One Night Only: “I Tried Really Hard”
The evening of April 21, Near Northside Studios will host an impressive group exhibition featuring some of the city’s most talented up-and-coming artists.
“It’s called ‘I Tried Really Hard’ and that’s the only rule, the only criteria for the show,” says Austin Smith, who helped organize the show along with Meredith Richey. “At first I started writing things about it to explain it as more of an inditement of other art shows, but that’s not really the point of why I’m doing it. I started looking at it more as an exercise in trying really hard. That’s where the idea of not selling anything came from and that it was just one night.”
“Some of the artists didn’t understand what ‘try’ meant once the ball started rolling. Not in a bad way. The meaning kind of hit people in different ways. Some people wanted to go big, some people wanted to try new mediums.”
Each artist will present one piece, and Smith aims to showcase a variety of mediums and styles. “I kind of wanted to get a group of all different types of artists and ones that I knew,” Smith says. “I’m a fan of everyone in the show. I felt like I couldn’t work really hard on a show that had people that I didn’t think truly belonged in there. It’s a good mix.”
Featured artists include Eyesore, Sarah Welch, Darcy Rosenberger, Bret Shirley, Heath Flagtvedt, Shelby Hohl, Ryan Francisco, Arthur Bates, Dann Miller, Max Toth, Mark Armes, Traci Thiebaud, Josh Nolan, Alex Larsen, Blake Jones, Spike Johnson, and Jonathan Paul Jackson, as well as work from Smith and Richey. In addition to the visual art presented, James Templeton of LIMB will present a quadrophonic version similar to Octa, the piece he presented at Day for Night in 2024.
“I Tried Really Hard” is a one-night event at Near Northside Studios (1506 Lorraine) from 8 to 11 pm.
