel Dolby
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Matthew Durante
Santa Monica, California

Marie Frances
Cincinnati, Ohio

Kevin Gardner
Berea, Kentucky

Andrea Garland
Easley, South Carolina

Mark Hanavan and Paul Loehle
Middletown, Ohio

Hiroshi Hayakawa
Columbus, Ohio

Damien James
Chicago, Illinois

Ron Janowich
Gainesville, Florida

Sarah Jantzi
Valparaiso, Indiana

Joe Morzuch
Memphis, Tennessee

Sasha Opeiko
Windsor, Canada

Paul Ridyard
Kingston Upon Thames, England

Francis Sills
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

John Swihart and Denny Doran
Toledo, Ohio

Alice Valenti
Baltimore, Maryland

Duat Vu
Springfield, Missouri

Derek Wilkinson
Emporia, Kansas

Chelsea Younkman
Toledo, Ohio

     Olivier Devignaud

     Jillian Dickson

     Damien James

     Katlyn Brumfield

     Sasha Opeiko

central gallery + north gallery

MACROCOSM
Sculpture & Installation by Dana Lynn Harper

ARTIST'S TALK: Friday, May 18, 6pm

We are proud to showcase a rare two-gallery solo exhibition of Dana Lynn Harper's sculptural and installation works. Having two rooms at her disposal will allow Harper to work with our staff to transform one gallery as an immersive visual experience both from outside on Woodburn Avenue (24/7), and from within. This show provides a playful, eccentric, and dynamic counterpoint (and a visual dessert) to our annual drawing exhibition, while also teasing echoes of common threads between the exhibits which we challenge our visitors to discover for themselves.

Of her work the artist states:

"My practice is centered around the creation of joy; spreading light and empowerment by demonstrating acts of beauty and love. Installations are physical manifestations of my energy, a culmination of hours spent to create a new environment. Works are a playground for exploration, asking viewers to engage through imagination and touch. Using playful color, the works give space for viewers to be pushed back into their own childlike sensibilities. At the beginning of each work I develop a process or action that is placed onto a material that manipulates it into something new. This new invented technique is implemented and repeated to create a massive pattern. By masking medium through process, in conjunction with size, color and light, each piece is filled with endless references; allowing the work to remain approachable and relatable regardless of the viewer/participant's age and background. Works consist of multiple and individual figures, bodies and pieces that come together to create a massive work, highlighting the importance of individuality and freedom, and the power of community.”

Harper holds an undergraduate degree in Art & Technology from The Ohio State University (2009). She was the recipient of The Bunton Waller Fellowship from Penn State University, where she received her MFA in 2013. She was the recipient of an ArtPrize Artist Seed Grant and The ArtFile Emerging Artist Grant, Ringholz Foundation Award, as well as an Ohio Arts Council Professional Award. She has presented solo exhibitions at Otterbein University, University of Kentucky, Front/Space Gallery & Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, and ROY G BIV in Columbus, Ohio. Harper has been an Artist in Residence at Kutztown University, Teton Art Lab, Bunker Projects, Second Sight Studio, and ARC Artist Residency Chattanooga. She was awarded a scholarship through The National Endowment of the Arts to attend Women’s Studio Workshop in 2016. Most recently, she was a resident at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York and will hold another residency in July 2018 at ArtSpace in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This exhibition is one of 8 selected from among 139 solo proposals submitted for consideration for Manifest’s 14th season.

Learn more about Dana Lynn Harper's works at www.danalynnharper.com