Exhibition Types: Current Exhibition Kennedy Gallery

  • Printed Voices from Kenya: Social and Cultural Reflections

    • 18 March 2026
    • Posted By Ellen Muse

    Curated by Saad Ghosn of SOS ART, Printed Voices from Kenya: Social and Cultural Reflections features 154 prints of various printmaking techniques by 42 established Kenyan artists, young and old. These artists use artwork as their voice and communication tool to reflect on the cultural and social issues they face.

    Started in 2018, this is the fifth “Printed Voices from …: Social and Cultural Reflections” biennial exhibit and cultural event that SOS (Save Our Souls) ART (sosartcincinnati.com) is organizing and curating in partnership with KHAC. After Oaxaca/Mexico, Lebanon, Czechia, and India, the featured country this time is Kenya with its rich tradition and heritage in printmaking.

    The exhibit will be accompanied by a mini Kenyan cultural festival on the grounds of KHAC, including dance, music, singing, poetry, art, food, etc. all based on the country’s culture; also by a mini Kenyan movie festival. It is hoped that sharing the Kenyan artists’ voice with the Cincinnati community will contribute to cultural exchange and enrichment, and to illustrating the power of art as a contributor to a universal better world.

    The purpose of these “Voices from…” exhibits and events is to share with the Cincinnati public, art from a different country where artists use their artwork as their voice to reflect on their life, their culture, the problems they face as a society, and thus express themselves, their views and their beliefs; also to expose the Cincinnati public, through mini cultural and movie festivals, to various aspects of the culture of that country. This is very much in line with the mission of SOS ART, a nonprofit organization Saad Ghosn founded 24 years ago, whose goal is to promote the arts as vehicles for peace and justice, and for a better world.

    Explore the entire exhibition catalog HERE.

    Thank you to Lorie Baker and Soapbox Media for the wonderful article about the exhibition on Soapbox Media. Read the article HERE. 

    Opening Reception: Saturday, June 27 from 6-8 pm. Light refreshments and music.

    Kenyan Cultural Festival: Saturday, July 11 from 12-6 pm. Experience Kenyan culture through music, dance, food, poetry, and art! Curator Saad Ghosn will also be giving guided tours of the exhibition.

    Guided Curator Tour: Wednesday, July 15 from 10 am – 12 pm.

    Image: BODA BODA II, John Silver Kimani, reduction woodcut; 12.5×11.75”

     

  • *OPENS JULY 25* Entre Lo Que Fue y Lo Que Es (Between What Was and What Is)

    • 18 March 2026
    • Posted By Ellen Muse

    Works by Batres Gilvin reflect a meditation on in-between states, where memory, identity, and the body shift between presence and absence.

    Batres Gilvin, an artist collaborative in Greater Cincinnati, is comprised of Karla Batres and Bradly Gilvin, life partners who met in 2011 while studying at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. In a multiethnic partnership that joins the personal with the professional, Batres’ Mexican American heritage and Gilvin’s Southern American roots are a catalyst for complicated conversations about difference, otherness, and identity. In their Morning View, Kentucky studio located on the property of the Gilvin family farm and homestead, Batres Gilvin explores the local and global implications of immigration. Their artistic work is informed as much by larger political conversations as it is by life on the farm and daily interactions with Bradly and Karla’s immediate and extended family.

    In Batres Gilvin’s artistic work art becomes life and vice versa. As a multiethnic collaborative, Batres Gilvin is a study in contradictions. Playful irreverence exists alongside unflinching solemnity. An unsparing commentary on the inequities of US immigration policy is wrapped in sparkly, kitschy imagery, providing a sugar-coated dose of truth serum, Mexican American style. In Batres Gilvin’s world, contradiction is both material and tool; it is also a reminder of the complexity of humans and the necessity of holding space for difficult conversations.

    Opening Reception: Saturday, July 25 from 6-8pm

    Community Engagement Workshop with Batres Gilvin: Saturday, September 5 from 1-3pm

    Image: Camarón Que Se Duerme, Styrofoam, ribbon, aerosol paint, glitter glue, and artificial flowers, 2026, 3′ x 3′

  • Tuesday - Friday: 10:00 - 5:00
  • Saturday: 11:00 - 4:00
  • Closed Sunday - Monday