 Meet Tanya Kaiser
Stories & Insights March 11, 2024 Read the Full Article on CanvasRebal We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tanya Kaiser. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tanya below. Tanya, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out? I moved to Cleveland in November 2019 without any family or professional connections. I was excited to be in a new city, looking forward to exploring the place I would call home. A few short months later, the world shut down due to the global pandemic. I was sequestered in my home; my career in nonprofit event planning had ceased, and I had to cancel the conference I was planning the day before its scheduled date. However, I decided I couldn’t simply stay still. Dreams of owning my own art gallery resurfaced during this time. I was still very new to Cleveland and didn’t have a professional network. I started scouring the internet for people in the arts whom I could introduce myself to, utilizing what I had—Zoom. To my surprise and joy, I connected with wonderful people in the arts. With each connection made, I asked who else I should meet. This continued for some time, and my days were filled with Zoom meetings. As things slowly began opening up, I started the in-person search for a building. I was in Cleveland less than a year before I found what would become Kaiser Gallery. I worked behind the scenes, navigating a world of uncertainty as everyone was figuring out how to work remotely for the first time. The process of securing the necessary paperwork to open was tedious. While I waited, I painted the walls of the gallery. As a single mom, I brought my young child with me to what would be Kaiser Gallery, so she could sit in her virtual classroom as I worked on preparing the space. It was a labor of love, rejuvenating us and providing something positive to focus on. Kaiser Gallery’s first exhibit, SWITCH, took place in December 2020. The gallery had the honor of being mentioned in the New Art Examiner with our debut exhibit. However, COVID-19 was still a very real concern, so I waited. There was no timeline, and the uncertainty was scary. I had signed a lease and poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this, and all I could do was wait. The waiting paid off. I was able to open Kaiser Gallery to the public in June 2021, complete with a fully stocked cocktail bar. A contemporary art gallery with a cocktail bar was novel, fun, and a great risk. I look forward to taking new risks in the future. As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context? For those who are new to my story, my career is a tapestry woven with threads of passion for education, community, and the arts. My journey led me to the Assistant Director position at Summer on the Cuyahoga and the ownership of Kaiser Gallery. As a visual artist and curator, my distinct perspectives and experiences influence both my professional and artistic pursuits. I take pride in the multifaceted nature of my work, which spans from fostering educational initiatives to curating vibrant art experiences at Kaiser Gallery. My aim is to create spaces that inspire and resonate with diverse audiences. At Kaiser Gallery, we’ve fashioned a contemporary haven that not only showcases art but also invites everyone to engage, sip cocktails, and become part of a vibrant community. I invite you to explore the intersection of my roles and the unique offerings we bring to the worlds of nonprofits and art. Kaiser Gallery is more than just a gallery; it’s a vibrant hub where art converges with the community. Our philosophy centers on making art accessible to everyone, fostering inclusivity, and creating an environment where creative souls can rejuvenate. Whether you’re immersing yourself in our exhibitions, sipping cocktails at our lounge, or participating in our events, we’re here to make your experience memorable. Passionate about art and dedicated to our artists, we’ve crafted Kaiser Gallery as a space that transcends traditional gallery norms. We invite you to join us, explore the dynamic fusion of contemporary art and cocktails, and become part of our community. Together, let’s celebrate the transformative power of art in a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere. We can’t wait to share our love of the arts with you. As a visual artist specializing in ceramic sculpture, my artworks delve into decidedly female themes, challenging preconceived notions of beauty and addressing the cultural silencing of women’s suffering. Through my art, I aspire to spark conversations about women’s roles, health, and bodily autonomy. For those unfamiliar with my work, my journey as a visual artist revolves around exploring and confronting societal perceptions of femininity. My specialization in ceramic sculpture allows me to delve into female-centric themes, challenging preconceived notions of beauty, and addressing the silence surrounding women’s suffering. Having earned my MFA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University and being recognized as the Goldberger Fellow for excellence in art, I’ve had the privilege of exhibiting my work internationally in both 2D and 3D forms. I’m proud of the recognition received and the impact my art has had on initiating crucial discussions. How did you build your audience on social media? The best advice I can give about building a social media audience is consistency. Consistency extends beyond posting daily; it goes into your brand, your message, and the communities you represent. Building my audience on social media was a journey rooted in staying true to these core elements. I ensured that each post resonated with my brand identity, conveyed a clear message, and engaged with the diverse communities that matter to me. Over time, this consistent approach not only helped me grow my audience but also fostered a genuine connection with followers. So, my advice for those starting to build their social media presence is to be consistent in every aspect – from content creation to community engagement – and let authenticity be your guiding light. I shared the story of Kaiser Gallery. I teased images of our remodel while we worked tirelessly to open it. Kaiser Gallery’s call for artists also conveyed the kinds of messages we sought to represent. Then the programming began to roll out. One program, in particular, is very close to my heart. Every month, Kaiser Gallery hosts Spoken Word: Poetry Open Mic Nights. It’s an opportunity for spoken word artists to share their works and to extend our arts programming beyond the gallery walls. Over the past four years, we have grown an amazing community through our social media reach Is there mission driving your creative journey? I am fueled by my passion for art and community. Kaiser Gallery serves as the compass guiding my creative journey, rooted in the fundamental belief that art should be accessible to everyone. My commitment lies in crafting an inclusive environment, where individuals from diverse backgrounds can feel a sense of welcome and inspiration. Whether you are exploring our latest exhibition, savoring a drink in our cocktail lounge, or engaging in one of our many events, my aim is to transform Kaiser Gallery into a haven where you can rejuvenate your creative spirit. The narrative of Kaiser Gallery unfolds across various mediums, including the sharing of compelling images from our current exhibitions and providing insightful information about our artists through engaging events such as artist talks or demonstrations. As our programming evolves and expands, a particularly cherished initiative is our commitment to diverse programming. We strive to offer an array of experiences for everyone, transcending the conventional art community boundaries, with the ultimate goal of broadening the reach of the arts to a wider audience. Contact Info:
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 Patsy Coffey Kline, video still By Lyz Bly, PhD Read the article on Canjournal.org At the center of the latest exhibition at Kaiser Gallery in Tremont is longing for a more fun, lighter, more innocent time, in this era of “post” COVID economic uncertainty and continued assaults on the bodies and rights people of color, females, and queers–particularly transgender citizens. Gallerist Tanya Kaiser writes in her curatorial statement: “[Nowstalgia] is everything and anything—combining retro-indulgent fantasy with today’s instant consumerism lifestyle, the…trend permits us to reimagine the past, creating a collage of nostalgic references.” The artists in Nowstalgia are from across the US and around the globe, but the most compelling work is by Cleveland artist Patsy Coffey Kline, who made two video works using artificial intelligence to create a range of images and effects based on one original self-portrait. Coffey Kline’s extensive background as multimedia artist and avant garde gallerist for more than 25 years, coupled with her graphic design sense and cutting edge-meets-DIY use of AI applications, social media image filters, and InDesign software, make for a full sensory experience, which includes a 1980s-inspired soundtrack. The artist thinks deeply about intellectual property and copyright infringement. “AI actually allows me to start with an image that I own and modify from there,” she explains. “As the artist, I can keep track of the original image, my modifications. The AI-generated layers all lead back to one photograph.” Coffey Kline’s work is reminiscent of nascent MTV music videos and the cable channel’s promotional graphics; she appropriates the jumpy animation, as well as the neon colors of her GenX youth, when the brightness and speed that lulled those coming of age at the time to the screen in much the same way Tiktok videos distract and delight those born in the 21st century.  Cale Ours, AI-manipulated Polaroid print Cale Ours’ trompe l’oeil Polaroids, originally taken in the mid-1990s and re-interpreted through AI, evoke the ethos of filmmaker Larry Clark’s iconic coming-of-age amid HIV-AIDS film, Kids, with banal backgrounds and close-up portraits, evoking today’s selfie image. Ours makes digitized prints of the 90s Polaroids, then prints one “as is,” dating those to “1996,” when they were first taken. They then release the scan of the original to AI, printing a new rendering of what was once a static, one-of-a-kind Polaroid print. The final work is a series of intricately cut prints with a Polaroid-shiny surface and the iconic white, thick-on-bottom border. The series is dated 1996: 2023, further tricking viewers’ interpretation of the final print-image. Ours and Coffey Kline’s pieces come closest to capturing what Kaiser was attempting to convey, with the Polaroid giving photographers instant gratification, the video montage of the former artist a post-modern post-mortem evoking the nascent years of “Video killing the radio star.”[1]  Ewuresi Archer, Alluring Souls from the Past, silkscreen print Ghanaian-American artist Ewuresi Archer references the Polaroid as well, as she creates pointillist portraits of people from her home in Ghana doing ordinary things like cooking and getting haircuts. The vibrancy of the four-layer CMYK silkscreen ink palate is bright and fluorescent, echoing the hybridity of her cultural identities, as the colors remind her of Ghana. Yet the format of the people in Alluring Souls from The Past, is modern, reflecting back to the rise of Polaroid technology and its roots in 1950s and 60s in the pop cultural-interchange between African and European nations, particularly as 17 African nations, including Ghana, became independent from European colonial rule between 1945 and 1975.[2] Like the people, places, foods, and routines of Ghana, which are out of her reach as a current resident of and student in the U.S., her title, Alluring Souls from The Past, also communicates that that part of her identity is often feels elusive.  Khrystyna Bodnaruk, oil paint on board Ukrainian artist Khrystyna Bodnaruk’s paintings are otherworldly, as they reference and replicate the filters and effects we use regularly through social media. The surfaces are slick, almost print-like, making for a deceiving first glance. Bodnaruk so meticulously renders portraits of human bodies and body parts that the work visually teeters between painting and print. The oil paint is so visually tactile, so skillfully applied to the surface that it feels not quite real. As we present ourselves virtually, we do so without flaws, flatly, as image; Bodnaruk paints so meticulously she is machine-like. As contemporary self-representation, they evoke Instagram-filtered portraits, yet they are executed using two of the most traditional mediums–oil paint and board.  Toby Griffiths, House of Scorpio, digital print collage Toby Griffiths’ digital print collage, House of Scorpio, is a playful panoply of traditional art tropes and symbols, art references and signifiers–the gold ornate frame, the classical nude, the contemporary white female nude, the French neoclassical fluffy cloud, and the “golden mean” of three-point perspective, in silver-shiny iridescence. Kaiser connects Griffiths’ print with the simplicity of Allison Walters’ archival pigment print, different people in the same pink suit, of 2017. The latter is a document from Walters’ conceptual photographs of dozens of human subjects wearing the same generic monosuit, which covers the entire body and head of the wearer. While the body shape of each person may change, the pink-white reference “colors” everyone’s body the same shade of pink-toes-white. The work communicates both the projection of whiteness as dominant, an identity that “colors” everyone, regardless of the model’s own race and/or amount of melanin present in their skin. Colonization of the bodies and psyches of human beings in the Now, while not nostalgic, is a central theme to the exhibition. The images, signs, colors, sounds, and surfaces of the exhibition serve as visual records of an end–one hopes, of the dominance of European elite patriarchy and imperialism, and Western symbology. Similar to ways in which Generation X poked ironical fun at the heteronormativity and middle-class banality of our Silent and Boomer Generation parents, the artists in “Nowstalgia” reference and mourn the last decades of the 20th century’s technological innovations: personal computers, video games, music videos, and MTV’s quick-cut, multimedia music videos and iconic station identifiers like the ubiquitous astronaut planting an MTV flag on the surface of the moon.  Donald Halpern Donald Halpern’s multicolored light work, made of reclaimed materials, mounted on the wall in vertical fashion, perhaps referencing Dan Flavin’s minimalist art works of the 1970s, cleverly punctuates the show. In a nod to irony and playfulness, the curator also plays with the “Nowstalgia” of her gallery as an event space with curated cocktails and Drag Bingo. Indeed, the neon martini glass that greets art lovers connects to Halpern’s work which is also functional, as he holds a strong belief that art should revive resources, not create a “need” for more newly manufactured resources and materials. The idea is that there’s already too many discarded materials in which one can make art from; the question is one we should all consider: “Do you really need that trip to Home Depot, Lowe’s, or the lumber store for that installation? Or can you spend your time and resources gathering what is already free and or cheaply and readily available?” As is the case with most successful art exhibitions, Nowstalgia is full of questions, propositions, and responses to life embodied and online in 2023.
[1]MTV debuted August 1, 1981. The first video played is the Bugles’, “Video Killed the Radio Star,” originally written and recorded in 1979. [2]Ghana became independent of British Imperial rule in 1957.  September 2022 by Malissa Bodmann
Read the press release on AssemblyCle.org 26 participants represent individual artists, nonprofits and creative businesses CLEVELAND, OHIO — Assembly for the Arts has named the first cohort of the Arts Leadership Residency in partnership with the Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC). The 26 participants reflect Assembly’s commitment to increase equity in the arts and culture sector. Of the 25 who responded, more than 70% identify as Black or African American, 68% are women, 12% are nonbinary, 16% live with a disability. The program provides management support, coaching, and tools to artists, cultural nonprofits, and small- to mid-sized creative businesses. Expanding on the model of traditional artist residencies, the Arts Leadership Residency offers a $1,000 stipend and dedicated learning sessions to address a self-defined business goal or objective. Participants will have access to entrepreneurial expertise, mentorship from the CLC alumni network, and expertise of the other artists and small creative businesses participating in the program. The Arts Leadership Residency begins September 2022 and runs through February 2023. The artists selected for the program are:
Assembly received support from the Entrepreneur In Residence Powered by Huntington and The George Gund Foundation for the development of this program. The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation and the ArtsNEXT program of the Ohio Arts Council provided additional support to the Arts Leadership Residency ABOUT Assembly for the Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a focus on advocacy, cultural policy, racial equity initiatives, research, marketing that elevates the region, and services for nonprofits, artists, and creative businesses. It is governed by a volunteer board with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Assembly by design operates in close partnership with Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, a government agency and Assembly for Action, a 501(c)4 political action nonprofit to serve the entire creative sector. Assembly is supported through major funding from: The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, Ohio Arts Council, Huntington, KeyBank, The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation, Fred & Laura Beth Bidwell, and Barbara S. Robinson. www.assemblycle.org Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC) provides collaborative leadership training, civic education and connections to leaders of all ages, empowering them to identify and take action on issues that resonate with them and positioning them to become change agents in the community. www.cleveleads.org Entrepreneur in Residence powered by Huntington https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huntington-bank-and-city-of-cleveland-announce-entrepreneurship-program-to-help-regions-small-businesses-grow-301468659.html  Art by April Bleakney By Anastasia Pantsios
Fri 6/24 @ 7PM Read the article on CoolCleveland.com Tremont’s two-year old Kaiser Gallery is quickly becoming a hot spot for all types of events in addition to art shows, maybe because it’s the rare gallery with its own cocktail bar. But owner Tanya Kaiser has shown a predilection for activism, with programs around environmental issues and now a Pro-Choice Party focused on women’s reproductive rights. The event will feature a couple of speakers from advocacy group Pro-Choice Ohio: senior organizer Hannah Servedio and office manager April Bleakney, who is also the owner of Cleveland’s Ape Made design and screen printing business. They’ll share what the landscape for women is likely to be like when the U.S. Supreme Court guts Roe v. Wade as expected and all the ways the heavily gerrymandered Ohio legislature, led by extremists such as Cincinnati’s Jean Schmidt (the one who said that being raped presents “opportunity” for a 13-year-old), is working to strip women of their freedom and their right to their own bodies. And they’ll talk about what you can do instead of just sit and seethe, although we’ll all be doing a lot of that too. After you’ve gotten worked up, you can wind down with a sketch & sip session with a live model afterward. Bring your own dry drawing supplies. Yes, the bar will be open; you’re probably going to need a drink or two. Suggested donation $15. pro-choice-ohio-party-the-art-of-activism  “Honey Trap” Credit: Kimit Menapace The Kaiser Gallery Salutes Bees With the Opening Reception of ‘Silent Fields’ Exhibition This Friday By Shawn Mishak April 7, 2022 Read the article on ClevelandScene.com Spring is upon us and as the crocuses, tulips and daffodils sprout and bloom, the Kaiser Gallery will pay homage to our bee population while asking the viewer to meditate on how human activity affects these crucial insects. Featuring the work of artists Melissa Harvey, Maggie Latham, Kimit Menapace, Georgio Sabino III, and David Straange, the opening reception for ‘Silent Fields’ will be held Friday, April 8, at 6 p.m. The exhibition will run through June 5. “The title ‘Silent Fields’ initially evokes a sense of peace and tranquility but with further consideration, true silence, especially in ‘nature’ is eerie, lonely, it’s a void,” said artist Kimit Menapace. “This impression reflects the intent of Roger Lovegrove’s book of the same name, detailing the war humanity has been waging on those bits of nature we have deemed undesirable and the long term impacts of this eradication. Bees, which are a central focus of this show, are somewhat unique in their role of being unwanted vermin and highly desirable pollinators and producers of honey.” A Philadelphia native, Menapace received her Bachelors of Fine Art in painting with an emphasis in glass and fiber studies from The Cleveland Institute of Art in May of 2016. Menapace is interested in humanity’s intersection with the environment and is fascinated by art history, and the evolution of symbolism, particularly with plants across time and culture. “Bees specifically are very prevalent in my work and they are depicted as beautiful and often fragile, when made from glass, organisms,” continued Menapace. “The delicate nature of glass insects communicates a sense of preciousness, the need to be careful and gentle, while also being beautiful and eye-catching, the mottled surface of the glass catching and reflecting light as the piece is viewed. I like to play with harmony and tension, through composition, mixing media and visual representations of humanity, flora, and fauna.” “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” -Albert Einstein Cleveland-based fiber artist and natural-dyer Maggie Latham makes dyes from local plants, which she sources from her garden and which pollinators need to survive. She employs various techniques, including sewing, printmaking, papermaking and dyeing with the goal that her work ends up 100% biodegradable. Latham hopes for her work to live its life cycle then eventually go back into the soil. In this exhibition, Latham displays a series of handmade paper sheets which are dyed with local pollinator plants like Black Locust, Yarrow and Coneflower. Each sheet has been painted with a 3/8” line of soymilk, the spatial measurement that bees live within a honey hive. This line appears as darker shade than the rest of the dyed paper. The paper is installed with 3/8” spacing between sheets. She says the colored lines in this series represent a reciprocal relationship between human and nature, and that the space between sheets represents the threat of its absence. “Bees are vital to modern food systems, but I think it is important to shift our perspective on pollinators from one of commodification to one of reciprocity, which is reflected within my process,” said Latham. “For this series I used dyes from local species after their blooms had passed and bees had already feed on their nectar and pollen. In understanding the plants that bees enjoy, I can grow more of these and help those in the wild to flourish by practicing responsible collection. These plants then benefit my work by providing me with natural pigments.” Latham is also an educator and has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently works in art education at The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Kaiser Gallery is an unassuming contemporary art gallery and cocktail lounge located right t in the heart of Tremont on Professor Ave. The gallery pairs artisan cocktails with visual art to offer a more immersive viewing experience. Serving cocktails allows them to waive submission fees, which they see as a possible barrier for underrepresented artists. Kaiser’s Owner, Director and Curator, Tanya says the gallery is currently working with the Ohio City Farm and their beekeeper to design a public program that will appear on their calendar towards the end of the exhibition in early June. A possible partnership with the Cleveland Seed Bank is a prospect as well. A more sustainable future seems to be important to the venue and one might have noticed raised beds with tomato plants among other vegetation growing in the spring and summer on their back patio. “I believe humans would be able to better face the reality of ecosystem collapse if we could work towards solutions that aligned with everyday life,” continued Latham. “I work with accessible, eco-friendly art practices to raise awareness about environmental damage and highlight more responsible alternatives; I hope audiences are able take away not just the dire situation for pollinators but are curious to learn more about natural materials and how to support local ecosystems. This article appears in Mar 23 – Apr 5, 2022. Kaiser Gallery, founded in 2020 by artist, curator, and director Tanya Kaiser, is highlighted in Darren Jones’s New Art Examiner article as a model for rethinking the role of regional galleries. Operating as a hybrid for-profit and non-profit space, the gallery prioritizes accessibility, equity, and critical discourse, removing financial barriers for artists while fostering international perspectives rooted in Cleveland’s cultural landscape. Through exhibitions such as Switch, Kaiser Gallery positions art as a catalyst for dialogue in response to contemporary social and political conditions.
By Darren Jones Read the article on New Art Examiner. Cleveland could trademark the metallic gray of its winter skies when the cloud deck merges with phreatic plumes from the fissures of growling steel mills. Such scenes exemplify what remains an extraordinary juncture of nature and human engineering in this city, despite the ravages of the rust belt’s decline. When December casts its pall over Cleveland’s indomitable skyline, and the Cuyahoga River’s hunkered bridges, the molten grind that built it all is palpable. That ingenuity is reflected across the the city’s art sector today, anchored by the world-beating Cleveland Museum of Art (founded in 1913) and the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, or moCa (opened in 1968) which recently presented a comprehensive and exquisitely curated exhibition of Margaret Kilgallen’s work titled ‘that’s where the beauty is’. Of other large venues, SPACES is a storied organization that balances support for local artists with national and international range. Its initiatives include residencies for artists and critics, public outreach, exhibitions at its expansive Hingetown headquarters, and financial assistance to local creative workers. The Emergency Relief Program in response to the impact of Covid, and the Urgent Art Fund supporting work addressing issues at the cultural vanguard, are of particular resonance and help SPACES to retain its edge as an engine of nimble innovation. Across the street is Transformer Station which was originally a substation of the Cleveland Railway Company. Its 2013 repurposing has that instantly recognizable mid-scale gallery architecture—sleek glass and concrete—that asserts Cleveland’s civic proficiency with the architectural language of contemporary art. During the presidential election last year, Transformer Station hosted ‘Nina Katchadourian: Monument to the Unelected’. The project featured a phalanx of political campaign signs set up outside the gallery—another grouping was placed at moCa. The advertisements carried the names of the previous fifty-eight failed presidential candidates from the leading parties, with plans to add 2020’s runner-up. So by now Donald Trump should be where he belongs on the loser’s roster. On a blustery day, the plastic banners swayed and rippled in the wind. Reading them was not unlike wandering through a cemetery making out the epitaphs on tombstones. This too was a graveyard—for hopes, longing, fears, successes and failures that we’ll never know. Even the signs for still-living politicians had a funereal tone, as if after such crippling defeat they have become the ghosts of spent ambition. The Sculpture Center supports Ohioan makers (and artists from further afield) with exhibition opportunities, and its yearly SculptureX (SX) symposium. Recently TSC exhibited two sculptors and papermakers in ‘Aimee Lee and Sarah Rose Lejeune: A consolation of things.’ Lejeune’s spectral, poignant rocking chairs lay buckled and skeletal on the floor of the subtly lit Main Gallery, while Lee’s work—including towering, illuminated, but delicate paper-brick structures—occupied the Euclid Gallery. Housed in the same complex—although a separate non-profit—is the remarkable Artists Archive of the Western Reserve which collects and cares for the work of Ohioan artists through research and exhibitions in its AAWR Gallery, and off-site venues. For all of this impressive enterprise there have also been some scheduling choices that seem counter to the great promise of these marvelous buildings. The timing and appropriateness of Martin Creed’s neon text, Work No. 3398 EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT (2020) commissioned by moCA, is an example on two counts. It’s been on view since July 2020 just after moCA canceled Shaun Leonardo’s exhibition ‘The Breath of Empty Space’, due to the concerns of local activists that pictures of Black and Latino males (including 12-year-old Tamir Rice, from Cleveland) killed by police brutality, fetishized and decontextualized their subjects and risked re-traumatizing Black audiences. It was a difficult but instructive moment. Responsible stewardship of such imagery is a vital component of public remembrance, private permission, and cultural estimation. If it isn’t handled sensitively by museums, working in care with invested constituents, they risk turning the murders of Black individuals into double killings—first bodily life is extinguished, followed by institutional annihilation of spirit and personhood. Martin Creed’s sentiment is an echo from the scriptures of the anchorite mystic Julian of Norwich, and her enduring 14th-century meme “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” The United States is currently roiling over the searing open wounds of racist legacies particularly in majority African American cities such as Cleveland. On moCa’s website we read that “Creed’s sculpture is at once a hopeful, familiar, and reassuring phrase, and a gentle nod to the challenges lying ahead amid the current uncertainties.” This anaemic attempt to align the work of a rich, white, European male artist—for whom everything probably is going to be alright—with today’s profoundest structural disease exposes its irrelevance, and the museum’s misstep. The problems that are splintering America are far beyond the reach of “gentle nods” and “hopeful phrases.” Secondly, why spend funds on Creed at all when Cleveland has so much locally oriented activity to distinguish and assert its own appetites? His gas station art—when you’re running low, fill up and leave without having to think about it—doesn’t attempt to plumb Cleveland’s potential as a hub of creative innovation capable of attracting widespread attention or fomenting vigorous new ideas. It’s something that Fred Bidwell and the FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art that he established in 2018, proved is possible. Planning for the second iteration, postponed until 2022, is underway. With its very first edition it became one of the most impactful expositions in the country, and a powerful declarative statement of Cleveland’s intentions. Performing aesthetic CPR on Creed’s moribund art could give the false impression that Cleveland (or any city) is a kow-towing backwater for artistic flotsam and jetsam. Rather than wearing London’s 1990s Brit Art hand-me-downs, institutions ought to seize upon what is happening in the vicinity, and why it is happening. To this point, moCa’s upcoming exhibition ‘The Regional’ (organized in conjunction with the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati) is a more symbiotic initiative. Deploying moCa’s resources to advocate for over two dozen artists based in the American Midwest is a fruitful move toward fulfilling the museum’s role as artistic midwife to homegrown talent. That the exhibition’s title sounds like an Amtrak service is a wonderful reclamation of a pejorative long-used to confer disdain on smaller cities and rural scenes. Similarly, ‘Laura Owens: Rerun’ is at Transformer Station under the auspices of the Cleveland Museum of Art. It will close today after a three month stay. Owens is one of the most prominent and underwhelming artists in America. Her work could be described as bilious confections of infantilized froth plastered with undead pop-cultural devices; bits of feral text scavenging around for some meaning, and smears of bright, diarrhetic ink that stagger about like drunk Rorschach tests. But, as Muriel Spark wrote, “if you like that sort of thing, then that is the sort of thing you like.” Owens is neither deserving nor undeserving of her renown—she’s just fortunate. But as her fame metastasizes, fueled by the critical superpowers that are heaped onto her efforts by compliant critics, the work itself is increasingly unable to bear the load of such sycophancy. Like most successful artists Owens isn’t at all essential to art history, but it’s too late to matter after so much investment. However, perpetuating that process of institutional branding and forgoing more relevant opportunities for the tenuous scrap that Laura Owens lived in Ohio thirty years ago—as both venues promote—isn’t going to cut it. If marquee artists are to be invited to town, whose practice would be synchronistic to the city and its predicaments and successes? How could Cleveland benefit from a visit, instead of being a notch on an artist’s resume after they’ve already checked-off the Whitney? If Cleveland’s commercial gallery sector is relatively thin, that only means opportunity to establish untried approaches. Kaiser Gallery’s first exhibition ‘Switch’ opened in December 2020, and featured artists who use technology to create mesmerizing effects with light. Here is Tanya Kaiser, owner, director and curator on the gallery’s founding principles: “It went beyond providing an accessible platform outside of New York because accessible galleries are vital in every city. The structure as a hybrid international gallery was solidified during the protests and political discourse of 2020. It became clear that art was needed as a catalyst to encourage those difficult conversations in a positive and supportive way. Kaiser Gallery is half for-profit and half non-profit. We do not charge submission fees, in order to reduce monetary restrictions on interested artists. We showcase a variety of voices on pertinent topics, and will publicize statistics of our exhibiting artists to ensure our accountability. Our exhibiting artists hail from around the world to help broaden the perspective and discourse that we offer.” Abattoir has a fine balance between local and national practitioners, and makes connectivity between artists a central feature of its programming. The gallery is inviting and relaxed, yet its aims are lean and dynamic. Lisa Kurzner and Rose Burlingham are the founders. Jason Murphy + Gwenn Thomas, Abattoir Gallery, 2020: Image courtesy of Abattoir Gallery“We decided to open the gallery to support great art in our region and to expand the relationships between Cleveland and the national art scene. Cleveland has great institutions, but a small and locally-focused gallery scene. We opened last June and began our program with two-person shows—artists who have a visual or conceptual connection—trying to create a dialogue between them. Hildur Jonsson, a notable artist here, was our opening show with Kaveri Raina—a younger artist from Columbus, now based in New York. In addition to highlighting emerging artists, we want to support the careers of great artists from the area and identify them for a new generation of collectors. Through our shows and additional programming, we hope to increase collecting activity in the region.” Intriguing concepts are to be found throughout Ohio. In Kent, Gazebo is (for now) an under-the-radar space run by Shawn Powell, artist and assistant professor at Kent State University; and Annie Wischmeyer, curatorial consultant at Curated Storefront and the 2022 Front International Triennial. It is a playful yet challenging space located on their bucolic property which could itself be the subject of a Michael Raedecker or Peter Doig painting. The project’s name is literal, so artists must find ways to adapt to the little summer house by the lake. It is the kind of refreshing, unpretentious venture that’s provocative for artists to consider, with the potential to cultivate critical investment. Wischmeyer and Powell describe the genesis of their space: “A few months prior to the pandemic, a friend who was visiting from New York suggested that we should turn our gazebo into a gallery. We laughed off the idea at the time. But several months into lockdown, we missed visiting galleries, the community, and conversations about work, and suddenly the idea didn’t sound so absurd. Our gazebo, situated in our backyard, was the perfect space to put on shows in a socially-distanced manner, and Gazebo Gallery was born. This project space has allowed us to share work we admire both regionally and nationally with our community and the university population, giving us the opportunity to continue conversations around art. Even with the pandemic slowing down and the prospect of returning to some sort of normalcy on the horizon, we have programming planned through next fall and we expect Gazebo to continue.” Building momentum in, and about, a city might encourage its artists, critics and curators to stay and devote their energies to the region. In turn that can ignite the kind of curiosity that draws focus away from Los Angeles or New York, helping to devolve equity and criticism across the national art grid. For it is only with pride and insistence on the validity of art made by and for resident art workers and audiences that latent potential can be fulfilled. Many vibrant art scenes across the country are burdened by a sense of inferiority that they don’t offer artists what New York does. But any concerns that Cleveland isn’t New York ought to be set aside. After all, we mustn’t hold that against the Big Apple. Cleveland, Ohio and the Midwest sit at the crossroads of our era’s most pressing circumstances. These include the consequences of industrial output manifested in contaminated aquifers, toxic landfills and the environmental racism that is so often synonymous; fair regeneration of urban landscapes, without rampaging gentrification compounding the hurt; the civic and bodily harm inflicted on communities of color caused by white supremacist hierarchies; and a political schism between the Buckeye State’s rural red and urban blue counties. What are the social and cultural tectonics widening that divide and how might they be bridged by cultural interventions? And within the art economy itself, decay-porn has become a cliche, but how do art and action contribute beyond the rotting prettiness of the Midwest’s crumbling built heritage towards practical discourse and progression? Furthermore, being Ohio-based provides an opportunity for viable and sustainable creative living that would be prohibitively expensive in the largest metropolitan centers. Art and artists are integral to the development of solutions here that could become national blueprints. And when one considers the concentration of cities, each with their unbreakable commonalities, distinctive characteristics, populations of art workers, and intellectual reservoirs, all within a relatively compact area—Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Findley (home of The Neon Heater) Detroit, Dayton, Cincinnati, and on to Lexington, Louisville, Bloomington and Indianapolis—the possibilities for a new constellation of integrated productivity in the art firmament are limitless. The Midwest as a re-emergent global nexus of heavy manufacturing—the foremost in the United States—is a reasonable proposition. Perhaps it won’t be based on iron or steel this time, but on art—a far more durable material with which to build resilient architectures and glittering futures. Darren Jones is a Scottish-American art critic. He is the US Editor-at-Large for New Art Examiner, and a regular contributor to Artforum. He is a recipient of an Andy Warhol/Creative Capital Arts Writers Grant. Jones teaches Curatorial Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore. He lives in Fire Island Pines and Key West. With thanks to RA Washington, Allison J. Evans, and Carlos Rigau for their perspectives. Volume 35 no 5 May/June 2021  Olga Nazarenko, Cacophony, on view in Coveted, at Kaiser Gallery in Tremont By Lyz Bly, PhD Read the article on CANJournal.org If you are curious as to what the last four to 400 years have felt like living in a feminine and/or female, queer, brown, black, disabled, poor, mentally ill body, art is a place to begin your empathetic and sensuous exploration. Even better, if haven’t visited Kaiser Gallery on Professor Avenue in Tremont, founder-curator Tanya Kaiser creates a welcoming, COVID-safe destination; call in advance for an appointment as there you have a few more weeks before the current exhibition, Coveted closes on April 4. The exhibition, curated by Kaiser, includes artists from around the country addressing and subverting the “male gaze,” Laura Mulvey’s now canonical theory of 1975. Mulvey frames the act of looking as “scopophilia,” the psychological frame through which dominant masculine ideals are reified and projected in film narratives and imagery. Through a psychoanalytic lens, Mulvey interprets the intentions of the gaze and the ways in which it is enacted visually through camera angles and light, which emphasize narrative of violence toward women. Mulvey’s theory is manifest in Hitchcock’s films of the 1960s, which remain enormously popular as cinematic works of art.[1] Kaiser’s curatorial spin on scopophilia is nuanced and comes through work by artists from around the country: Stefani Byrd, Dani Clauson, Leiyana Gonzales, Sydney Kleinrock, Megan Lubey, Olga Nazarenko, and Rebecca Poarch. These artists claim their own narratives on the body and put forth perspectives not easily accessible in mainstream culture. The exhibition accomplishes this with less than ten works of art; it is a deep dive into intricately wrought and visceral pieces. One not only sees the bodies depicted by the artists—as torn, mangled, fluid, and fragile corporeal substances, but feels them.  Clauson, You’re a Warm Memory, 2020 Clauson’s “You’re a Warm Memory,” of 2020 is an intricately wrought hand-built sculpture of ceramic and glaze, which they precariously placed on the edge of a white kitchen-cabinet door. The hollow-ish form in bone-white glaze looks fragile and weightless, precarious on the door-shelf. The headless figural form is visually stunning and heartbreaking for the narrative it shares. The right hand peels an anonymous left hand off of what is left of the heart. The beauty in this work, which serves as entry point to the exhibition, is that Clausen captures the grace and gore of “breaking up,” be it with a lover or a family member. Moreover, the presence of the absence we feel for communities of live bodies combined with Zoom-fatigue, and the absence of those lost to COVID-19 and white supremacist violence in recent years is absolutely palatable in this fragile installation.  Sydney Kleinrock, Body Seams Sydney Kleinrock and Rebecca Poarch contribute paintings reflecting their experiences with body alterations from surgery. Kleinrock’s succinctly painted life-size torso includes literal stitches into the canvas that reference her self-reflection. In the age of filters and selfies, coming to terms with one’s own body is a struggle and research tells us that young girls most often see their earliest sexual experiences through the lens of “other,” creating a “self-scopophilia.” Concurrent with the rise of social media applications in 2011, are incidences of cutting, suicide, and anorexia among young tween and teen girls.[2]  Rebecca Poarch, Body 2 Poarch zooms-in on her “selfie,” a nebulous site of surgery, creating a sensuously saturated painting out of what she had around her during recovery. Like the blood one sheds in surgery, the pink pigment saturates the raw fiber on which it is painted. Poarch’s “Body 2,” serves as documentation of her healing, and as a compelling image for this moment in history, as we absorb and attempt to create new systems after the attack on the Capitol, our collective sense of safety, and our corporeal vulnerabilities amid a pandemic further exposing the racism and classism and entitlement and privilege inherent in our social fabric.  Leiyana Gonzales, Venusian Leiyana Gonzales’ digital photographic collages include self-portraits placing the artists’ contemporary curvy, brown body into the canon of Western art history. Both works were created in 2019, and “Venusian” most exemplifies her intention, as she juxtaposes self-created images of her own feminine beauty, which she puts forth “on her own terms.” The paradox of her work is, in the context of European art history “Othered” feminine bodies were often socially degraded and fetishized. In the 19th century, Paul Gauguin coveted the visage and the bodies of Tahitian girls and women while finding personal freedom for himself away from the “social constraints” of France (contemporary social norms aside, Gauguin both painted and had sex with a 13-year-old girl). While this tension around this history is apparent in Gonzales’ work, there is also a reclamation, as the artist celebrates her body as abundant and beautiful and, in 2021—hers. Further underscoring this, these photo collages are not for sale.  Megan Lubey, Time Megan Lubey’s life-size paintings are disquietingly juxtaposed with the Poarch’s quietly complex painting. Like Poarch, the image is zoomed in, perhaps even in focus, but to utter abstraction. Lubey’s thick “impastic” paintings are a coming to terms with shame around the body and devious or transgressive encounters. The artist adds banal materials, particularly drywall spackle—to make the work monstrously sculptural. Up close you feel Lubey’s gestures—body parts entwined, leaving spaces that look like open wounds that you can’t un-see. A student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the art critique process is part of the work; “During painting crits we would hang work on a common wall,” she explains. “After we were done, you put spackle in the hole in the wall… Eventually I just started using spackle to thicken the surface.”  Olga Nazarenko, Cacophony The fluidity of identity as it intersects with hearts and bodies is a common theme in the film-sound works in the show, by Olga Nazrenko and Stefani Byrd, respectively. Nazrenko’s color video work is a 13:33 minute study in, among many things, the body in context to the whole of “nature.” Turning the lens on to the flesh of an a nebulously gendered white figure, the artist celebrates the skin, its shapes and colors at once imperfect and bacchanalian-beautiful. Drawing connections between the earthy delights of green grass and textured tree trunks, the video celebrates and reclaims the body and the gaze, rendering it neutral, as the viewer only sees the tattooed white body as gendered-masculine until midway through. This creates connection between the body depicted and the viewer, as the body is revealed as earthy and vulnerable despite masculine identifiers.  Stefani Byrd, True Love Stefani Byrd’s theoretical work references Radiohead’s “Ok Computer” album reissue of 2017, which was dedicated to Thom York’s former wife, Dr. Rachel Owen, who died of cancer in 2016. An elegy to individuality and the connections and boundaries between brilliant creative thinkers who become partners is at the heart of the work and the song upon which it is based. The image of two eagles mating mid-flight, separating as they must to survive before they smash to the ground, is a study in boundary making and respect between couples, especially those who choose to parent together. The resilient, meditative image of American Bald Eagles coming together, then setting individual paths of creative freedom is an empowering sight. Yet—still, in 2021, we are reminded of the limitation placed on queer bodies, black and brown bodies, feminine bodies, female bodies at the hands of power—how little tolerance and empathy we have still have for fragile bodies and vulnerable minds. Coveted offers us a celebration of resilience at a time that feels apocalyptic.
Notes [1]Mulvey’s theory, referred to as “the male gaze,” comes from her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Screen, Volume 16, Issue 3, Autumn 1975, Pages 6–18 (published on October 1, 1975). Interested readers can find the text here. Accessed March 16, 2021]). [2] This phenomenon is well-documented in Peggy Ornstein’s work (see Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape (New York, New York: Harper Paperbacks, 2017) and in Netflix’s documentary, The Social Dilemma, 2020. Coveted February 14-April 4, 2021 Kaiser Gallery, 2418 Professor Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 Call for reservations: 216.282.3826  Three Things To Know: Kaiser Gallery Opens In Tremont
Artist Tanya Kaiser opened the hybrid art gallery in December with nonprofit programming and a cocktail lounge. By Abigail Cloutier | Jan. 15, 2021 | 12:00 PM Read the article on ClevelandMagazine.com As the former event and media director of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and an artist whose work focuses heavily on reimagining the female body in social and religious ways, Tanya Kaiser is known for breaking through barriers. In December, she opened her first gallery space in Tremont to showcase similarly challenging and innovative works. Here are three things to know about the new gallery and its first exhibit, Switch, which runs through February. Exhibits will be multi-dimensional. Gears, wires, glass and neon lights pepper Kaiser’s first exhibit, Switch. She wanted to highlight how art is woven through every field by utilizing new materials such as projection art, virtual reality and more. “It’s interdisciplinary in nature,” she says. “When going to technology, that’s a natural evolution, especially with the way society is so much more ingrained digitally.” The gallery will function as a hybrid cocktail lounge. In an effort to bring visitors into the gallery, Kaiser has created a small cocktail bar to curate drinks for every exhibit, like tea-based cocktails and a hard mocha for the upcoming DomesticLands show in April. “We have a large patio, which is nice, because it helps with the social distance thing, and air circulation, which is very important in the age of COVID. We’re also looking to do reservations to keep occupancy low,” she says. Kaiser’s model is geared to uplift other artists. She aims to make the gallery a community-centered space by offering nonprofit programming such as lectures and demonstrations. Additionally, she’s waiving admission fees for artists. “We are looking just to make it sustainable, so we don’t have to charge artists admission fees,” she says. “That’s where the cocktail bar comes into play.”  Read the article on TheLandCLE.org
BY NATALIE ZIEGLER ARTS & CULTURE, DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMY, ENTREPRENEURS, SOCIAL EQUITY Tanya Kaiser, an artist, educator, and newly minted gallerist, is bringing international and interdisciplinary art to Clevelanders through the newly established Kaiser Gallery. The rented space in a building on Professor Avenue in Tremont will bring “a piece of Chelsea to Cleveland, a level of professionalism and interdisciplinarity, and international artists,” said Kaiser. The artist previously lived in Long Island, New York but frequented New York City through her sculpting and ceramics practice, which addressed feminist conceptions of reproductive health. Inspired by her time in New York, Kaiser first envisioned someday opening a “hybrid gallery” model before moving to Cleveland. Kaiser found Cleveland to be a welcoming city with low barriers to opening a hybrid gallery—one that combines a traditional gallery, artworks for sale, and a nonprofit arm that provides public programming. Kaiser’s space in Tremont includes the Kaiser Gallery, as well as Kaiser Studios, which will feature artist panels, educational lectures related to exhibit topics, and arts workshops. She appreciates Tremont’s “eccentric quality,” finding it to be a neighborhood reminiscent of Brooklyn and supportive of art and collaboration. Kaiser cites the slowed-down pace of life under the pandemic as conducive to realizing her long-held vision of starting her own gallery. “It’s definitely personally motivating because this is something I wanted for so long, and there’s never going to be the right time,” she said. “It’s easier to get investors, it’s easier to connect with people.” Thanks to her vision and persistence, Clevelanders will soon be able to enjoy the new arts institution with its signature trendy twist—Kaiser Gallery will serve cocktails with flavors and ingredients curated to match the themes of the space’s interdisciplinary exhibits. Kaiser Gallery’s public programming will also invite Clevelanders to consider art through interdisciplinary perspectives related to contemporary issues, such as technology and gender. Kaiser hopes her innovative gallery will be open to the public before the end of January. She has already received approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals and is now waiting on inspection approval. When Kaiser Gallery opens, the first exhibit hosted will be SWITCH, a fusion of arts and technology using light as inspiration. For the foreseeable future, guests will need to make reservations in order to adhere to social distancing protocols necessitated by the ongoing pandemic. After a hopeful opening later this month, Kaiser hopes that long-term success will allow her to expand the nonprofit educational offerings for all ages. She will incorporate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) programming for school-aged youth, and aims to one day have an artist-in-residence as an integral part of this public programming. Kaiser hopes that these interdisciplinary conversations and exhibit foci, combined with the expertly curated drinks by Kaiser Gallery’s staff mixologist, will attract visitors that might not typically be drawn to the arts. The mixologist has an arts background, and Kaiser says drinks will be designed to evoke themes expressed in exhibited work. Kaiser Gallery will also feature cheese platters and meat trays sourced from Slavic Village vendors, giving guests the chance to support multiple Cleveland businesses while they enjoy food, drinks, and the arts. In addition, Kaiser Gallery supports existing and emerging artists through its open calls for submissions, without any fees to submit. Exhibit materials are chosen through a blind selection process, which will help facilitate greater diversity in the racial and gender makeup of featured artists. Removing barriers to access and fostering inclusivity is a hallmark of Kaiser Gallery’s approach overall. The gallery features a statement of accountability on the home page of its website, which describes data collection practices that will be shared as a public record of racial and gender diversity of exhibits. Kaiser describes this as “a way to be accountable for our own actions, using statistics that will make us aware of how we are doing and allowing us to strive to be better.” While “caution is the name of the game” at this point, she has high hopes for success and expansion going forward. Once the space is open after final inspection approval, the SWITCH exhibit will run through February 7th, 2021 and will be followed by “Coveted,” which explores “relationships, love, and desires” through the perspectives of “women, non-binary people, and marginalized members of all racial and cultural backgrounds.” “Coveted” runs from February 13, 2021 through April 4, 2021. “DomesticLands,” which was originally set to open this year, will now open on April 9, 2021 and run through June 6, 2021. “DomesticLands” examines memories of the home as a place of simultaneous “joy and trauma.” Kaiser Gallery is located at 2418 Professor Ave. and can be contacted here or by phone at 216/282-3826. Natalie Ziegler recently completed the Cleveland Foundation’s Public Service Fellowship and is an aspiring researcher, writer, and community organizer passionate about community development, public health, and equity. |
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