OKI at NKU--AOK
A Superb Art Exhibition Now Through September
by Fabienne Christenson, Artwhirled@iRhine.com

The show's title is OKI: New Art; the show's purpose is to present the newest expressions in artwork from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana; the show's effect is right on the mark. Northern Kentucky University has managed to give the public a display that is in every way professional, worthy, challenging, and something you would be proud to take your snooty friends from New York City to see. David Knight, the director of the NKU galleries, runs the space as if it was a mid-town Manhattan hot spot and he has shown admirable discretion in curating the exhibition.

Knight decided to persuade Michael Rooks, a curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago to be the juror. They agreed to a unique standard of excellence for selecting artists' work:"... the new-not necessarily new media vis-a-vis technology, but newness that challenges conventional artistic practice and public perceptions about the appearance and role of art, particularly in the sphere of social and political discourse." Mr. Rooks was truly critical in his selections, and the public is the beneficiary.

In terms of sheer skill OKI: New Art was dominated by Nyame O. Brown and Geneva McCoy's superb drawings. Both artists presented work which was neither the largest nor the most colorful on display, but the force of craftsmanship, storytelling, and what was not said became an irresistible force.

Nyame Brown's Black Orpheus had a swing to the line and command of texture and composition. Based on the Greco-Roman myth, the man whose exquisite music drew animals to crowd around him to hear him play the lyre, Black Orpheus has only a boombox and his voice. These charm a squadron of blackbirds who fly from far away to enjoy him. The image is packed with symbols of the modern age. A pro-hunting sign in the foreground invites attack by having the pictogram Nimrods pointing their weapons directly at Orpheus, a bleak Metropolis sits soggily in the background. Through it all Brown's lines change in regard to what is being drawn. The main figure is Daumier-like with its thick confident lithographic lines. The blackbirds are uniform, each one the same like a symbol. A spiral of blackbirds uncoils in the sky making their way to the source of their enchantment, they look like barbwire. Awkward blots of ink serve for the ugly wire and plastic barriers you see in old city ghettos.

Black Orpheus is counterpointed by Tar Baby, made of asphaltum and gouache on wood veneer paper. The tar baby floats on wood, blobby and accidental with a black "tail" of tar squibbing out from below and feet fringed with drippings. The "tar baby" has blue eyes.

Geneva McCoy has total control of her medium. The drawing, Untitled (self-portrait among leaves) is a tour de force of what can be done with such a blunt and uncooperative instrument as charcoal. Her composition is subtle and eye-catching, the drafting skill is photographic. McCoy looks so much like a Paul Gauguin model that she seems quite at home among outsized tropical leaves, having a round leaf for a shield or parasol. A corona lights her face and makes the scene appear more fairylike than mythical or raw. McCoy becomes a fabulous creature one might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of amid the greenery.

African Americanism verses Euro Americanism is brought into sharp focus by photographer Robert Flavin. Hung so it's hard to miss in the smaller more intimate gallery across the hall, Vanessa and Steph keep you riveted from the second you lay eyes on them. Very simple principles rule the images. A black girl of about 13 (Vanessa) holds up her black cloth doll, and a white girl of about 13 (Steph) holds up her blond blue eyed doll (which matches her coloring). Both girls are teetering on the brink of womanhood and will soon be putting away their poppets, but is that what they are holding? Is it their social destiny, their projected child, their inner child? Look closely and you will see that Vanessa's black baby doll has stars stitched in her eyes for highlights. Everything in these images count, every second spent standing in front of this pair of photographs is a reward.

Throughout OKI: New Art color was exceptionally muted. No wild reds shouted for attention, no contrasting colors vibrated off the walls. Shades of black, white, blue and ochre flooded the gallery. This effect could have produced by a preference of the juror Mr. Rooks, or it could have been the choices of the artists. For example, Fred Tarr is a local artist, an established abstract expressionist who has done work including neon. I have enjoyed Tarr's restrained but smart use of color and open space in his work, but this time Fred presented paintings using black, brown, white and blue almost exclusively. A somber palette allowed the circular energy of Tarr's paintings to be the star of the show. Tarr gives his heart; there is a lilting, ripping energy to everything he does.

Barbara Houghton's three photo panoramas followed the subtle color trend of OKI: New Art. I would call them narratives in extremis, you can't get away from the story she chooses to weave. All based on Italian statuary and architecture, there are three works: The Duomo, The Bees, and Lady-Florence. Though you could ponder the meanings of any one, I found The Bees most captivating for it dealt with hard topics like terror, lower life forms which have a central "mission", and pain.

Angela Shoemaker packs a post-modern punch with her two mixed media works called A Desperate Look for an Opening and Repetition. Because they are of the right size and color, the works recall cautionary public service prints and even movie posters. Alienation, obliterated messages, Big Brother can all be found in Shoemaker's appeal for your attention.

A small smile-producing sculpture from Richard D. Fruth is titled Shortcoming of the Ego. This would make a splendid gift for your psychiatrist. It consists of three squares cut out of bronze, measuring about 3" by 3" and placed side by side. The first states "art", the second says "screw you", and the third has on it "NFS". The last acronym stands for "Not For Sale" in art-jargon.

Of course, there are the things-you-might-expect-but-are-done-better-than-you-hoped category. This may be exactly what was meant by the theme of the show. Christopher Corbett's Hefty 2000 is the garbage bag sculpture but it looks like a ribbon ornament that you might find on the top of a Halloween present. Jason Franz's Spectre was done in the style and substance for which he has become so well known (monumental oil paintings of monuments) but there is more layer to the message, more than just technical acuity. Lori Larusso's Hierarchy and Overthrow are side-by-side paintings about men and their penchant for building social structures, with 1950's sideline visual cues. Nate Larson, a photographer, delves into the depths of modern superstitions and passive acceptance of "the sign I was looking for" which justifies decisions we take.

In all cases, nothing in this show would look out of place in the pages of Art in America. It all realizes the show's dictum of a new way of presenting a vision. The first prize winner, Thomas Condon's painting Charlie Buckett Repose Pause is a perfect piece to adorn either a story about or an advertisement for artistic offerings in any high brow publication on the arts. Rhonda Gushee's cloth sculpture Mottschmann (Toy Series II) is capable of producing at least a mental "Ew!" from just about anyone who looks at it. Jayoon Choi produces a cool and reactive Sound 1. Emily Sullivan cut out a flocked calligraphy so powerful that NKU built an entire wall to present New Girl properly.

Twenty three artists have work in this fine show and I wish I could mention and describe each of them. My overall mark for this school presentation is a rousing A+. We in the Cincinnati area can be proud of its quality. You should visit NKU to enjoy this thoughtful and provocative art experience.

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