The Lens

Jurakán is the name given by the Taínos, the indigenous people of the Caribbean, to the god of chaos and discord who controls the often turbulent weather that affects the region. The images and narratives that predominate about the Caribbean today tend to evoke images of the sun, but representations of wind and water are more prevalent in Taíno imagery and remain part of the imagination of the people who live in the region. The word hurricane, derived from Jurakán, refers to storms that form as they enter the Caribbean, unlike other words, like cyclone or monsoon, that describe storms with turbulent... Continue reading Jurakán: A Film Series

Phantasmagoria: The Fictitious Truth of 1666 Bruce Avenue presents a visual metaphor of fiction and truth within records. Digital extrapolations, presented through unconventional media with accompanying narration, make an intimate statement about the surreal concept of a shared reality. Human experience, once recorded, begins its own swirling existence through time and interpretation, dissolving and reconstituting until the original truth becomes a fiction of the past and the fictional past becomes a truth of the moment. Perspectives turn on time and place, revealing only what falls within a limited sightline at a particular moment. Tina Gutierrez... Continue reading Phantasmagoria: The Fictitious Truth of 1666 Bruce Street

Teju Cole: Blind Spot presents photographs paired with texts, each giving the other context. Cole’s photographs and writings are culled from his ceaseless travels around the world. The images and thoughts conjured in distant parts of the world in one work might literally be placed next to another that take the viewer home. This resistance to geographic continuity allows the viewer to compare how a location in Africa might be similar to a small town in Ohio.  The short text that is interlinked with each photograph touches on subjects as varied as faith, Cole’s... Continue reading Teju Cole: Blind Spot

Strangers in a Strange Land: Photographs of American Visionary Artists and Eccentrics presents a diverse group of visionary artists and eccentrics who collectively represent a vanishing fragment within American culture. In contrast to our bland, consumer-oriented society, the lyrical worlds created by these often marginalized, sometimes unconventional visionaries result in a universe of places and artifacts rich in meaning, juxtapositions, and unintended beauty. Some are utopian, others dystopian. Their visions and life experiences shape the environments they construct—generally out of found materials discarded by modern mass culture. They express a wide array of religious, social, political, and spiritual themes. With... Continue reading Strangers in a Strange Land: Photographs of American Visionary Artists and Eccentrics

All of nature is intertwined, connected by a delicate relationship between living organisms—including humans—and their physical environment. From the smallest life forms on the forest floor to the shady canopies of old-growth oaks, maples, and sycamores, each species is dependent on the health of the land around them. Unfortunately, rapid climate change has led to record amounts of habitat loss, which threatens not only plants and animals, but all living things. Displayed among the habitat of Cincinnati Nature Center, this outdoor exhibition of photographs by Tom Croce features a collection of color images abstractly scaled to... Continue reading Critical Connection