For the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial: backstories, the Art Academy is presenting six gallery exhibitions that are open to the public to view and enjoy. One of those exhibitions, Student Reflections, features photography from 11 of our own B.F.A. students. The photos on view were selected from a juried open call by a panel of Art Academy faculty members. Collectively, they reflect the varied perspectives of college art students in the contemporary age.
Students Featured: Kamaire Jones, Joey McElroy, Chloe Meadows, Eva Morris, Ace Quan, Mea Richards, Mar Silvers, Isabella Slone, Aminata Thiam, Harper Thomson, Graziana Wojtylak
Acclaimed photographer and multidisciplinary artist Vikesh Kapoor served as a guest judge for Student Reflections, awarding first, second, and third place to exceptional entries. Kapoor is a featured artist in another exhibition for this year’s Biennial, Deeply Rooted, which is on view at the Art Academy in the Pearlman Gallery.
Below, a portion of the students featured provide their insights about being selected for the group exhibition and being part of the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial.
What is your selected work about? What is the story you’re telling, or the concept you’re conveying?
Ace Quan: My work is from Riot Fest 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. It’s an outdoor punk-rock music festival, and it was my first time in that kind of environment. I remember my high school film photography teacher heard I was going, gave me a point-and-shoot camera and my first roll of film, and told me to take pictures. I selected these from that roll because they all have a specific timeless and nostalgic feeling to me, even if they were taken post-quarantine. These photos are representative of a scene not everyone knows about, but they’ve seen before. Maybe not in person, and maybe they think that scene is dead, but it’s there and thriving.
Isabella Slone: My work is about the deep connection between humans and nature—in this particular photo my boyfriend’s bond with his rescue puppies. After his stepdad found the mom while hunting, he brought her home and kept her; eight months later she gave birth to 11 puppies. They rehomed them all but kept the mom, Sally, and her daughter, Betty. I wanted to show the importance of human affection towards other animals.
Aminata Thiam: This selected piece tells a story of the true nature and details of the world many tend not to see. We move so fast in our everyday lives that we never really look at the smallest details in anything, especially while we drive long distances or state to state. This selected piece captures a pretty, small, white house in the countryside by itself on an unpaved driveway. But slowing down, certain components are unmasked to be viewed if you stop for a second. The faint white trails in the sky, soft cotton ball clouds, and the aggressive winding trees that coexist with the pretty, small, white house, all work together to take a beautiful picture. Additionally, to bring out these characteristics a red filter was held to help guide the viewer’s eye.
As an art student, what is it like to have your work featured in an exhibition that’s part of the FotoFocus Biennial?
Ace Quan: I do confess, I am not a photographer, so it really surprised me that I was featured. I picked up film photography in high school as a hobby, but my art home is in digital illustrations. It’s so freeing knowing that the school I’m going to is so open to all kinds of artists being experimental and trying different mediums and art forms and encouraging them to put themselves out there with exhibitions like this.
Isabella Slone: I was completely shocked when I found out my work was accepted! This is my first non-class show, so I’m really excited and I feel very honored to be a part of FotoFocus!
Aminata Thiam: Honestly, it’s amazing to be a part of this opportunity. When I first heard about this exhibition, I was ecstatic to the point of telling some of my photography friends to be a part of it. In the following weeks after the initial email came out, the solar eclipse was happening. On that day, me and some friends drove up to Yellow Springs to see the eclipse better. I took my filters and rented a camera to take some photos of the beauty in the sky, and after having the best day taking photos, I submitted what I felt was good, and I got in. I’m so happy I got the opportunity to re-live one of the best days of my life and show my work in the process.
As a participating venue of the 2024 Biennial, the Art Academy is presenting six gallery exhibitions this year. These include:
- Deeply Rooted in Pearlman Gallery, on view until Oct. 25
- Contested Ground in McClure Gallery, on view until Oct. 25
- Student Reflections in Chidlaw Gallery, on view until Oct. 25
- Digressions in SITE1212, on view until Nov. 1
- Another First Impression in SITE1212, on view until Nov. 1
- Humphrey Gets His Flowers in SITE1212, on view until Nov. 1
Gallery Info
Our galleries are free and open to the public, and no registration is needed. Check-in at the security desk is required. View all upcoming exhibitions for the rest of the season.
Gallery Hours:
Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location:
Art Academy of Cincinnati College of Art & Design
1212 Jackson St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Traveling via the Connector streetcar? We’re right around the corner from station 7 in Over-the-Rhine!
