Explore FRONT International 2018

Jan. 02, 2019

An American City
July 14 – September 30, 2018

FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art launched its inaugural edition in July of 2018. An American City: Eleven Cultural Exercises, in collaboration with museums, civic institutions, and alternative spaces across Cleveland, Akron, and Oberlin, showcases an ambitious roster of projects, including performance and theater throughout the landscape and built environment. With a roster of national, international and area-based artists at all points in their career, FRONT 2018 examines the ever-changing and politically urgent conditions of an American city.

This citywide art program brings together international, national and regional artists, curators and scholars to propose a new format for biennials and triennials. It focuses on process, research, collaboration and long-term engagement with Cleveland and Northeast Ohio to provide an expansive stage to create and share new work that is inspired by and engaged with the social, political, cultural, ecological, and economic issues of our time. These themes and ideas are explored by the participants will revolve around the history and the current realities of Cleveland that serves as an example of a midsize American city in time during which this country is deeply divided.

FRONT sees museums and exhibitions as places for a nuanced conversation about the difficult issues and concerns in society, away from the perhaps comforting but also reductive way of absolute thinking that is so destructive. The program feels the need to address complexities and diversity of thought within the spectrum of institutions that address the state of the world around us.

Click to Explore FRONT International 2018: An American City: Eleven Cultural Exercises.

"The American Library," an installation by British artist Yinka Shonibare, was a major piece commissioned by the FRONT International. Shown in Brett Hall at the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library downtown, the work consisted of 6,000 volumes covered with colorful African wax cloth in which the names of U.S. immigrants were printed. The work was a cultural literacy test to see how many of the names a viewer recognized. Photo: Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Martine Syms. Installation view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. Courtesy of the artist and Bridget Donahue, New York. Photography by Field Studio.

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Yinka Shonibare MBE, "The American Library," 2018. Installation view at The Cleveland Public Library. © Yinka Shonibare MBE. Commissioned by FRONT International. Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York. Photoraphy by Field Studio.

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Julie Ezelle-Patton, “Let it Bee Ark Hive,” 2018. Installation view. Photography by Field Studio.

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Candice Breitz, “Love Story,” 2016. Installation view at Playhouse Square. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), Outset Germany + Medienboard Berlin- Brandenburg. Photography by Field Studio.

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Barbara Bloom, “THE RENDERING (H X W X D =),” 2018. Installation view at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College. Commissioned by FRONT International. Courtesy of the artist and David Lewis, New York. Photography by Field Studio.

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Philip Vanderhyden, “Volatility Smile 3,” 2018. Installation view at Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Commissioned by FRONT International. Photography by Field Studio.

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Ad Minoliti, “Modular shelter: kitty, alien, piggy, robot, bird, fish,” 2018, courtesy of the artist and Galería Agustina Ferreyra, Mexico City and Li Jinghu, “White Clouds,” 2009, Courtesy of the artist and Magician Space. Installation view at Akron Art Museum. Photography by Field Studio.

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Cui Jie, “Dalian Telecom Hub Building #3,” 2017. Installation view at the Richard D. Baron '64 Art Gallery, Oberlin College. Courtesy the artist and Antenna Space, Shanghai. Photography by Field Studio.

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Juan Capistrán, “…they won’t say: the times were dark/Rather: why were their poets silent?,” 2018. Commissioned by FRONT International. Photography by Field Studio.

Kay Rosen, “DIVISIBILITY,” 2018. Commissioned by FRONT International. © Kay Rosen DIVISIBILITY 2018. Photography by Field Studio.

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Virginia Overton, “Untitled (Black Diamond),” 2018. Installation view at University Hospitals. Courtesy of the artist and Bortolami, New York. Photography by Field Studio.

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Guillaume Leblon and Thomas Boutoux, “Busy Time,” 2018. Installation view at Vista Color Building. Commissioned by FRONT International. Photography by Field Studio.

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Marlon de Azambuja, “Brutalismo-Cleveland,” 2018. Installation view at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Courtesy of the artist and the gallery Instituto de Visión and Commissioned by FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. Photo © The Cleveland Museum of Art.