News – Stephen Calhoun

STEPHEN CALHOUN #experimental #self-taught #cleveland #photographer #experimental #visionary #generative #artist and image auteur!

		April 9:2021 Miracle at Savitthi is installed in The Member’s Show, The Archive of the Artists of the Western Reserve. The exhibit runs April 8—May 29, 2021. It is always an honor to exhibit at the AAWR because it joins my selection with the selections of esteemed regional artists, many of whom I count as close friends and colleagues. Artists Archives of the Western Reserve 1834 E. 123rd Street Cleveland, OH 44106-1910 Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Friday 10 am–4 pm Saturday 12 pm – 4 pm masks are mandatory
		March 26:2021 UPDATE Today I receive my second Pfizer shot. Thank you very much! The second year of the Covid-19 pandemic begins now to unfold toward its hopefully favorable resolution, although this hope of mine reflects my privilege at the same time it underplays the differentials evident in various national approaches, some of which may weigh heavily on all nation’s public health. I have exhibited very little over the last year. I haven’t left the house much either and this has supported my most productive year for doing various experiments. This also results in the stockpiling of the most creamy results of over one hundred experiments. Yet I am not ready to be enthusiastic about exhibiting in the future. Certainly, I am looking forward to showing the world what I feel is my best recent work, but this is mediated by the challenge of the current conditions. Sadly, with the terminal deprecation of Adobe Flash, I no longer have access to Leonardo Solaas’s Doodl Dashboard, a Flash-based browser application that was the principal generative ‘re-painting’ tool I used for all my photo-generative art experiments since 2015. His programming was a work of genius. I am grateful to have figured out how to control its parameters in ways that allowed me to create a lot of very compelling work. Brisk Totem for example. A door closes, another opens. Right now I am learning how to control a autonomous blending application on the iPad for the sake of creating stochastic generative images—which is to say manipulating mostly original and some net art sources through procedural and combinatorial blending of layers. This process instantiates a high degree of randomness. It’s power is in (my) choosing sources while letting the randomness eventually blend the 2-8 layers into a candidate or keeper. Lo-Fi video symmetries and animations (for LED 8k video walls) are also eating up some of my mad experimenter’s time. Stay tuned. Be well. Stay safe. Stephen (Join me: Instagram \| Twitter )
		October 20:2020 The upcoming Trippy Trip Exhibit at Yards Projects at Worthington Yards will include a selection of recent artworks. The group show aims to represent all sorts of varieties of trips. (I’m especially pleased to be showing with Kasumi Filmska, who is to my mind by far and away Cleveland’s most important, internationally renowned, artist.) The space is large, airy, and may well be the best exhibiting space outside of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Transformer Station, and MOCA. The exhibit opens November 14, runs through December 31. pictured: Ceremonial Chip #2 \| Mind Buds is also installed in the exhibit. Yards Project at Worthington Yards 725 Johnson Court Cleveland, Ohio
		October 11:2020 Heaviness of Silence has been accepted into the 49th Annual Juried Art Exhibit at Valley Arts Center in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. This exhibit will open on November 6, and be on display through December 16 for in-person as well as online viewing. Valley Arts Center 155 Bell Street, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022 (440) 247 – 7507
		August 20:2020 Four slideshows have been created and added to the contents of the page, Exhibits/Curated Slideshows. Three of the slideshows present artworks exhibited at the three principal exhibitions of artwork. The other slideshow, Forty Four Favorite Artworks, collects together selections of artwork curated by the artist to represent his own favorites from his several bodies of work, (radially iterated, generative, photographic.)
		August 15:2020 Be Counted, a photograph created for the purpose of promoting the 2020 census, was awarded an honorable mention in the professional division of the Why We Count art competition, hosted by The Cleveland Public Library. An upcoming gallery of winners will be posted online.
		July 8:2020 My fourth solo exhibit is installed at Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights. Fifteen small artworks printed to aluminum are featured in a presentation that covers most of the range of my art practice. It is ready to be ‘virtually opened’ Friday, July 10th. The exhibit runs through August 23, 2020. Hours: Thursday—Saturday 1pm-7pm. Masks required. Gallery capacity limited. I will also be providing virtual opportunities to view the exhibit online or take a virtual tour with me. virtual opening tickets via eventbright: Stephen Calhoun Spotlight \| Evolution 20th Anniversary Exhibit Heights Arts 216.371.3457 \| heightsarts@heightsarts.org 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
		July 1:2020 Library Street Collective, Detroit’s prominent gallery for contemporary art, working with Bedrock Detroit, a full service property developer, has purchased three large prints, Red Mandala #1, Red Mandala #2 and Hide and Sing. The artworks will be installed in the old May Company building downtown in Cleveland, (under the auspices of subsidiary Bedrock Cleveland.) I am pleased and honored to be chosen to join the initial group of Cleveland artists to be featured in the venerable 19th century building. The building has been undergoing restoration and renewal for the past several years. Hide and Sing
		June 29:2020 Yards Projects at Worthington Yards, Cleveland, called for Cleveland artists to provide a single artwork representative of Art Made In the Shutdown. Renovator, a photo-generative artwork from April joins the exhibit. Worthington Yards is home of the Dalad Collection of art and is one of our stellar gallery spaces. Call to make an appointment to see the exhibit. 725 Johnson Court Cleveland, Ohio 44113 (216) 570-0324
		May 31:2020 Everyday Is Somebody’s Birthday has been juried into the 2020 Waterloo Arts Festival. This annual exhibition will be presented virtually, and in the fall, at physical locations in The Waterloo Arts District. The lively street festival has been cancelled. Dates will be updated soon.
		May 17:2020 Lasting Hearts Key Keeper, a photographic artwork from 2017, has been juried into the 2020 Peer Show. This annual exhibition will be presented at The Cleveland Print Room, 2550 Superior Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114, June 5 – July 18, 2020. (I am told the show will start as a virtual exhibit and then crossover to a physical exhibit with social distancing measures.)
		April 27:2020 Carrie Wise, a producer for Ideastream, the local NPR broadcaster, interviewed me for an article on what Cleveland area artists are doing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. I was happy to tell her about artworks created expressly in response to the crisis. The online article Northeast ohio Artists Show Hope Through Pandemic Creations includes two artworks of mine and a brief slice of audio.
		March 16:2020 Although the Bruegel Seminars: Guest Lecture was installed in the Member’s Show, The Artist’s Archives of the Western Reserve, the exhibit is unavailable due to the novel corona virus-19. The worldwide public health challenge is a 100 year event. Its most humbling aspect is its scale. Stay safe!
		March 6:2020 Garden Staff Four vII will be part of the annual member’s show at Heights Art, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It open March 6 and runs through April 18, 2020. This is the first time my artwork will be shown in my hometown. (Two weeks later my third solo show will open at the same venue.) It is said about Cleveland Heights, “a third of the area’s artists reside there.” This would roughly mean three to four hundred artists live in Cleveland Heights! I’m not sure about that, yet forty of the area’s artists will be presenting their artworks in the member’s show. CLOSED Heights Art \| 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
		February 11:2020 The Bruegel Seminars, Series Two, Seminar Seven has been juried into Boschian: Beautifully Bizarre at The Box Gallery, Summit Artspace, AAkron, Ohio. The Bruegel Seminars is a seventeen artwork series inspired by the Neverlandish family Bruegel. The historical connection between Hieronymus Bosch and the family Bruegel is obvious. No at all obvious are the many vectors of inspiration and influence between those masters and my own body of work, an opus that is not painted or print-making. Summit Artspace’s main gallery, 140 East Market Street, is open weekly Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 7 p.m., and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. BOSCHIAN: BEAUTIFULLY BIZARRE opens Friday, February 20 at 6pm, and runs through March 28. CLOSED
		January 10:2020 Owlchemy (2019) has been juried into Black & White at Stella’s Art Gallery, Mentor, Ohio. This is the second year in a row a photograph of mine has been welcomed into this yearly exhibit. Stella’s Art Gallery THE MATCHWORKS BUILDING, 8500 Station St, Mentor, OH Black & White opens January 10 and runs through the end of the month. (Owlchemy was awarded one of the juror’s prizes.)
		January 10:2020 Two artworks, Mind Buds and Ceremonial Chip #2, were juried into the group show, FRESH 2020, at Summit Artspace in Akron Ohio. This 16th presentation of FRESH supposes “Art that will be accepted as part of this annual exhibition must be innovative and challenging to both the viewer and the artist. Accepted artists will have pushed the boundaries of what art can be– stylistically, conceptually, or technically– and will challenge the viewer to see the world through a new lens. Accepted work will feature novel styles, original thinking, and demonstrate a high level of skill in the artist’s chosen 2D or 3D media.” I’m deeply honored to have two of my image-making approaches recognized for their innovation. This is the second year in a row I have been so honored. Summit Artspace’s main gallery, 140 East Market Street, is open weekly Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 7 p.m., and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Additional hours include 4-7 p.m. on Jan. 16 for 3rd Thursday and the Feb. 1 Artwalk, 5-9 p.m. FRESH 2020 opens Friday, January 10 at 6pm. (pictured is Mind Buds » 2019)
		September 24:2019 Five artworks will be featured in the group show, Beyond the Camera, at Prama Artspace in Parma Ohio. The exhibit, curated by noted photographer Laura D’Allesandro, is part of the inaugural Cleveand Photography Festival. The festival showcases over one hundred artists working in the photographic medium. The Cleveland Photo Festival runs through October at numerous galleries and venues throughout the region. (pictured is The Magicians » 2019)
		September 19:2019 The Gallery at Lakeland (Community College) presents its biennial Skull and Skeleton Show from September 19 to November 8, 2019. The exhibit is an invitational for which the curator Mary Urbas selects and invites regional artists to submit 2d and 3d work about the general theme of skulls, skeletons, and bones. It is timed to coincide with Halloween and other fall rituals. For the third straight edition I am honored to be an invitee. My generative artwork, Head Shot, will be pinned to one of the many walls in one of our region’s most beautiful galleries.
		June 7, 2019 I’ll Fly Away, Oh Glory, a composite of an original fractal and a Hubble image, has been accepted into the 2019 Waterloo Arts Festival Juried Exhibit. The photograph is installed at Waterloo Arts, one of the sites for this multi-site exhibit. The exhibit runs from June 7 until July 12 in The Waterloo Arts District, east of East 156th Street, Collinwood, Cleveland, Ohio.
		June 21:2019 Newly reopened RampArts Gallery (at 78th Street) will be presenting two major mixed process photographs from 2018, Long John Brown and Little Mary Bell, and, Everyday Ascension #1. A crop of the latter was featured on the cover of the spring issue of the CAN Journal. I really happy to be showing for the first time at 78th Street, Cleveland’s art mecca. Thank you Randy, Mark and the RampArts team for creating the opportunity for the public to view large artworks up close. View new art works in Cleveland at: RampArts Gallery Suite #202 78th Street Cleveland, Ohio 44102

		April 10:2019 Over one hundred 5inch x 5inch single edition archival prints will be offered in a pop-up exhibition May 3rd and 4th at ARTICLE in the Waterloo Arts District, Cleveland. The opening on May 3rd coincides with Walk All Over Waterloo. On May 4th I will present an artist’s talk on Serendipity and Creativity, at 2:00pm. (In the early aughts the nature and implication of serendipity was a principal research focus of mine.) The 5×5″ prints will be signed and priced, $20 for the first purchase, and $10 for each additional purchase. As many of my NEO colleagues understand, one of my artistic missions is to place my artworks in as many locations as possible. As I am moved to remind: ubiquity, not rarity. Pop-up exhibit in Cleveland at: ARTICLE 15316 Waterloo Road Cleveland, Ohio 44110

		March 7:2019 Back to the Fillmore #4 will be exhibited at Stella’s Art’s in Mentor Ohio as part of their juried Influenced By Music Show. Most of my art practice is influenced by my background in, and love of, music. This artwork has been looking to be exhibited for years. I’m honored to have it juried into this exhibit. The exhibition will open on Friday, March 8, 2019 at Historic Matchworks Building 8500 Station Street Mentor, Ohio 44060

		March 1:2019 Everyday Ascension #1 is excerpted for the cover of the spring Collective Arts Network quarterly journal. Inside there is a very perceptive profile too. This is a huge honor and I am happy to help herald the blooming of spring in northern Ohio. The CAN Journal is available at various art, magazine, and cafe/eatery locations throughout northeastern Ohio. (June 7, 2019: The issue with my art featured on the cover was one of the quartet of issues that earned CAN Journal the 2018-2019 Ohio’s Best Magazine honor.)

		January 11:2019 The Magician will be exhibited at Stella’s Art’s in Mentor Ohio as part of their juried Black & White Show. The exhibition will open on Friday, January 11, 2019 at Historic Matchworks Building 8500 Station Street Mentor, Ohio 44060

		January 10:2019 Bright Shout #3 will be exhibited online as part of Manhattan Arts International’s The Healing Power of Art 2019 juried exhibit. I’m honored be in this show featuring a global roster of artists. The exhibition opens on Thursday, January 10, 2019.

		December 28:2018 Family System I. will be exhibited at the 15th FRESH Art Juried Exhibition 2019 at Summit Artspace, Akron, Ohio. FRESH seeks to showcase innovative art practices. The exhibition will open on Friday, January 11, 2019 with a reception from 5 – 8 pm, and will run through February 16, 2019. Gallery hours are Thursdays and Fridays from 12 until 7 pm and Saturdays from 12 until 5 pm. The show will be open for extended hours during Artwalk, Saturday, February 2, 2019 from 12-9 pm.

		December 18:2018 Colortone Staging and Rentals provided a demonstration of their 8k 20×12′ LED video wall. Such technology figures into my 2019 plan to include a lot more backlit experiences. Colortone Staging and Rentals

		September 21:2018 To celebrate International Peace Day, Manhattan International Arts (NYC) and Healing Power of Art.org put together a juried online exhibition of fifty artists from around the world. The Artists For World Peace Exhibition includes my artwork from 2017, Four Noble Truths In a Nutshell.

		July 26: 2018 Everyday Ascent #1 (2017,) a mixed process photograph, has been juried into My Treasures Are Within: 12th Annual Ohio Online Visual Artist Registry (OOVAR) Juried Exhibition–to be held at the Columbus Metropolitan Main Library, 96 South Grant Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43215 from November 29 through January 12, 2019. This honor has been accorded to my artwork for the third year in a row by various jurors for this statewide show.

		July 26: 2018 The group show *Here and Now: Four Mindful Art Practices* includes artworks by Lainard Bush, Eva Volf, Kathy Skerritt, and myself. The exhibit runs from July 26-August 18, the gallery at The Beachwood Community Center. I’m honored to be showing at one of the regions crispest galleries. Thank you Susan Merdler, gallery director. (photo:Knysna Blue Welcome)

		July 20: 2018 The Background of a Habit (2015) has been provided to The Church of Art, an element of the 2018 edition of Rooms to Let, July 28/29, Slavic Village, Cleveland.

		July 13: 2018 In response to an open call, I have provided an artwork not seen before now in Cleveland, Wired Mandala, to the WE CAN Exhibit at The Doubting Thomas, in Tremont, Cleveland, Ohio.

		March 2: 2018 Cleveland artist Kathy Skerritt hosted a pop-up exhibit of my artwork in her studio in the Waterloo Arts District Cleveland. This led to lots of rewarding interactions. Twenty artworks were installed in one of her studio’s room and in the hallway behind the prominent gallery, Article. I was delighted to showcase large artworks from 2015 and mandalas from 2017, giving people a chance to see pieces up close for the first time.

		January 1: 2018 Blue Baraka (2017)) was selected to appear in Academy Graphic Communications 2018 desk calendar. It is showcased on the facing page to week eleven.

		November 15: 2017 The Experiential Learning Community of Practice (IEL) has accepted my proposal for a presentation at next year’s annual conference. Creative Choices, Intuitive Realizations- An Interactive Exploration and Inquiry is the title and it will be presented June 23, 2018. I last presented in 2016. (I’m also an independent researcher in the field of experiential and transformative learning in adult development.)

		October 9: 2017 This semester at DePaul University, professor Lin Bathsheva Kahn asked her dance students to create dances inspired by their experience with my art work, Sonny Sharrock In Heaven.

		August 23: 2017 Wired Mandala, a photographic mixed process piece printed to 34″ laser cut aluminum circle, has been juried and accepted into the Ohio Arts Council’s annual OOVAR Exhibit. The exhibit–what I call the ‘state show’–runs from November 24 to January 6, 2018 at the main library, Columbus Public Library, in the Carnegie Building.

		August 14: 2017 At the invitation of gallerist/curator Mary Urbas, I have submitted two art works to be exhibited at the annual Skull & Skeleton Show at The Gallery at Lakeland, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio. The show runs September 21-October 26, 2017.

		June 2: 2017 A photographic self-portrait guest conducted by Roger Talbott, has been included in Liz Maugan’s collective piece, The Artists’ Trust. This artwork is featured in MOCA Cleveland‘s regional group exhibit, Constant As the Sun. The Artist’s Trust brings together around four hundred 8 1/2 x 11 self-portraits of local working artists. The open call for contributions apparently has ended up as one of the largest assemblies of portraits of a creative community installed in one place.

		May 11: 2017 Explosive Ideas and Namita’s Twenty-Twins were both accepted into The 8th Annual May Show at Lakeland Juried Art Exhibition at The Gallery at Lakeland. (The gallery is on the campus of Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio.) The exhibit runs from May 18-July 14. Dr. Louis A. Zona, Executive Director/Chief Curator at the museum of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown is this year’s juror.

		May 1: 2017 Angelic Blues (2015) has been accepted into the 2017 Waterloo Arts Juried Exhibition that takes place from June 2 to July 21, 2017 in the Collingwood neighborhood of Cleveland. I submitted an 18×12 proof printed to acrylic because of the exhibit’s dimensional parameter. The one-of edition is 40×28″.

		April 10:2017 Oh Good Party, a private fine art concierge/advisory based in Toronto and Shanghai, invited me to submit artworks for the consideration of their members at the end of last year. An interview was conducted in March, and it can be read on their web site.

		March 1:2017 Art Valero, founder of emergART, invited me to submit a small portfolio of artworks to be evaluated for inclusion his curated virtual gallery. Check out the introductory video to get an idea of what his cutting edge concept of a curated virtual gallery is all about. (update: December 1, 2017 – my portfolio of artworks joins the roster of international artists of emergART.) Pictured is one of Mr. Valero’s favorites, Marcoz’s Ibozo Break.

		October 14 :2016 Photographs Kabuki Warrior (2014) and Welcome to the Mardi Gras (proof-2014) have been installed in the 22nd Annual Peoples’ Art Show at the Galleries at Cleveland State University. The exhibit opens October 28. Pictured is Kabuki Warrior.

		October 6:2016 Confucian Feminine Conduction #1 has been selected to be exhibited at the 10th Annual Ohio Online Visual Artist Registry Juried Exhibition. It will be held at the Columbus Metropolitan Main Library November 3, 2016 through January 7, 2017 at the main library downtown in Columbus, Ohio.

		May 6:2016 Gallerists Deba Gray and Serena Harrigan, owners of Gray’s Auctioneers, have installed and will present for the next year an exhibit of fifteen pieces in their sun-filled main gallery. Ms. Gray discovered my artwork in 2014.