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CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Art Museum invites visitors to experience the new photography special feature, The Poetry of Place: William Clift, Linda Connor and Michael Kenna, on view Dec. 10, 2016 through June 11, 2017.

Featuring landscape and interior scenes, The Poetry of Place showcases 18 black-and-white photographs. The artworks, all from the museum’s permanent collection, hint at the themes of memory and time, uniting images of an ethereal, serene world.

Spearheading The Poetry of Place is Cincinnati Art Museum Curatorial Assistant of Photography Emily Bauman. “This special feature aims to unite both artist and viewer through a common, familiar theme: place,” says Bauman. "Although artists Clift, Connor and Kenna are not connected to one another, the scenes featured in The Poetry of Place evoke a haunting, human presence we can all sense, even in the absence of human subjects.”

Current discussion of Clift’s work centers on his soulful photographs of the monumental landscapes of Shiprock, New Mexico and Mont St. Michel in Normandy, France. The Poetry of Place also includes photographs Clift took for a U.S. bicentennial celebration project depicting county courthouses across the country.

Since 1967 Connor has explored the poetry and mystery of sacred sites. On the occasion of the 2006 exhibition Andrew Wyeth Watercolors and Drawings: Selections from the Marunuma Art Park, Japan, the Cincinnati Art Museum invited Connor to capture the essence of the Olson House, a 200-year-old Maine farm house made famous by Wyeth’s paintings.

Kenna invites the viewer to look at the world with different eyes. His images include minimalist views of the natural landscape as well as human-made structures, always with a quality that is both meditative and mysterious. The special feature title draws inspiration from Kenna’s comparison of his visual language to haiku poetry.

Women Writing for (a) Change will host a two-part six-hour writing workshop at the Cincinnati Art Museum on April 29 and April 30, 2017, from 1 to 4 p.m. The workshop invites participants to take inspiration from photographs in the special feature. For more information, please visit www.womenwriting.org.

The Poetry of Place is free and on view in Gallery 104. To learn more, please visit www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/poetryofplace. In December, the special feature joins photography exhibition, Kentucky Renaissance: The Lexington Camera Club and Its Community, 1954–1974 on view along with Van Gogh: Into the Undergrowth. The special holiday feature Tree of Life will also be on view through Jan. 8.

About Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members.

General admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is always free and parking is free. The museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. every Thursday.

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