Seeing people seeing art is just about our favorite thing, so it’s been delightful, especially after all the isolation of the last years, to open FRONT 2022’s first exhibition, Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools, which introduces key artists, projects, and themes of our upcoming triennial exhibition next summer.
FRONT 2022 Artist Dexter Davis with FRONT Deputy Director and Director of Exhibitions Sarah Spinner Liska.Installation view at Transformer Station. Photo by Bob Perkoski.
Gathering in-person has felt both challenging and celebratory. We felt a mix of both as we welcomed a sold-out crowd to our benefit party on October 7 and a record turnout for our public opening party on October 8, despite the crazy storm. We were so grateful for music by DJ Red-I and Smith Taylor Sounds, food by Spice Catering Co., refreshments by Busy B Bakery, and drinks from Urbane Vodka and Rodney Strong Vineyards. We were also jazzed to welcome Keenan Williams from nyceCO who created screen-printed artist-designed t-shirts for us.
Keenan Williams with nyceCO FRONT T-Shirt, with artwork by Loraine Lynn.
We were especially excited to welcome Cleveland-based FRONT 2022 artists Dexter Davis and Paul O’Keeffe and also host five FRONT 2022 visiting artists—Loraine Lynn from Toledo, Asad Raza from Berlin, Tony Cokes from Providence, and Sarah Oppenheimer and Jacolby Satterwhite from New York. While he was here, Satterwhite also launched his public video installation at Cleveland Clinic’s new BioRepository building in collaboration with FRONT. Special thanks to the artists who contributed works to FRONT’s benefit auctions.
Deidre McPherson, FRONT’s Director of Artistic + Community Initiatives, with DJ Red-I and Smith Taylor.At FRONT’s Silent Auction, Charna Sherman places the winning bid on Loraine Lynn’s Stutter (syntax), 2021
Programming!
While everyone was together, we were able to record three artist talks, moderated by FRONT Artistic Director Prem Krishnamurthy, which will be posted every month through December on FRONT’s website:
November 19, 2021: Sarah Oppenheimer in conversation with Tony Cokes
December 10, 2021: Asad Raza in conversation with Loraine Lynn
We are also introducing some of the FRONT 2022 artists’ moving-image work via our Saturday Film Program, which will run on Saturdays, 3–5pm ET, from October to December, showing Asad Raza’s Minor History from 2019, Renée Green’s Come Closer from 2008, and Wong Kit Yi’s A River in Freezer, from 2017.
Finally, we are hosting a series of free workshops in partnership with Art Therapy Studio. At the first workshop on Sunday, October 10, we created “check-in mandalas” with watercolors and oil pastels. Come join us for the next workshop, an introduction to weaving, on November 14 at 1pm ET at Transformer Station. Art Therapy Studio Workshop, October 10, 2021 at Transformer Station.
The party doesn’t have to stop!
The ever-changing show will be up through January 2, 2022, so we hope to see you back at Transformer Station to see the exhibition and experience some of our programming. You can check our website for upcoming events and programs and, in the meantime, we wish you a healthy, happy, and inspiring autumn!
The FRONT Team: Fred, Sarah, Allison, Deidre, Janet, Annie, Dushko, and Prem
