Work created by 15 Ohio artists will be on display at the Ohio Arts Council's Riffe Gallery July 30 through October 17. Back to Reality, More and Less: Contemporary Ohio Landscape presents more than 60 works from 15 distinct perspectives. The exhibition offers original, contemporary and often surprising approaches to the landscape tradition.

An opening reception will be held on July 30 from 5-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Curated by Sara Johnson, director of planning at the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Back to Reality has a certain surprise value.

"Many people tend to equate contemporary art with abstraction, but many fine artists have moved back to reality, more and less," Johnson says. "This is realism but it's not illustration and it's not photography. The show is dozens of interesting stops along the journey to new realism. It offers viewers a chance to experience contemporary art within the familiar framework of the landscape."

Artists in Back to Reality are Eric Barth, Columbus; Rod Bouc, Columbus; Carolyn Cardenas, Athens; Laurence Channing, Cleveland; Barbara Gillette, Wadsworth; Deborah Morrissey McGoff, Cincinnati; Gary Pettigrew, Athens; A.D. Earls, Middlefield; Ron Porter, Nashville (formerly of Athens); Leslie Miller, Oberlin; Stephen Pentak, Columbus; Lane Raiser, Portsmouth; Willard Reader, Portsmouth; William Reed Simon, Cleveland; John Stewart, Cincinnati.

The tradition of landscape painting remains the focus for many of today's finest artists who are finding original forms to express and interpret it.

It's hard to imagine a better theme for capturing imaginations than the American landscape. Armed with word, song, film and paint, artists over the centuries have used their creative skills to bring this county's landscape to life. Today's artists are finding fresh ways to render and interpret landscape's realities, from farmland to city, from hay bale to smokestack, from river to streetlight.

Viewers are invited to explore the exhibition's range of realistic expression including new twists such as photorealism and near-abstraction, impressionism and surrealism, environmental activism and romantic fantasy, emotion and narrative, hard-edged cityscapes and soft-rubbed countryscapes. The variety parallels the landscape itself.

Support for the exhibition is provided by the Ohio Building Authority, CD101, Small Business News and Time Warner Communications.

The Riffe Gallery, operated by the Ohio Arts Council, showcases the work of Ohio's artists and curators and the collections of the state's museums and galleries. The gallery is in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, State and High Streets, Columbus, OH. Hours are Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10 a.m.-8:00 p.m., Saturday 12-8 p.m. and Sunday 12-4 p.m. Admission is free. For information or to schedule a tour call the Riffe Gallery at 614/644-9624.

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