FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stacey Czar, Public Relations Director
Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
Tel: 513 345 8415 E-mail: pr@CACmail.org

Q&A WITH DANIEL LIBESKIND ON THE CAC’S EXHIBITION

Q: What is your impression of the Ascent’s impact on Cincinnati and its skyline?
This building, while modern in design, is based on shapes that reflect the history, traditions and landscape of Greater Cincinnati, yet calls to mind the possibilities that lie ahead. The Ascent is less a structure than a living, breathing piece of art that stirs the soul and lifts the spirit.

Q: How would you describe your design approach as it relates to the gallery in the Contemporary Arts Center’s exhibition?
A: We created a space in counterpoint to the box–like exhibition space. The structures break out of the box and create sculptural perspectives in which image and text are in play.

Q: As you proposed the exhibition, how did you intend the structures to be viewed?
Each enclosure is a fragment viewed in a 360 degree panorama. The red wall defines each exhibit (enclosure). The silver structures echo architectural materials such as zinc, titanium, steel and even glass. This installation is like a microcosm of a city in which public spaces move in new directions and create new scales of public space in relation to the individual.

Q: How does Studio Daniel Libeskind’s design for the exhibition reinforce the artistry of architecture.
The three structures are themselves like 3-dimensional banners affirming the sculptural nature of architecture. These installations are part of a language of architecture which is crystal clear, optimistic, and free.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stacey Czar, Public Relations Director
Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
Tel: 513 345 8415 E-mail: pr@CACmail.org

DANIEL LIBESKIND
Contemporary Arts Center exhibition moves architectural designs beyond constructive forms to the realm of creative acts as illustrated by Daniel Libeskind, architect of The Ascent at Roebling’s Bridge in Covington, Kentucky.

February 23 – May 4, 2008

CINCINNATI—The intuition, dynamism and creative ingenuity of visionary architect Daniel Libeskind is the subject of the Contemporary Arts Center exhibition Daniel Libeskind, curated by Cynthia Goodman. The exhibition features designs, plans and models from four of Libeskind’s North American architectural projects: Denver Art Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and The Ascent in Covington. The presentation is designed to reflect Libeskind’s vision and aesthetic style. An opening reception celebrates the exhibition Friday, February 22 at 7 pm.

“The CAC understands the artistry in architectural design and the dissolving of barriers between art and architecture,” says Raphaela Platow, CAC’s Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator. “As an institution, we are very aware of our surroundings and our responsibility to discuss urban design and architecture as important issues to Cincinnati, from an intellectual, creative point of view.”

An architect of great fame and vision, Libeskind was born in Poland 1946, the son of Holocaust survivors. He was an extraordinarily talented pianist and won the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship to study piano in the US. He gave up piano performance to study architecture, which he believed allowed him both the artistic introspection of playing piano at home, but also the attention of an audience that comes with performing. “In architecture, these two things coincide – home and concert stage,” Libeskind said in a 2002 interview with the Guardian.

“I have my own aesthetic. I know what I am doing. I still struggle to convince people, of course. But that is because people care about architecture,” he said in the Guardian interview referenced above. Libeskind’s aesthetic, echoed in his design philosophy, is deeply concerned with the integrating the design with the sites upon which his buildings are constructed. To mirror Libeskind’s philosophy of congruity, the exhibition’s presentation, graphic elements and pedestal design relate to the works on view.

For much of his career he was considered an academic or theoretical architect, one of the world’s most celebrated in his field before he even built a single building. His first building, The Jewish Museum in Berlin was completed in 1999, and from then, Libeskind projects began to emerge all over the world.

“Architecture is about construction, it’s about something that’s made by people. That’s pretty amazing,” he says in the Guardian interview.

As the CAC enters its fifth year in the Zaha Hadid-designed Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art and as homeowners begin to move into the Ascent, Libeskind’s newly completed condominium project in Covington, the CAC is furthering the dialogue on structural design in art.

“This is the perfect moment to re-engage in the discussion about downtown development, urban development, and our role as forward artistic thinkers,” says Raphaela Platow.

In addition to the exhibition, the CAC is planning a focus on architecture and urban design in the spring. The 2008 Gala features sculptural furniture items designed by 10 of the world’s most renowned architects, including Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne and Bernard Tschumi. These objects’ fabrication will be produced by Formica Corporation, who is sponsoring the gala.
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Daniel Libeskind
February 23—May 11, 2008
2nd Floor—Lower: Approved Copy
Curated by Cynthia Goodman and Studio Daniel Libeskind

Exhibition Sponsor: Dr. Stanley & Mickey Kaplan Foundation
Supporting Sponsors: GBBN Architects
Corporex Companies, Inc.
Lynne Meyers Gordon, M.F.A.
FRCH Design Worldwide

Daniel Libeskind is the first exhibition to showcase four of this acclaimed architect’s recent and major North American building projects. From the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and the Royal Ontario Museum to the Denver Art Museum and the Ascent in Covington, this exhibition demonstrates Daniel Libeskind’s distinct aesthetic process through photographs, conceptual drawings, models and three-dimensional structures, referred to in the exhibition as enclosures. The exhibition design affords the viewer the remarkable opportunity to physically experience Libeskind’s architecture by stepping inside each enclosure modeled after recently built architectural projects. According to the architect, the surfaces of the enclosures recall architectural materials such as zinc, titanium, steel and glass. These enclosures enable visitors to examine an architectural “fragment viewed in a 360 degree panorama.” Quotes by Libeskind offering insight into his creative process line the enclosures, combining theoretical ideas with physical manifestations of the architect’s vision. Regarding the exhibition design, Libeskind says, "We created a space in counterpoint to the exhibition space. The structures break out of the box and create sculptural perspectives in which image and text are in play."

According to Libeskind, the exhibition, specifically designed for the Lower Second floor Gallery of the Contemporary Arts Center, is “part of a language of architecture that is crystal clear, optimistic and free.” This language unites all of Libeskind’s projects, from residential structures to public institutions. Daniel Libeskind’s exhibition coincides with the opening of the Ascent, the architect’s first North American high-rise building.
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Events celebrating Daniel Libeskind

Friday, February 22 • 6 pm • Level 2
Conversation with the Artist: Architect Daniel Libeskind
Collector’s Connection Members and above.
Contact Tammy Gambrel 513 345 8438 tgambrel@cacmail.org to RSVP.
OPENING MEMBERS

Friday, February 22 • 7 pm
Opening Celebration of Winter Season
Celebrate the opening of Daniel Libeskind, Space is the Place and LeWitt X 2: Sol LeWitt: Structure and Line.
Free and open to the public.
OPENING

Thursday, March 20 • 5:30 pm Level 2
Member Exclusive: Blurring Lines between Music and Architecture
Listen to music that inspired Daniel Libeskind. [Listen to An Architect’s Morning Music on Weekend America: http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/01/18/listeningin/]
Contact Andrea Blake 513 345 8434 ablake@cacmail.org to RSVP.
MEMBERS

Saturday, March 29 • 2 pm • Level 2
Gallery Talk: Cynthia Goodman and Jerzy Rozenberg, Daniel Libeskind
Exhibition Curator Cynthia Goodman and Jerzy Rozenberg, Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Kentucky and long-time colleague of Libeskind, lead a tour and discussion of Daniel Libeskind.
Members: Free. Nonmembers: CAC admission.
PUBLIC PROGRAM

Saturday, April 5 • 11:30 am • The Ascent
Circle Donor Members’ Brunch at The Ascent
Tour Libeskind’s The Ascent with panelists of Perspectives: The Architectural Landscape.
Contact Tammy Gambrel 513 345 8438 tgambrel@cacmail.org for details.
MEMBERS

Saturday, April 5 • 2 pm • Performance Space
Perspectives: The Architectural Landscape of Cincinnati: A Panel Discussion on Architecture, Design and Urban Planning
Moderated by Michaele Pride, Chair of the University of Cincinnati School of Architecture and Interior Design, this panel discussion explores the changing face of the built environment of Cincinnati. Panelists TBA.
Members: Free. Nonmembers: CAC admission.
PUBLIC PROGRAM