In partnership with FRONT International, the Cleveland Institute of Art will mount four unique solo exhibition projects by noteworthy artists—Jacolby Satterwhite, Dexter Davis, Loraine Lynn and Alexandra Noel—as a part of Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, the 2022 FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art.

In CIA’s Reinberger Gallery will be Jacolby Satterwhite’s Dawn. Functioning as an iteration of his commissioned project of the same name located outside Cleveland Clinic’s BioRepository, Dawn will transform the gallery into an immersive virtual reality arcade. Centering on the question “What does Utopia look like to you?”—a question asked of Cleveland’s Fairfax residents as part of the BioRepository project—Satterwhite uses images generated by the community to create a complex codex of signs and symbols within the work.

Also presented within Reinberger Gallery will be celebrated Cleveland artist and CIA alum Dexter Davis’s ambitious The Less Dead. The exhibition will include new paintings, mixed-media collages, and sculptures inspired by the artist’s lived experience and survival after a near-deadly shooting. It will be divided into three subthemes: “Ritual,” “Ghost” and “Birth.” The Less Dead, a term that refers to marginalized groups of society most likely to be targeted by violence, is a story of survival and restoration through art making that also serves as a call for humanity.

Another CIA alum, fiber artist Loraine Lynn, plans to create a series of vibrant textile works that invite touch. This exhibition will be installed in the Mary Ann and Jack Katzenmeyer Student Lounge and the John and Sally Schulze North Lobby, where an accompanying program with renowned Cleveland drag queen Dr. Lady J will be hosted in the fall.

Lastly, 10 new paintings by Alexandra Noel will be exhibited in the Donna and Stewart Kohl Corridor. Rooted between personal memory and collective experience, Noel’s small, gem-like paintings invite viewers to engage in both close looking and thoughtful introspection. Opposing one’s impulse to “scroll,” each painting is an opportunity for discovery.

Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows will be on view from July 16 to October 2 at venues across Northeast Ohio. A public reception for the exhibition will take place from 6-8pm on Thursday, September 1.