Saturday, August 9, 2008

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The 2008 Award winners

We are proud to announce out 2008 award winners

BEST OF SHOW PROFESSIONAL
Jaime Bennati “Untitled”

2nd BEST OF SHOW PROFESSIONAL
Andrea Stern “”Route 33, Summer Morning”

3rd BEST OF SHOW PROFESSIONAL
Josh Foy “Catch”

BEST OF SHOW AMATEUR
Ruth Finley “Reoccurrence”

2nd BEST OF SHOW AMATEUR
Whitney Sage “Self Portrait (Dumb Blond)”

3rd BEST OF SHOW AMATEUR
Nova Weller ”Haystacks in Amish Country”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Rick Akers, “Train Yard”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Diana Bjel, “Flights of Birds”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Sue Cavannaugh, “Makume Variation #5- Golden Passage”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
John Freiman, “Bud’s Tree”

Ohio ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Helen Hoffelt , “Untitled #4- Water Memory Series”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Kathy McGhee, “The Gathering”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Mike Miller, “Companion”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Danielle Rante, “Voynich Secret History”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Francis Schranberger, (Series) “Seeds, Curl, Spruce Pollen”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Carol Snyder, “Fall”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL AMATEUR AWARD
Dennis Gordon, “Oiseau Multiple”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL AMATEUR AWARD
Brittany Ransom, “Robo Cluck”

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL PURCHASE PROGRAM Mary Ann Crago, “Warm Magic”

GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Lynda McClanahan, “Serenading the Rooster”

GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Ardine Nelson, “Untitled #1”

GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL AMATEUR AWARD
Brittany Ransom, “This is the way we build”

GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL AMATEUR AWARD
David F. Cooke, “I Stay Close to You…”

ARTS COUNCIL LAKE ERIE WEST
Christopher Werkman, “Artifact with Internally Combustive Capability”

SOUTHERN HILLS ARTS COUNCIL
Margaret McAdams, “Repository: Dyad II”

NEW ALBANY ARTS COUNCIL
Renon Hulet, “Diversion Day”

WESTBRIDGE CAMERA CLUB
Kim Gram, “Blackbird Sunrise”
James Pillbeam, “Samson”

HAZEN-TAFT AWARD
Renon Hulet, “Monday washday”

BELLAFONTAINE CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION
Mike Staley, “The Last Supper”

CITY OF UPPER ARLINGTON
Jen Adrion, “Spam Received”

Congratulations!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Columbus Dispatch review





Visitors to the Ohio State Fair might want to take a break from elephant ears and kettle corn for a special treat: the Fine Arts Exhibition. With more than 300 pieces in virtually every medium, the exhibit in the Cox Fine Arts Center offers something for everyone (without calories).

The roster of jurors alone is impressive: Works in the professional division were selected by New York artist Michael Ferris Jr. and Philadelphia media artist Tim Portlock. Ceramist, author and editor Anderson Turner of Kent State University chose works in the amateur division.

All three sought pieces with a clear vision. Some works are conceptual, others straightforward and traditional. Painting and photography dominate, but sculpture and craft-based works are equally well-represented, contributing to an exhibit with surprises around every corner.

Among the best: Josh Foy's trio of ceramic sculptures (Out of Sight, Out of Mind; Catch; and 43078). The large, cylindrical columns resemble scientific core samples examining the debris of human life. Trash, bricks and machine parts are presented as sedimentary-rock layers. At the top of each column, grass grows. The sculptures address the environmental consequences of consumption and how nature tries to heal itself.

Confronting issues of materiality and value, Jaime Bennati's untitled relief sculpture transforms the ordinary into something unexpected and magical. From the front, the piece resembles a large formation of coral. Closer examination reveals that it is constructed of newspaper and glue.

Ardine Nelson's series of three untitled photographs focuses attention on the walls and ceilings of abandoned buildings.

Christopher Werkman's hyper-real still life Artifact With Internally Combustive Capability is a meditation on the reliance on fossil fuels.

Derrick Velasquez's A More Perfect Union looks like a blank wooden plank sealed with clear varnish. As viewers move around the piece, the words "a more perfect union" appear and disappear across the surface. Deceptively simple, the work emphasizes the fragility of democratic ideas.

A critique of the war in Iraq, Joan Tallan's woodcut Mr. Bush's War VI mixes images of soldiers and weapons with the specter of death.

Standout paintings include Robert Tavani's expressionistic still life Heat, Kirill Novikov's impressionistic landscape Winter, Frederick Foctman's intimate interior Black Shirt, Rick Akers' industrial landscape Train Yard, Jeffrey Knick's abstraction A Tangled Mess and Monica Achberger's colorful landscape Road Less Traveled.

The craft-based works are strong as well. Featuring a series of four water towers with different colors and textural patterns, Andrea Stern's quilt Marilyn pays tongue-in-cheek homage to Andy Warhol.

Cynthia Vardhan's porcelain vessels Pink and Red Vase and Blue Fan Bowl are studies in simple beauty and decorative harmony. Exploring natural structures and podlike forms, Carol Snyder's Ravine and Fall combine porcelain with woven patches of grass fiber.

Other strong pieces: Danielle Rante's mixed-media drawing Voynich Secret History, John Freiman's sculpture Anatomy of Saint Paul and Helen Hoffelt's digital photograph Untitled 4 -- Water Memory Series.

• The Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition continues through Aug. 10 in the Cox Fine Arts Center of the Ohio Expo Center, I-71 and E. 17th Avenue. Fair admission is $10, or $8 for ages 60 and older and 5 to 12, free for age 4 and younger. Call 614-644-3247 or visit www. ohiostatefair.com.