FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CINCINNATI, OH
September 19th, 2024
Wave Pool and Welcome to host two new FotoFocus exhibitions, focusing on social practice artists and the work of Indigenous photographers.
“A Thousand Words” curated by Wave Pool’s Director of Exhibitions and Artist Support Initiatives, Maria Seda-Reeder, features the visual remnants of social practice artists who use the camera, embodied research, and ongoing community engagement to tell a story that requires more than capturing a mere snapshot in time. The challenge of any artist working in community engagement is how can artists foster a sense of trust and belonging using lens-based practices that do not feel extractive to the communities they’re working in?
Interdisciplinary artist Rebecca Copper presents Waterways (of Ohio), an ongoing, socially-engaged lens-based project that centers different forms of knowledge, deep looking, and social relationships with the non-human life of local rivers, creeks, and waterways.
Visual storyteller, educator, and socially-engaged artist Justin Maxon returns to Camp Washington for his second year with his ongoing project Field Guide to a Crisis, which breaks down hierarchies by providing strategies for survival directly from people in recovery.
Artist, event curator, community organizer, and founder of Black Space, Darius Smith photographs people using the camera as a way to both document and celebrate those in his community of artists and creatives in Milwaukee, WI. Smith engages his practice to normalize mental health practices for Black and brown communities.
The co-creation practices that all three artists employ demonstrate the long-term relationship building that happens when artists work in partnership with communities.
Artists: Rebecca Copper, Justin Maxon, Darius Smith
A Thousand Words will be on view at Wave Pool from Sept. 27th until November 16th, 2024.
Defend the Sacred, organized by Independent Curator Viktor Maco and on view at The Welcome Project, offers an exploration of spiritual heritage as seen through the lens of BIPOC photographers from across the Americas. It navigates essential themes such as family, gender, spirituality, land, and language, allowing each artist to share their personal experience with the sacred.
The exhibition features works that both challenge cultural erasure and celebrate the diverse perspectives, values, and experiences passed on through generations. It positions photography as a powerful tool for cultural preservation and resistance, aiming to spark dialogue, deepen understanding, and foster reflection on the varied expressions of cultural sanctity across BIPOC communities.
Through its visual narratives, Defend the Sacred invites viewers to contemplate the shared and individual dimensions of sacredness, and engage with the complex and profound ways in which these artists interpret and honor the sacred in their lives, highlighting the critical importance of cultural transmission for future generations.
Artists: Leland Butler, Elio Cunampio, Abdellah Hamouma, Leonard Harmon, Rita Harper, Viktor Maco, Nixon Andy Narvaez, Guadalupe Rodriguez
Defend the Sacred will be on view at The Welcome Project from October 5th until November 9th, 2024.
IF YOU GO:
What: A Thousand Words Exhibition Opening Reception
When: Friday, September 27th, 2024, 6-8 PM
Where: Wave Pool Gallery, 2940 Colerain Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45225
Admission: FREE, open to the public
What: Echoes of Support: A Healing Portrait Journey with Darius Smith
When: Saturday, October 12th, 2024, 12 – 2:30 PM
Where: Wave Pool Gallery, 2940 Colerain Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45225
Admission: FREE, Event registration required
Details: Artist Darius Smith will host a gathering circle around themes of mental health and remembrance. At the end of the session, he will take portraits of attendees. Registration required. To register, please visit Wave Pool’s website.
IF YOU GO:
What: Defend the Sacred Exhibition Opening Night
When: Saturday October 5th, 2024, 5:30 PM
Where: The Welcome Project, 2936 Colerain Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45225
Admission: FREE, open to the public
Details: Cincinnati’s Table Dinner featuring food from The Indigenous Chef, beginning at 5:30; Artists Panel Talk beginning at 7 PM. Free, first come, first served. Registration not required.
For more information or further questions about A Thousand Words, email Wave Pool’s Director of Exhibitions and Artist Support Initiatives, Maria Seda-Reeder at maria@wavepoolgallery.org
For more information or further questions about Defend the Sacred, email The Welcome Project’s Manager, Olivia Nava at olivia@wavepoolgallery.org
Attached Image Credit: Justin Maxon, Camp Washington, 2023. Polaroid film, 4½ x 3½ inches. Courtesy of the artist in collaboration with Allonte Hart
Attached Image Credit: Abdellah Hamouma, Untitled, 2023. Digital print, 17¼ x 21¼ inches. Courtesy of the artist
Wave Pool creates community fulfillment through artistic opportunities.
Wave Pool is a socially-engaged art center that acts as a conduit for community change through artist opportunities and support. Pairing communities’ knowledge of their needs with artists’ sense of possibility, Wave Pool provides a structure whereby contemporary art and artists can be integral contributors to the fabric and success of our city, country, and beyond, by helping us build relationships and collective knowledge around complex issues, centering the insights and experience of those most intimately affected.
www.wavepoolgallery.org
