Art review: Akron Soul Train Gallery exhibit is ‘Here, There and Everywhere’
After a summer of endless group shows exhibited throughout Northeast Ohio, it is refreshing to have a chance to see a solo exhibit.
“Here, There and Everywhere,” on view through Dec. 3 at Akron Soul Train Gallery, features the collage and ceramic sculptures of Drew Ippoliti.
Ippoliti is a professor of art at the University of Akron. The exhibit is based on “collecting stories from around the community and transforming them into art.” Stories were collected at Akron Soul Train and the University of Akron’s Myers School of Art as well as through conversation with individuals on the street. The artist recorded the stories and then transformed them into “new materials reminiscent of and copied from the original.” The result is a vibrant exhibit full of colorful collage work on wood panels and abstract ceramic art.
Art review:‘Mark of Empowerment’ lets important voices rise above life's daily noise
The best part of seeing an exhibit featuring one artist is that you get a better opportunity to understand the maker and the work. It would be wrong to say you are seeing a “complete thought” by an artist in any solo exhibit, but you have a chance to see how one person can push ideas and processes further and further to see where they will go.
In Ippoliti's exhibit, we see how the artist has set up a format of collecting stories about the community and then “riffing” on what was learned. What’s exciting is that we are invited to witness Ippoliti’s interpretation of the stories and their translation into the visual. It is that act of transformation that is so special here.
‘No Harm / No Foul’
There are several abstract ceramic works in this exhibit. “No Harm / No Foul” features a low squat form with round bulbous form sticking out on the top. Colors range from periwinkle, purple-gray to red. A white mat glaze is poured over the entire form. On one end of the sculpture, a large, solid-looking ring has been placed, that is periwinkle to purple in color.
One can imagine Ippoliti pondering on a story or experience while producing this work. The final outcome is full of painterly energy, movement and rhythm while also retaining the “gravity” of a ceramic object that is of course placed on a pedestal to be seen.
‘Stalwart But Perhaps Put Upon’
“Stalwart But Perhaps Put Upon” is another ceramic sculpture featured in the exhibit. In this work, a stout round base with foot that has blue, gray, red and white coloring gives way to round forms midway up the sculpture that also feature a yellow and pink color. These forms give way again to cut or perhaps broken red colored form that is reaching up toward the sky.
Placed midway up the sculpture is a solid yellow ring. Like all the sculptural works included in the exhibit, solid rings play a dominant role in breaking up or putting an exclamation point on each composition. It is as if the artist is sharing the gravity of the story while inviting us to feel and see the weight of that experience in this visceral way.
Ippoliti’s collage pieces are colorful and vibrant like the sculptures. However, the “found imagery” indexes more directly what the artist has been told or experienced and in some instances this makes for a more complete experience.
‘The View From Here’
As do all of the included collages, “The View From Here” features found images on wood panels. In this piece, the Michelin Man stands up front with images of paint swatches, a tiger, the Goodyear blimp, Quaker oatmeal, a pen and a checkerboard pattern behind. Like the ceramic work, we wonder about the story being shared, but the included images provide guidance on a narrative through line.
’The Future is Now’
“The Future is Now” again features a checkerboard background to the overall composition. Placed on top is a large red 20th Century Fox logo, bingo cards and an image of a Spitfire airplane, a tiger, a seagull and boy in lion suit.
Other cut-out shapes in various colors also help fill out the composition. While the artist’s ideas and thoughts remain unclear, the elements of the story do not, and it this found imagery that helps to make all of the included collages fun to view and consider.
‘Shores of Echo’
Also on display in Akron Soul Train’s CapSoul Gallery Space — a small gallery located adjacent to the main space — is “Shores of Echo”an ambient/instrumental project by Daniel Trzcinski, an Ohio writer, musician and audio-visual artist.
For this exhibit, Trzcinski has complemented his ambient/instrumental project with a visual component using analog-to-digital video processing equipment. The result is a painterly and expressive swath of sound that glows, dips and undulates through the air as you listen to and internalize the work in sound and full color.
Both shows offer in-depth looks into well-formed artistic ideas and research. The Akron Soul Train Gallery is an inviting space for viewers to engage with the projects the artists have chosen to pursue.
Anderson Turner is director of the Kent State University School of Art collection and galleries. Contact him at haturner3@gmail.com.
Details
Exhibits: “Here There and Everywhere” and “Shores of Echo” through Dec. 3
Where: Akron Soul Train Gallery, 191 S. Main St., Akron
Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday
More info: 330-573-0517 or https://www.akronsoultrain.org/
Art review:New exhibit at Cleveland museum is worth driving to see
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Soul Train Gallery exhibit is ‘Here, There and Everywhere’
