Art @Corner of Temptation and Deliverance

Standing at The Fork In the Road of Temptation and Salvation, 1997 by Michelangelo Lovelace

Fort Gansevoort gallery presents “The Land,” the first solo exhibition in New York City featuring the work of Cleveland, Ohio-based artist Michelangelo Lovelace, spanning from 1994 to the present. The exhibition is comprised of a lifetime’s work depicting the inner city of Cleveland.

The curator writes, “Often in his work, a division between two paths can be seen; one good, one evil. Temptation is found around every corner, and in this case the idea is even reflected in the shaded street’s name. Meanwhile the contrasting street, known as Salvation, bares a sun so bright that each figure casts a dark full-length shadow, perhaps in memory of the path they scarcely avoided. Using the billboards found in these streets as his soapboxes, Lovelace broadcasts his views for public consumption. Below, brick storefronts are covered by an assortment of advertisements for strip clubs above signs for barbershops that neighbor churches. Each of these characteristics adds to the dichotomy by which Lovelace defines Cleveland and, more broadly, visually defines American inner city neighborhoods.”

Lovelace is an admirer of painter and minister Reverend Albert Wagner, who is ordained in the Black Israelite group called Commandment Keepers. “I take the Reverend Albert Wagner with me and his teaching at all levels and all places,” Lovelace wrote on his Facebook page.

The exhibition is at Fort Gansevoort gallery, 5 Ninth Avenue, Manhattan until June 30, 2018.