Using slide projectors to display computer-generated imagery, Alex Jovanovich (American, born 1975) balances old and new technologies, which he associates with warmth and cold respectively. Corresponding to their location in Ingalls Library, the trio of slideshows on view for FRONT—who is a writer and editor as well as an artist—also displays an array of text fragments drawn from religious texts and poetry, among other literary sources. Words were central to the conception of the drawing on view as well, partly inspired by the American poet Vachel Lindsay’s poem “The Spider and the Ghost of the Fly,” a meditation on desire and cruelty. Jovanovich’s installation marks the first time the Ingalls Library is being used to present a contemporary exhibition. “My art is quiet, small, and meditative—no spectacle. Perfect for the space,” says Jovanovich, adding “I do like to think the spectacular is in my presentation, coming to the viewer in a whisper, not a shout.”

Commissioned by FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art.

Photo © The Cleveland Museum of Art