The Lens

Lesser known in the annals of Cincinnati history is that, fresh into the Y2K era, OTR was briefly home to a celebrity-circuit nightclub: Club Clau. The comings and goings were documented by the club's art director with a cheap black-and-white camera, and a selection of images are now on display at The Annex Gallery.

It was 2003 and Over-the-Rhine was having a moment, thanks to the newly minted Club Clau nightclub. “We were open for nine weeks, and on the front page... Continue reading Making a Scene: “Return to the Velvet Rope” Takes Us Inside Club Clau, OTR’s Early-Aughts Hot Spot

Deception and misdirection and falsehoods, oh my. Through October 23, see work from the early 1900s to 2014 that may just make you question everything.

At its inception, photography was a medium that connoted truth: Light reflecting reality onto film and then the page. And long before photographs were manipulated and falsified for nefarious reasons, artists used the medium for deception in a more playful — if still often pointed — way. Which is where we find ourselves at the Clay Street Press exhibition opening... Continue reading “These Photographs are Fake!” On View at Clay Street Press

In mathematics, the Greek letter Delta means change. In 2021, the Delta variant means the same.

The 2021 FotoFocus Symposium: Telephotography was originally scheduled to take place in-person October 9 & 10. But as the era of Such Interesting Times We Live In churns on — and with it, Covid-19 — FotoFocus has chosen to reschedule the Symposium for April 9 & 10, 2022. Because, well, the organization wants to share art and ideas with the public, not a virus.

Read the full text of the... Continue reading FotoFocus Symposium Rescheduled for April 2022

The idea of fall arts seasons may feel like a hazy dream from another lifetime, but take heart, dear Queen City: There are several exhibitions in the region you won't want to miss this fall — listed in order of closing date.

RESIDUE, The Carnegie

A group show curated by Maria Seda Reeder, RESIDUE considers the relationship between art and audience — and how that engagement intertwines with, and changes, the work. Or in their words: "While artists act to create... Continue reading Four Lens-Based Shows To See This Fall

On view through October 29, Casey LeClair describes the exhibition as "part retrospective and part greatest hits."

For Iris BookCafé and Gallery exhibition curator Bill Messer, there was something uniquely evocative about Casey LeClair’s photography. The artist hails from Cincinnati but has spent the last 25 years traveling the world from California to New York to Sweden and points in between. This year, LeClair found himself back in Cincinnati, and his work crossed Messer’s desk. 

“I had pretty much retired ,” Messer says. “This work... Continue reading Far and Wide: Casey LeClair’s “Seven Cities” at Iris BookCafé and Gallery