FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

High-resolution images available at http://www.contemporaryartscenter.org/news/fall07images or by request.

Contact:
Stacey Czar, Public Relations Director
Contemporary Arts Center
Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
44 East Sixth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Tel: 513.345.8415 E-mail: pr@CACmail.org

Friday, August 3 • 7 - 11 pm • FREE
Opening Night for Open House: Cincinnati Collects and Julian Stanczak
Celebrate the opening of Open House: Cincinnati Collects and Julian Stanczak. Welcome by Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator Raphaela Platow @ 8:45 pm.

CINCINNATI-The Contemporary Arts Center's Fall Season looks to Cincinnati for inspiration in two exhibitions with local resonance. Julian Stanczak and Open House: Cincinnati Collects open Friday, August 3 at 7 pm. At 8:45 pm, Raphaela Platow, the new Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator, will address the audience. DJ Tim Henderson spins beats at this FREE opening party.

Open House: Cincinnati Collects

August 3 - October 14, 2007 • Fourth and Fifth Floor Galleries • Organized by the CAC

Exhibition Sponsor: Dr. Stanley & Mickey Kaplan Foundation

Installation Sponsor: Neyer Holdings Corporation

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 20^th 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 represented include: Marina Abramovic, Shelby Lee Adams, Doug Aitken, Josef Albers, Carl Andre, Polly Apfelbaum, Chinatsu Ban, Romare Bearden, Harry Bertoia, Scott Burton, Alexander Calder, Beth Campbell, Courtney Cox, Patricia Cronin, Russell Crotty, Willem de Kooning, Thorton Dial, Jim Dine, Max Ernst, Sam Francis, Ellen Gallagher, Sam Gilliam, Jack Goldstein, Adolph Gottlieb, George Grosz, Richard Hamilton, Jane Hammond, David Hammons, Keith Haring, Chris Johanson, Robert Knipschild, Fernand Leger, Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Donald Lipski, Al Loving, Robert Mapplethorpe, Fabian Marcaccio, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Adam McEwen, Duane Michaels, Robert Motherwell, Takashi Murakami, Bruce Nauman, Louise Nevelson, Kenneth Noland, Claes Oldenberg, Julian Opie, Nam June Paik, Leon Polk-Smith, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Aminah Robinson, Dorothea Rockburn, James Rosenquist, Robert Ryman, Shazia Sikander, Aaron Siskind, Oren Slor, Kiki Smith, Robert Smithson, Saul Steinberg, Jessica Stockholder, Victor Vasarely, Jacques Villon, John Walker, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Edward Weston, Robert Wilson and many others.

Julian Stanczak

August 3, 2007 - February 11, 2008 • Lower Second Floor Gallery • Curated by Cynthia Goodman

Installation Sponsor: Bartlett & Co.

Artist Sponsors: Oakley & Eva Farris

LPK

Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati

The Contemporary Arts Center exhibits the work of this internationally significant artist to coincide with the unveiling of his design for Fifth Third Bank's Sixth Street Façade facing the CAC. In addition to the models and preparatory drawings, a collection of Julian Stanczak's work from throughout his career provide a context for his newest monumental project.

Polish-born Stanczak trained under Josef Albers and Conrad Marca-Relli at Yale University's School of Art and Architecture. He brought this background to the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he taught from 1957-1964.

Stanczak's work is characterized by scientific precision and the illusion of pulsating motion. Using repeated line patterns, his work studies the optical behavior of colors in close proximity to each other. His work earned him the moniker "Father of Op Art." Also known as optical art, the term "Op Art" describes art featuring optical illusions.

On lines, Stanczak writes: "I found line - repeated line with its potent timing - paralleling many aspects of daily life. From the point of action, line behavior is distinct from color; line activates the surface of the canvas more than a single flat color. This activation of a surface through various oppositions of values and wavelengths of line in different situations, offers not a stable but an endlessly active surface, which is controlled by the range of color-fusion and tempo."

The effect is not just visual, but also visceral, as the repetitious patterns appear to emerge and change while remaining clearly static. Stanczak first exhibited at the CAC in 1961, and has since exhibited all over Ohio and the world.

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Events

Friday, August 3 • 7 - 11 pm • FREE
Opening Night for Open House: Cincinnati Collects and Julian Stanczak
Celebrate the opening of Open House: Cincinnati Collects and Julian Stanczak, with remarks by new Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator Raphaela Platow.
OPENING

Saturday, August 4 • 2 pm • Performance Space • FREE with Museum Admission
Conversation with the Artist: Julian Stanczak
Join acclaimed artist Julian Stanczak as he discusses his career.
EDUCATIONAL SPECIAL EVENT

Sunday, August 26 • 1 - 4 pm • UnMuseum® • FREE with Museum Admission
Family Sunday: Optical Art
Arts educator and artist Ryan Leary will present projects and ideas based around the Julian Stanczak exhibition. Ryan will help the children explore how colors and lines can make visual illusions.
KIDS & FAMILY

Monday, August 27 • 6:30 - 8 pm • Performance Space • FREE
Collect Yourself: A Cincinnati Collectors Open-Mike Event
What else do Cincinnatians accumulate in their homes? Now you can share what you have at this open mike collectors event! Bring a maximum of three small, easily-transportable objects and you will have three minutes on stage to describe them. The CAC is not responsible for any damage or loss, so choose wisely or bring a large photograph in their place.
SPECIAL EVENT

Thursday, September 20 • 6:30 - 8 pm • Performance Space • FREE
Conversations with Collectors
Moderated by Alice & Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator Raphaela Platow, this panel brings together Cincinnati collectors included in Open House for a lively discussion of how their collections started and how they've changed over time.
SPECIAL EVENT

Private Collecting: An Extended Panel Conversation
Saturday, October 6, 2007 • 2 - 5 pm • Performance Space • FREE with Museum admission
Moderated by Raphaela Platow, the panel explores the art of building a private collection with collectors and gallerists gathered from both coasts and Cincinnati.
EDUCATIONAL SPECIAL EVENT

Monday, October 8 • 6:30 pm • CAC Board Room • FREE
Docent Open House
Enjoy refreshments, tour Open House: Cincinnati Collects and learn about the CAC Docent Program.
VOLUNTEER

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Images

Download high-resolution images at http://www.contemporaryartscenter.org/news/fall07images.

Julian Stanczak Images

Julian Stanczak,Constellation in Green, 2004, acrylic on canvas, collection of the artist, Cleveland, OH.

Open House: Cincinnati Collects Images

Chris Johanson, Untitled, 2002, oil on panel, private collection. Foreground: Barry McGee, Untitled, 1997, mixed media on spray cans, private collection.

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About the Contemporary Arts Center
Founded in November 1939 as the Modern Art Society by three visionary women in Cincinnati, Contemporary Arts Center was one of the first institutions in the U.S. dedicated to exhibiting the art of our time. In May 2003, the Center relocated to its first free-standing home, the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, designed by Zaha Hadid. Throughout its distinguished history, the Center has earned a reputation for stimulating thought and introducing new ideas by presenting the work of diverse artists from around the world, including hundreds of now-famous artists such as Laurie Anderson, Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, Nam June Paik, I.M. Pei, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Kara Walker and Andy Warhol. CAC focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media, presenting eight to 12 exhibitions and 20 to 40 performances annually.

Hours
Monday: 10 am-9 pm (5 pm-9 pm free admission)
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday - Friday: 10 am-6 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11 am-6 pm

Admission
Adults $7.50; Seniors (65+) $6.50; Students w/ID $5.50; Children (3-13) $4.50
Members and Children under 3 free. Annual memberships start at $45.

The CAC receives ongoing support from the Fine Arts Fund, Ohio Arts Council, City of Cincinnati and AllOver Media.

2006-2007 Fine Arts Fund Partners:

Procter & Gamble, GE Aircraft Engines, Fifth Third Bank, Macy's Inc./MCCS, Cinergy Corp., Convergys Corporation, U.S. Bank, The Kroger Company, Western & Southern Financial Group, American Financial Group and Related Entities, Cincinnati Bell, E.W. Scripps, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Cincinnati Financial Corp.

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