- This event has passed.
Tom Roese CONVERGE Artist Talk
September 2, 2021 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
As part of the CONVERGE exhibition of Ohio LGBTQ art, the Artists Archives in partnership with Judson Manor is pleased to present a virtual artist talk with Archived Artist Thomas Roese on Thursday, September 2, 4:00 – 5:00pm.
Join Roese as he reveals insights into his creative process and practice during this hour-long, richly illustrated program. Known for his impeccable draftsmanship and portrayal of rust-belt life, Roese’s images lavish attention on everyday scenes frequently passed by or overlooked.
As Roese describes, “My drawings are stories about people and the implied relationships between themselves and to their environment. The deserted factory, the smoke from a mill, the singular figure walking along a street. All these reference the present, the past, prosperity, employment, or despair. Descriptive imagery with an inner abstracted structure, the stage is set with pattern, color, texture, and lighting. ”
During the talk, Roese will also discuss his latest CLE Project series which critically explores suburban life through its sterile, monolithic architecture. For Roese, the impenetrable structures also speak to the isolation and loss of connectivity experienced during the COVID epidemic, particularly as a gay man who lived through the anxiety and terror of the AIDS crisis only decades before.
About Thomas Roese: Thomas Roese graduated the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1971. His paintings appeared in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s May Show every year from 1979-1989. He has shown in the Butler Institute of American Art’s National Mid-year exhibition in 1985 and 1994. Other exhibition venues for his work have included the Mansfield Fine Arts Center, Sandusky Cultural Arts Center, Southwest Arts Council, and the Great Northern Corporate Center. In 2000, he had solo shows at the Audrey and Harvey Feinberg Gallery in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and at the Ohio Arts League Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. In 2001, he showed with Bonnie Dolin at the Cleveland Playhouse Art Gallery.
Roese taught drawing and painting for decades at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Parma City Schools where he served as a high school art teacher and department chair. In 1991, he was recognized as an outstanding classroom art teacher and was invited to participate in the AICA New York Summer Studio Program. In 2001, he became an Archived Artist at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve.
About CONVERGE: This August, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve presents CONVERGE, a massive visual art exhibition held in partnership with the LGBTQ Center of Greater Cleveland, Lake Erie College, Judson Manor, and Cleveland MetroHealth. Shown across 5 venues, CONVERGE brings together the diverse stories of the LGBTQ community, including the historically underrepresented voices of women, transgender people, and people of color. Curated by Kelly Pontoni, with co-curators Sam Butler, Tony Williams, and Mark Yasenchack, with assistance by Mary Proctor, CONVERGE features 70 Ohio LGBTQ artists and over 140 works which explore themes of protest, pride, celebration, and transformation.