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| Card Printed by Transformer Station - Autographed by Photographer |
This year in particular, I have been hitting the art venues pretty hard as a volunteer. The newest contemporary art gallery is the Transformer Station in Ohio City on West 29th to be exact. I happen to be there on February 1, for the grand opening where hundreds witnessed the collection of Fred and Laura Bidwell - “Light of Day.” The collection displayed different photographs from up and coming photographers. One of my favorites in the collection was three black and white photographs of various trains from New York, Tokyo and Paris. They were hung up high, away from the others. Perhaps that is why I loved them so much. Either way, it’s cool that there is an art venue on the near west-side in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art.
At first, I was confused where this Transformer Station was since I have ridden my bike through the Ohio City streets many times. I went to our first volunteer orientation session and I realized I have probably passed this location countless times as I went to my photographer for work. I am sure I’ve seen this small, obscure transformer station but never paid attention to it. I am sure I am not alone thinking this way. So I commend the Bidwells’ for “transforming” this building into an art venue so we can all view their collection.
The “Light of Day” collection ran from February until early May to record crowds, I’m sure. As I volunteered, I spoke with people who traveled as far away as Kent, Ohio to experience this exhibition. You never know who you might meet - Jim Rokakis, who nonchalantly toured the facility along with many others who I didn’t meet or talked to. What was unusual, the exhibition eliminated the artist’s name and brief synopsis about the work? If this is unsettling, you can request a kindle or view www.tsguide.org via smartphone - a brief explanation about the artist and/or the pieces. You can still view past and current exhibits as well.
The newest exhibit, “Excerpts from Silver Meadows” by known photographer, Todd Hido that takes pictures of his Kent, Ohio hometown. His exhibit takes his viewers back to the past of the 1960 - 1970s with women in bouffant hairdos and liquid eyeliner that stare at you in an unsettling way. One of my favorite photos is a black and white smashed up car where the viewer wonders, “What the heck is going on here?”
Hido’s photos, therefore, are grouped together in a way that tells a story of a dark past that many didn’t talk about freely back then. Women look off to the side, disheveled with heels and torn up hosiery. Again, what is going on? That is the beauty of this exhibit, it promotes discussion what is going on. Every photograph has a story, it is up to you to think how it relates to you or not.
Something the photographer said that keeps playing back and forth in my mind. This isn’t verbatim - a photograph in everyone’s mind is truth; documenting a birthday, wedding or real life scenery. Hido, therefore, plays with images that perhaps are not what they seem. Fictional characters that tell a story by how they are choreographed and cropped in his camera’s viewfinder. In fact, he groups a photo of a young woman (a photo within a photo) hung on wall with his father’s weightlifting measurements (wrists, biceps, waist, and thighs) next to a shot of a tree. One thing is clear, the photographs have an isolating quality that keeps you thinking.
The other thing I like about the photographs is they look authentic using an old-fashioned camera. I do feel like I’m transported back to the 1970s when I see a giant photograph of a rotary phone against shiny, metallic wallpaper. Old ranch houses that I remember seeing when I used to visit a friend who just moved to Mentor, Ohio. The scenery of trees are blurred that gives them a dreamlike quality. The photographs, therefore, take up most of the gallery space; there is a lot to see and reflect on.
The newest exhibit will be on view until August 23, 2013. After the Hido exhibit, the Cleveland Museum of Art will be using the space; this collaboration will continue.
The Transformer Station
A new space for contemporary art in Cleveland
1460 West 29th St
www.transformerstation.org
Steve Litt's Review in The Cleveland Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2013/05/smashed_cars_sexually_ravenous.html
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