Unsung Hero
If You Go
CAC Opening Reception
Robert O’Neal: Open to All
Luis Camnitzer: Monuments to Unknown Heroes
April 28, 8 p.m.
Contemporary Arts Center, 44 E. Sixth St.
Cash bar, music, photo booth, and the opportunity to contribute to a graffiti art mural facilitated by ArtWorks as part of their New Monuments initiative.
More information.
Robert O’Neal, a fixture of the region’s local arts community for more than 50 years, influenced countless artists during his lifetime. The first museum retrospective of this Cincinnati-based painter and activist, opening Friday at the Contemporary Arts Center, explores Cincinnati’s Black communities.
Throughout his career, O’Neal created works that represent the joys, struggles, and rich histories of Cincinnati’s Black neighborhoods. His practice merged art and activism, advocating for civil rights through socially engaged art and grassroots organizing that supported Black artists, fought for disability rights, and advocated for the unhoused.
He has left a long-lasting impression on the community, earning him the unofficial title of “Over-the-Rhine Mayor.” As the first major survey on the artist, Robert O’Neal: Open to All highlights his vast body of work. Featuring paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs that he produced between the 1960s-2010s, along with a collection of archival materials, this long overdue retrospective examines O’Neal’s critical contributions to the city of Cincinnati.
Featuring more than 30 paintings, alongside drawings, prints, and photo collages, this exhibition is the first museum retrospective to explore the work of Cincinnati-based painter and activist Robert O’Neal, sometimes known as the unofficial “Mayor of Over-the-Rhine.” It highlights O’Neal’s longstanding interest in portraiture and documenting Black community life in Cincinnati’s West End.
Also opening Friday is Luis Camnitzer: Monuments to Unknown Heroes. Camnitzer, a conceptual artist and pedagogue, presents a series of posters by more than 100 artists depicting proposals for monuments to under-recognized heroes.
Originally organized in the days following the pandemic, this visual archive captures various perspectives on the ways in which we memorialize, while raising questions about the socio-political and economic underpinnings that typically accompany the production of public monuments. Participating artists include Erika NJ Allen, Michael Coppage, Jesse Ly, and Sara Torgison, among others.
The opening reception invites guest to take part in ArtWorks’ New Monuments initiative, which aims to reimagine and rebuild commemorative spaces that celebrate and affirm the historical contributions of the many diverse communities that make up Cincinnati and the United States.