Since its earliest years, the Contemporary Arts Center (called the Modern Art Society from 1939-1953) has made a concentrated effort to exhibit work from regional collections. Open House: Cincinnati Collectscontinues that tradition. The objects in these galleries simultaneously illustrate some of the defining themes in post-war and contemporary art and celebrate the patronage and foresight of collectors from the Greater Cincinnati area. Representing nearly 50 collections and over 200 artists, this exhibition still only scratches the surface of Cincinnati collections and the tremendous commitment in this region to the advancement of contemporary culture. Collecting art is a crucial component in building a city’s cultural legacy. While the CAC does not maintain a permanent collection, this institution has long supported efforts to retain some of the significant works of art brought here. In fact, a majority of the artists in Open House have previously exhibited in Cincinnati. The collections also reflect the artistic production of many artists who have lived and worked in the Cincinnati area.

Filling two floors of the CAC, the exhibition is organized in a loose chronology. On the 5th floor visitors will find objects from mid-century through the 1970s and a separate gallery examining the recent history of photography. A resource room on the 5th floor offers videotaped interviews with collectors represented inOpen House, books and additional materials on the exhibiting artists, a hands-on art making activity for all ages, and tour brochures that reveal additional thematic strands in the exhibition.

Featuring works created since 1980, the 4th floor provides visitors with an immersive introduction to the complexity of collecting contemporary art over the past 30 years. The emphasis for visitors is on the nature of collecting itself rather than the art historical: the sensibilities of collectors who are purchasing art with which to live rather than a museum filling historical gaps or pursuing acquisition agendas. Also on the 4th floor, an intimate gallery space focuses on works on paper and artist-related ephemera, and another has been adapted into a theater environment screening the work of five contemporary video artists.

This exhibition is the result of an intimate collaboration between the CAC and the generous art collectors and patrons of the greater Cincinnati area. Open House: Cincinnati Collects temporarily transforms the CAC into an extension of their homes and fosters rich and unexpected dialogues between individual works of art across several generations.

Open House: Cincinnati Collects offers a glimpse into the most significant and surprising private collections in Greater Cincinnati. From paintings and drawings to glass, video, and photography, the diverse works in this exhibition reflect a wide range of collecting styles and sensibilities.

The Contemporary Arts Center's curatorial team scoured the Cincinnati area to assemble a vast, diverse grouping of late 20th century and contemporary art objects. What emerged was an extensive and powerful checklist of items ranging from odd to ostentatious, familiar to surprising. Artists included represent all major periods of the past several decades in contemporary art. This exhibition not only showcases eclectic collections of the area but also the art of collecting. Accompanying programs and conversations illuminate collectors' styles and processes, opening the collecting experience to all.

Artists

Banksy, BANK, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Mieko Shiomi, Gilbert & George, Christo, Hudson, TODT, House O' Chicks, Marina Abramović, Vito Acconci, Bob Adelman, Doug Aitken, Josef Albers, Terry Allen, Farron Allen, Schemer Alliance, Carl Andre, Janine Antoni, Polly Apfelbaum, John Baldessari, Chinatsu Ban, Romare Bearden, George Becht, John M. Bennett, Harry Bertoia, Max Bill, Ross Bleckner, Jay Bolotin, Mark Borthwick, Olaf Breuning, Cecily Brown, Gunter Brus, Wynn Bullock, Scott Burton, Luca Buvoli, Alexander Calder, Harry Callahan, Beth Campbell, Paul Caponigro, Maurizio Cattelan, Patty Chang, John Chick, Courttney Cooper, Ron Cooper, Tarrence Corbin, Mário Cravo, Peggy Crawford, Patricia Cronin, Russell Crotty, Simon Cutts, Sean Dack, Bill Davis, Willem de Kooning, Thomas Demand, Mark di Suvero, Thornton Dial, Jim Dine, Trisha Donnelly, David Driskell, Moira Dryer, Marcel Duchamp, Fred Ellenberger, Franz Erhard Walther, Max Ernst, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Robert Filliou, Mark Fox, Sam Francis, Ken Friedman, Ellen Gallagher, Kendall Geers, Susan Gilbert, Sam Gilliam, Jack Goldstein, Adolph Gottlieb, George Grosz, Dimitri Hadzi, Étienne Hajdú, Richard Hamilton, Jane Hammond, David Hammons, Keith Haring, Goeffrey Hendricks, Laura Herman, Jenny Holzer, Andrew Hunt, Chris Johanson, Clarence John Laughlin, Ray Johnson, Brian Joiner, Michael Jones, Hui Ka Kwong, Eduardo Kac, Masatoyo Kishi, Robert Knipschild, Milan Knizak, Jiri Kolar, Paul Lamantia, Louise Lawler, Mark Leckey, Shelby Lee Adams, Fernand Léger, Cary Leibowiz (Candy Ass), James Leong, Norman Lewis, Kristin Lewis (Simulcast), Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Nancy Linn, Donald Lipski, Al Loving, George Maciunas, C.V. Mansoor, Robert Mapplethorpe, Fabian Marcaccio, Joseph Marioni, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Agnes Martin, Adam McEwan, Duane Michals, Robert Motherwell, Matt Mullican, Takashi Murakami, Elizabeth Murray, Peter Nagy, Bruce Nauman, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Kenneth Noland, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Julian Opie, Nam June Paik, Roxy Paine, B.F. Perkins, Daniel Pflumm, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Serge Poliakoff, Leon Polk-Smith, Charles Pollock, Bern Porter, Pike Powers, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Alan Rath, Robert Rauschenberg, Irene Rice Pereira, Gerhard Richter, James Riddle, Aminah Robinson, Dorothea Rockburne, Kay Rosen, James Rosenquist, John Russell, Robert Ryman, Alan Sauer, Christian Schumann, Shazia Sikander, Aaron Siskind, Oren Slor, Kiki Smith, Robert Smithson, Alan Sonfist, Julian Stanczak, Saul Steinberg, Ralph Steiner, Jessica Stockholder, Ezra Stoller, Karl Struss, Elaine Sturtevant, Edmund Teske, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Arthur Tress, Victor Vasarely, Leo Villareal, Jaques Villon, Yoshimasa Wada, John Walker, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, Bob Watts, Tom Wesselmann, Edward Weston, Hannah Wilke, Bernard Williams, Robert Wilson, B Wurtz