Columbus Dispatch highlights Roxy Paine exhibition

Life at CCAD, gallery installation of Roxy Paine's Checkpoint at CCAD's Beeler Gallery

A solo exhibition by the New York-based artist Roxy Paine has been incredibly popular since it opened at CCAD’s Beeler Gallery on Oct. 13, 2016.

(In fact, the show has been so popular that Beeler Gallery recently announced that it would extend the exhibition, Roxy Paine: Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, through March 10, 2017.)

The Columbus Dispatch took notice and reviewed the exhibition, which features five large-scale dioramas that focus on modern habitats, from a security checkpoint to a fast food counter.

“Most museum- or gallery-goers wouldn't be surprised to encounter a diorama showing a scene from history or the natural world,” Peter Tonguette wrote in The Dispatch. “A diorama portraying the security area in an airport or the counter of a fast-food establishment, however, seems more surprising.”

Tonguette went on to say that a “sense of emptiness” characterizes the pieces, which are void of human figures.

“Eeriest of all is “Experiment,” which presents a table and chairs pulled up to a window providing a view of a shabby motel room,” Tonguette wrote. “The bed sheets are ruffled, and a chair is turned over. Are the room’s inhabitants the participants in a study, or are they being monitored by a government agency?

The yellow light emanating from the room is haunting — as are all the dioramas in the show.”

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Roxy Paine: Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor continues at Beeler Gallery through March 10. Checkpoint, above, is among the five large-scale dioramas included in the solo exhibition.