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Title Round Derek Hess Fishbone , 1994 Serigraph, ed. 100/200 Framed: 27 x 16 inches Estimated Value Range: $400 - $800 Starting Bid: $200 Bidding increments: $50 More: Derek Hess Born in Cleveland in 1964, Hess’ ascendance in the arts should probably come as little surprise. His father, Roy Hess, was a noteworthy designer, and chairman of the lauded industrial design department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. From a young age, Hess was correctly trained in classical art and design. Hess studied at that school, and at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, but he never landed in his father’s department, trying out illustration and graphic design before settling on a major in printmaking. It was that discipline, combined with his love of music, that led Hess to poster art fame. He had begun booking post-hardcore and underground rock concerts at the Euclid Tavern, a divey blues bar across the street from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and he drew his own fliers to promote his shows.

Thank you to our donors and supporters for making moCa's work possible. Patrons Patrons Thank you to our donors and supporters for making moCa's work possible. To explore patron giving opportunities, please contact: Morgan Jones, Senior Advancement Officer at 216.658.6934 or mjones@mocacleveland.org . INDIVIDUALS $50,000+ Margaret Cohen & Kevin Rahilly Becky Dunn Toby Devan Lewis± Kim & Steve Myers $49,999-$25,000 Doreen & Dick Cahoon Joanne Cohen & Morris Wheeler Grosvie & Charlie Cooley Harriet Goldberg Agnes Gund± $24,999-$10,000 Yuval Brisker Char & Chuck Fowler Nadya Haider Stewart Kohl David C. Lamb Roy Minoff Casey & Garrett Monda Nicholas & Erin Reif Marian & Boake Sells Stephen G. Sokany & Matthew Katz Winifred & James Stone Kelsey & Alex Wolf $9,999-$5,000 Larry & Sandy Armstrong Leslie DiNovi & Beatty McDonald Leslie & John Dunn Chann Fowler-Spellman & Ed Spellman Barbara Galvin Karen & Eric Hillenbrand Richard & Michelle Jeschelnig Mary Ann Katzenmeyer Tom & Tammy Kiely Holley & Rob Martens Dennis & Tammy Matecun Susan & Todd Petersen Steve & Laura Rice Jason M. Smith & Clare R. Taft Michelle Tomallo Harriet Warm Michael & Meredith Weil Peter Whitehouse $4,999-$2,500 Jonathan D. Adams Benjamin M. Adams & Carmela Guerrero Rick & Kathryn Blaszak Matt & Katie Churchill Judith Gerson J. Bennett Guess & James R. Therrien Jerry & Sheila Herschman Annie & Rick Hubbard Don & Lynda Insul Paul M. Katz & Lisa Arnson Gary Metzner & Scott Johnson Patricia & Charles Mintz Grafton & Effie Nunes Dr. & Mrs. Gil & Janet Padula Trac Papish Margo & Robert± Roth Charna Sherman Cindy Stull $2,499-$1,000 Laura Ruth & Fred Bidwell Scott Bogard & Sherry Kim Carla & Jonathan Kurtz Mary & Tim Boyle Kathryn Brahler Marcella Brown Joan Tomkins & William Busta Irene Burma Cosmo Danielly & Tisha Thomas Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Daroff Laura & Eric Greig Chas & Jen Grossman Gregory L. Hail & Matthew J. Culler Hope Hungerford Monty & Kathy Johnson D. Lorand Jackson Linda & Jack Lissauer Nancy Lykins Jon & Katie McCullough Claire & Sandy McMillan Marge & Dan Moore Katie & Ray Murphy Eric Myers Lauren Myers Dowling Ronald Neill & Ann Harlan Larry Oscar & Jeanne Shatten Sarah A. Ott-Hansen Robert & Robin Pelles Lenore Pershing & Jim Streff Jeffrey & Kyle Petras Frank H. Porter Alan M. Rauss & Marcie Bergman David Reimer & Raffaele Di Lallo John R. Sedor & Geri Presti Alec & Jessica Shankman Emilie Leuchtag Unkrich Michael H. Wojtanowski & Matthew L. Arnold Ellen & Dan Zelman Gifts-In-Kind Abattoir Gallery Andrew Thomas Design Broadbent Gallery Chann Fowler-Spellman & Ed Spellman Cleveland Clinic Foundation Commonwealth and Council Daniel Kelly Dana Oldfather Doreen & Dick Cahoon EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute Evelyn Burnett FOUNT Gala Porras-Kim Great Lakes Science Center Grosvie & Charlie Cooley J. KURTZ Architects Jackson Lewis P.C. Joanne Cohen & Morris Wheeler Joshua Curry – Oura Digital Media Judy Barie Kim & Steve Myers Margo Roth Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City) Marilyn and Larry Fields Megan Lykins Reich Michael Weil Nadya Haider Natasha Herbert Qian Li Richard & Michelle Jeschelnig Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Sarah Curry Sears think[box] SHAHEEN modern & contemporary art Stephen G. Sokany & Matthew Katz Tell A Friend Promotions, LLC Tony Ingrisano The Sunday Painter Tom & Tammy Kiely Yuval Brisker Zac Gorell INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORTERS $100,000+ Dealer Tire The George Gund Foundation $99,999-$50,000 Anonymous The Cleveland Foundation The Sunday Painter $49,999-$25,000 John P. Murphy Foundation PNC The Callahan Foundation The Leonard Krieger Fund of the Cleveland Foundation The Nord Family Foundation $24,999-$10,000 Anonymous Connor Foundation David and Inez Myers Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation Kulas Foundation The Robert H. Reakirt Foundation $9,999-$5,000 Anonymous Bank of America Case Western Reserve University Cornerstone Family Office, LLC CRESCO Playhouse Square Management Cuyahoga Community College Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP McDonald Hopkins Parker Hannifin RPM International Inc. Sequoia Financial Group The Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation The Cleveland Museum of Art The Covia Foundation The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation Thompson Hine LLP $4,999-$1,000 Anonymous Bacardi Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority Giant Eagle Foundation Kristine Bryan Charitable Fund NACCO Industries RDM Foundation Robert & Robin Pelles Family Fund Sears-Swetland Family Foundation GOVERNMENT The residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Ohio Arts Council, The State Arts Agency ±deceased Donate Membership Annual Fund Institutional Giving Patrons

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Thu. November 13, 2025 moCa NOW: Strut & Bristle 6-9PM $150/individual $250/couple

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more 12-2:30PM Sat. August 16, 2025 Crafting Kindness SIGN UP at moCa Cleveland Free to all Crafting Kindness is a community art-making experience at moCa Cleveland, created in collaboration with Ronald McDonald House Northeast Ohio. All ages are invited to reflect, connect, and give through art-making. This activation is inspired by "Happy" Holidays , an exhibition by artist Erykah Townsend, currently at moCa. The exhibition invites visitors to think critically about themes of celebration, consumerism, and joy through a personal and cultural lens. During Crafting Kindness, guests will: Explore the “Happy” Holidays exhibition located on moCa’s second floor. Create a heartfelt card for a child staying at Ronald McDonald House Northeast Ohio, offering words of encouragement, hope, and cheer. Make a second card to hand-deliver to someone special in your life — a loved one, friend, or community member who deserves a reminder that they matter. All supplies are provided. Just bring your heart, your imagination, and your desire to make someone’s day a little brighter. Presented in partnership w/

Title Round Derek Hess Pop Defect, Alcohol Funnycar... , 1994 Serigraph, ed. 68/120 Framed: 27 x 20 inches Estimated Value Range: $400 - $800 Starting Bid: $200 Bidding increments: $50 Gift of Margo Roth. More: Derek Hess Born in Cleveland in 1964, Hess’ ascendance in the arts should probably come as little surprise. His father, Roy Hess, was a noteworthy designer, and chairman of the lauded industrial design department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. From a young age, Hess was correctly trained in classical art and design. Hess studied at that school, and at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, but he never landed in his father’s department, trying out illustration and graphic design before settling on a major in printmaking. It was that discipline, combined with his love of music, that led Hess to poster art fame. He had begun booking post-hardcore and underground rock concerts at the Euclid Tavern, a divey blues bar across the street from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and he drew his own fliers to promote his shows.

News + Read more at NewCity Art Monday, February 3, 2025 by Alex Vlasov Before entering art school, all my art education came from going to the Met on my days off. I went there by train and read Erich Maria Remarque in the window seat. There were many reasons for my trips, such as a dollar entry fee or air-conditioning. But most of all, it was my fascination with Abstract Expressionism. I could feel, in those fields of color created by Mark Rothko, something indescribable. I am telling you all this because my pilgrimages to the Met are relevant to the exhibition “Bootstrap Paradox” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. In his first museum show in the United States, Harminder Judge offers portals full of spiritual quests that are fundamentally ineffable. (Read the full article at NewCity Art ) Previous Next

Exhibitions are FREE FOR ALL HOURS moCa is open Thursdays-Sundays 11AM-5PM Please check back for updates on holiday hours and building or gallery closures. Visit Hours & Admission Getting Here Engagement Guides Talks & Tours Accessibility GALLERY ADMISSION FREE for everyone living in Ohio a nd all youth 18 years old and under $10 for adults living outside of Ohio HOURS Thursdays & Fridays 1-8PM Saturdays & Sundays 11AM-5PM Please check back for updates on holiday hours and building or gallery closures. EVENTS Visit the Events page for more information about special event registration, times, and ticketing. Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Come together for celebrations of art and each other: at moCa or in our communities. Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more No events at the moment GARAGE/LOT PARKING The most current information about University Circle parking can be found at Uptown Cleveland and University Circle . Triangle Lot and Garage: This is a surface lot located off Mayfield Rd, next to the Triangle Apartment Building. The first two floors of the Triangle Parking Garage are available for visitors to MOCA and Uptown. Lot 54: Surface parking lot located off Ford Dr. Lot 22B: Entrance off Mayfield Rd. Located behind the University East building and row of restaurants. STREET PARKING 2-hour metered parking is available on the street along Euclid Ave and Ford Dr. BIKE PARKING Bike racks are available on Mayfield Rd next to moCa's building. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION The closest RTA stop is Little Italy-University Circle on the red line, and the Healthline Rapid Transit Buses run along Euclid Avenue between downtown Cleveland and University Circle. Already in University Circle? A free Circlelink shuttle bus serves the major destinations in University Circle. There are bike racks located outside of the Museum on Toby’s Plaza at Case Western Reserve University. Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Find out more WHO ARE moCa's ENGAGEMENT GUIDES? Engagement Guides are moCa's in-gallery team who help connect you with the art in a variety of ways. Ask questions, chat about art, get tips on how to get around the building, and more! Interested in becoming an Engagement Guide ? moCa Cleveland is committed to providing an accessible and welcoming experience for all visitors, both onsite and online. We are continually working to improve user experience for all and welcome feedback about moCa’s accessibility. To provide feedback or ask access-related questions, please contact us directly via: ▶ Email: access@mocacleveland.org ▶ Phone: 216.658.6929 ▶ In person: 11400 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106 Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM (hours may vary by time of year; please call ahead to ensure someone can meet with you when you arrive). Accessibility practices and visitor accommodations are outlined below: AT THE MUSEUM: For assistance during your visit, Engagement Guides are located throughout the museum to answer your questions and support your visit. Admission moCa Cleveland is free to all those who live in Ohio and all youth 18 years old and under. $10 for adults who live outside of Ohio. Accessible Entrance moCa’s main entrance, located off of Euclid Avenue, has a revolving door and two push-pull doors. One door is manual and one is automatic with a push button. Stairs & Elevator moCa is a four-story building, with galleries located on the ground, second, and fourth floors. The third floor has two classrooms with hands-on activities. All floors are accessible by elevator, by our Kohl Monumental Staircase, and by our interior staircase. Sensory advisory: The interior staircase is painted a vibrant yellow and often has sound work playing throughout. Seating Seating is available on all floors of the museum. Soft furniture is located on the ground, third, and fourth floors. Benches are located in all gallery spaces. Restrooms Accessible gendered bathrooms are on the ground level, located beside Gund Commons. There is a manual door to the bathroom vestibule that may be heavy. Please visit the nearby Welcome Center for support. Two single-stall, all-gender restrooms are located on the third floor. Water Fountains Water fountains are located near the ground floor bathrooms and on the third floor, across from the bathrooms. Personal water bottles may be used outside of gallery spaces. No food or drink is allowed in the galleries. Service Animals Service animals are welcome at the museum. Occasionally, exhibitions may have restrictions based on loan agreements and preventative conservation requirements. We will update this section accordingly. Wheelchairs All levels of the museum are wheelchair accessible, with the exception of the Kulas Overlook, which is a 5’ by 6’ platform that looks over a portion of the Mueller Family gallery on the fourth floor. The Kulas Overlook is only accessible by a staircase with 28 stairs. moCa has two manual and two transport wheelchairs available free-of-charge on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please ask for assistance at the Welcome Center. Motorized wheelchairs are allowed in the museum. Gallery Lighting Lighting in the galleries may be lower to protect sensitive artworks. Air Circulation Galleries and most rooms in the facility have a complete exchange of fresh air within a ten minute period. Our HVAC system includes MERV 14 filtration to arrest most particulates. Printed Material Large-print checklists and exhibition texts are available by request at the Welcome Center. Audio transcripts of exhibition essays and wall text are available on our website, at www.mocacleveland.org/AD . Sensory-Friendly Spaces At this time, there is not a designated sensory-friendly space within the museum. The ground floor Gund Commons and the classrooms on the third floor are usually quieter and less crowded than the galleries. There is natural or low light and comfortable seating in these spaces, where you can take a break. EXHIBITIONS This section will be updated seasonally to provide access information about current exhibitions. PUBLIC PROGRAMS & EVENTS Wheelchair-accessible seating is available for all programming at moCa. moCa uses live captioning during public lectures and discussions on a case-by-case basis. The museum also hosts ASL interpreters at public programs on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to request live captioning or ASL interpretation at an event, please email ngrave@mocacleveland.org at least two weeks in advance of the program. Open captioning is available for all Zoom-hosted programs. We currently do not have assistive listening devices available. Engagement Guides are stationed throughout the museum to answer questions and facilitate art experiences. For guided tour requests, please use the form at this link . WEB ACCESSIBILITY moCa is committed to facilitating an accessible, user-friendly web experience on our website, www.mocacleveland.org . moCa’s website is partially conformant with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (WC3) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA and the museum is working toward full conformance. We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of this website. Please write to Sr. Operations Officer, Tom Poole, at tpoole@mocacleveland.org with questions or suggestions. Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more TARGET TALKS Every Day at 2PM Engagement Guides lead deeper, drop-in discussions about the works in our galleries. SELF-GUIDED TOURS Explore moCa's architecture, highlights, and art elements through self-guided experiences. Each visit can reveal something new. Tour cards are available at the Welcome Center. SCHEDULE A GROUP VISIT Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more First name* Last name* Email* Phone* Group name How many people are in your group?* My group could best be described as: Elementary School Group Middle School Group High School Group Adults Other Tell us what you are interested in: Submit ▶ ART IN THE AREA Extend your art experience and visit other art exhibitions nearby: Cleveland Museum of Art 11150 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44106 DISTANCE: .5 miles from moCa (11 minutes by foot) Website Cleveland Institute of Art Reinberger Gallery 11610 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106 DISTANCE: . 3 miles from moCa (6 minutes by foot) Website The Sculpture Center 12210 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106 DISTANCE: .4 miles from moCa (9 minutes by foot) Website Artist Archives of the Western Reserve 1834 E 123rd St, Cleveland, OH 44106 DISTANCE: .5 miles from moCa (11 minutes by foot) Website

Patrons Kohl Atrium Send an Inquiry First name Last name Email* Phone Message* Submit Info Maximum capacity for a dinner: 200 Maximum capacity for a reception: 400

Date Title One sentence desciption + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more Add a Title Add a Title Title + more 12-2:30PM Sun. November 30, 2025 Sensory Sundays SIGN UP at moCa Cleveland Free to all The last Sunday of the month at moCa. Sensory Sundays are designed for neurodiverse visitors and their families. Each session includes a touch table, sound and texture experiences, and audio descriptions of select artworks. Hosted in the Rayburn Practice Lab, these mornings create a calm, engaging environment for multi-sensory learning. Supported by

moCa Saturday: 3D Mobile Making w/ MC2STEM Dec 7, 2024 FREE for all ages Join us at moCa for a unique design experience led by students and staff from Cleveland Metropolitan School District's MC2STEM High School as they guide you through a 3D printing workshop. Learn about 3D printing, create your own mobile masterpiece, and discover ways that design can make an impact. After your mobile is completed, you can choose to take it home or share it with a local nonprofit organization. All ages welcome. FAMILY FUN ON moCa Saturdays supported by PNC. About FREE for all ages Join us at moCa for a unique design experience led by students and staff from Cleveland Metropolitan School District's MC2STEM High School as they guide you through a 3D printing workshop. Learn about 3D printing, create your own mobile masterpiece, and discover ways that design can make an impact. After your mobile is completed, you can choose to take it home or share it with a local nonprofit organization. All ages welcome. FAMILY FUN ON moCa Saturdays supported by PNC. FREE for all ages Join us at moCa for a unique design experience led by students and staff from Cleveland Metropolitan School District's MC2STEM High School as they guide you through a 3D printing workshop. Learn about 3D printing, create your own mobile masterpiece, and discover ways that design can make an impact. After your mobile is completed, you can choose to take it home or share it with a local nonprofit organization. All ages welcome. FAMILY FUN ON moCa Saturdays supported by PNC.

Title Round Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya Suite Pour L'invisible by Ana Roxanne , 2023 Lil mariachi sombrero from Coyoacán, dragon skin silicone, car parts found passing a dry arroyo, rabbit pelt, a black t-shirt stained with avocado oil, sequins, shards of found plexiglass 10 x 18 x 5 inches Estimated Value Range: $3,000 - $5,000 Starting Bid: $1,500 Bidding increments: $250 moCa presented Ruben Ulises Rodríguez Montoya’s first solo US exhibition, part of our Toby’s Prize series, in 2024 to great reception. Writing about the show, ArtNews noted that he is among one of few challenging dominant tastes in Latinx art, noting that his sculptures are bound to stand out. moCa will publish his first major catalog in partnership with LA-based X Artists’ Books this year. Montoya (b. 1989, Parral, Chihuahua, MX) is a multidisciplinary artist and myth-maker whose works delve into border culture, abjection, mestizaje, and the intersection of human, animal, and land. Drawing from speculative fiction, cultural mythologies, and the labor of his family, Montoya’s practice hybridizes and creates parallel worlds that interrogate violence, environmental destruction, and the erasure of communities of color. His works manifest as fantastical beings, often shaped through the lens of magical realism and Nahualismo, and invite viewers to consider how adaptation and transformation can lead to healing in a post-apocalyptic future. More: Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya Artistic Practice Montoya’s sculptures and installations are created using silicone and reclaimed materials, often salvaged from deserts near his childhood home in New Mexico or the streets of Mexico City, where he currently resides. These materials come from discarded objects, providing a tactile link to a post-apocalyptic future where environmental destruction and violence have ravaged the land. Montoya views his sculptures as Nahuales —shape-shifting beings that oscillate between human and animal forms. These beings act as metaphors for the body, exploring how violence eradicates communities of color and how regeneration, decay, and transformation can provide new meanings for survival and protection. His work engages deeply with Mesoamerican cosmology and the idea of constant flux, healing, and the continuous cycles of life and death. Notable Works and Exhibitions In addition to moCa Cleveland, Montoya’s works have been showcased in solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as the Palm Springs Art Museum (CA), the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art (AZ), and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (VA). He has also exhibited at renowned galleries including Commonwealth and Council (Los Angeles, CA) and Sargent’s Daughters (New York, NY). His work has been reviewed in artnet news, Hyperallergic, The New York Times, and Contemporary Art Review LA. Montoya is represented by Sargent’s Daughters in New York. About the Artist Montoya graduated with an MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020. His work often addresses the boundaries between the human, the animal, and the environment, using hybridity and transformation as a metaphor for the racial and social struggles experienced by marginalized communities. His fantastical beings, inspired by themes of abjection and adaptation, highlight the dualities of beauty and horror and the ways in which violence is enacted on these communities, while also reflecting a possibility for regeneration and renewal. Selected Collections and Exhibitions Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA Company Gallery, New York, NY Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY The Julia Stoschek Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany moCa Cleveland (catalog publication in 2025)

News + Read more at W Magazine Tuesday, November 29, 2022 by Kat Herriman Photographs by Jesper D. Lund The artist’s college years are the focus of a new exhibition at the ICA Miami. The New York-based artist Nina Chanel Abney punches eyes out one at a time. Her life-size paper dolls don’t seem to mind. They crowd around the ankles of her standing desk, in blank anticipation, patiently waiting for her to finish their faces so they can go on to their destiny as protagonists in her primary-colored collages. Abney points down at the huddle encircling her feet. “It’s a dance scene,” she says. Assembling her dancers requires meticulous choreography. “One millimeter can shift an expression,” Abney says. Despite the precarity, Abney feels at home in this cut-and-paste world. Over the past decade, her figurative collages depicting the lives and stories of Americans like herself—Black, queer, working class individuals—have become a fixture of the art world. Her exuberantly colored paintings, executed with stencils and spray paint, mimic Abney’s collage aesthetic and make me think of artists like Henri Matisse, Kara Walker, and Lari Pittman—but Abney bats away these art-historical touchstones. She says her mother, who is also an artist, is the one responsible for her love of drawing and collaging. “I’ve been cutting and pasting since childhood,” Abney says. “I like the familiarity of it.” Raised in Chicago by her mother, Abney used drawing as a way to connect. In school, she and her sister invited their mostly white classmates to commission portraits of Black celebrities from them. Abney earned a BFA from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois before heading to Parsons, where she graduated with a masters degree in 2007. In 2008, she participated in the groundbreaking group show 30 Americans at the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, and as the exhibition traveled around the country her exuberant images depicting Black joy and pain began appearing in museums alongside fellow participants like Rashid Johnson, Renée Green, and Kerry James Marshall. In 2017, she had an exhibition with Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, and after that she was featured in monographic museum shows. Abney vibrates on a cultural frequency all her own and has also collaborated to create Air Jordan sneakers, as well as a version of the classic game card Uno. Her most visible pop cultural moment, an album cover created last year for Meek Mill’s Expensive Pain , was a tearful cartoon portrait of the rapper surrounded by nude women, a yacht, a motorcycle, and dollar signs. The ICA Miami exhibition of Nina Chanel Abney: Big Butch Energy, on view during Art Basel, focuses on Abney’s college years, when the artist was less assured in her queer identity and struggled to find a community that reflected the kind of person she wanted to be. An epic shower scene, notably, dwells on the awkwardness and discomfort of forced group dynamics. Abney was attracted to the universality of coming-of-age scenes; she is devoted to mediums freighted with childhood resonance and stories she knows can be found on the tip of the tongue. The conceptual second half of the Miami presentation opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland on January 27. Those works focus instead on the more positive side of Abney’s collegiate experience, and the energy is festive. “Like coming into myself and the celebration,” Abney says. The keystone work here depicts a raucous dance party like the ones Abney would have liked to attend. After the MoCA Cleveland show and a well-deserved break, Abney will be doubling down on her efforts to focus on public art and shift her language into three-dimensional sculptures. She’s not sure what they will look like yet, but she does know she wants those artworks to depict the lives of those unsung in the Western canon and be accessible to the public at all hours. “I always want the viewer to be able to feel like they have a connection with the work and recall some of their own similar experiences,” she says. “I’m good at finding communities that wants their stories told. I don’t feel like there is enough representation of Black masculine-presenting or queer women in media, so if I can bring my experience to life and it inspires others then I feel like I’m doing a good job. In earlier work, I was trying to make the content more ambiguous—now, it’s leaning toward the opposite.” Previous Next