Final Days of Hard Targets

The clock is running out on Hard Targets, a show featuring more than 70 works of art that tackle sports from a variety of angles. Critic Tyler Green of the widely read blog Modern Art Notes called it "the kind of exhibition that more contemporary art museums should present" (in fact, Green just wrapped up a three-part series on the show - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.). "Best of all," Green writes, "the exhibition manages to widen art's circle without dumbing down the show." For a lively TV piece on Hard Targets, check out this segment on the Big Ten Network, featuring an interview with curator Christopher Bedford, Director Sherri Geldin, Buckeye gridiron legend Archie Griffin, and Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith. The Columbus Dispatch ran a feature on the exhibition under a "Sports, Illustrated" headline, and additional features or reviews can be found in the archives of Columbus Monthly, Columbus Underground, and The Other Paper. Also on view 'til mid-April are the seductive, at times unsettling, urban landscapes of French artist Cyprien Gaillard, which also received its fair share of media attention nationally and locally, from Artforum to Nylon Guys. The April issue of contemporary art magazine Frieze ran a Gaillard image on the cover, with an interview (full text here, and describing him as “an archaeologist of recent history” whose work is “underscored by moments of quiet beauty.” The Columbus Dispatch noted that “Gaillard focuses attention on the remnants of desire….He poetically reveals how humanity's relationships with the landscape and environment are continually erased, refashioned and re-imagined.” And be sure to take in Standing Wave by Brooklyn artist Alyson Shotz, a stunner of a piece that plays with light, material, and space, created specially for our café area. All three exhibitions close April 11.