The Schwitzer Gallery will host new work by Nicholas Conlon, a multi-disciplinary artist from Chicago. His show, Broken Rims and Dirty Dreams, will focus on basketball as an art form when the Circle City Industrial Complex Artists continue to host Virtual First Fridays on March 5.
The event will run from 6 to 9 p.m. with no indoor or in-person activities. Instead, the art can be viewed on the Circle City Industrial Complex Artists Facebook page (@ccicartists) and mirrored on the Circle City Industrial Complex’s main Facebook page (@circlecityind).
The CCIC is open during regular business hours, the Schwitzer Gallery has hosted new work each month.
Of his work to be hung in the Schwitzer Gallery, Conlon said, “This game, its equity and skill, depend on how hard you can go, how long you can go, and with how much heart. It’s sometimes called ‘poetry in motion,’ because of how beautiful the sport is, the colors, the players, the movements, the arenas. This show is about the equipment used in basketball – and by used I mean, overused, worn out, ripped apart, broken, torn down, shattered, recycled, and repurposed. I’m talking about rims that have been beat up and dunked on, shot on over 100,000 times. Gym shoes and kneepads. Rims that are barely hanging on and backboards with no rim there, just left for dead. Or maybe worse: Left alone, lonely for years.”
Conlon will have a presentation during the Virtual First Friday programming as well.
The Indy Winter Farmers Market will continue to open during its Saturday hours, under its own guidelines, and several artists and galleries will remain open for their regular ‘retail’ hours, usually on weekends, and posted on their own websites and social media. Some studios will also be open by appointment.
As artists are “small businesses,” support, either online, during posted hours, or by appointment, is greatly appreciated during the pandemic. Many of our artists solely support themselves with their art or depend on art to help make their ends meet. The cancellation of so many First Fridays during the pandemic has been especially tough on artists, as that night means vital human interaction as well as financial support each month. The artists and all of the businesses within the CCIC recognize the need to be safe, and to do what it takes to get this virus suppressed and gone as soon as possible.
Masks are required at the CCIC during any visit, and hand sanitizing stations are installed throughout the building. Visitors are asked to maintain social distance no matter which business within the CCIC they may be visiting.
The list of participating artists is not finalized yet for Virtual First Friday, but artists will present photo stories, demos, and videos, in hopes of maintaining contact with their friends, fans, and patrons.
The Circle City Industrial Complex has become a destination for art appreciators and supporters of local work, with the total number of artists working within the CCIC at around 90. Just northeast of the Mass Ave. Art and Theatre Cultural District, at 1125 Brookside Ave., the CCIC Artists First Friday programming is a must-see stop, while events and viewable hours continue throughout the month.
For more listings and event updates visit https://ccicindyartists.wordpress.com, or the CCIC Artists Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ccicartists
ARTWORK ABOVE: Work by Nicholas Conlon to be featured in exhibit honoring “March Madness.”
