Displaying the work by some of the most significant and compelling artists of the past 50 years, The Arts Initiative presents Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne Aug. 25 through Nov. 7 at Urban Arts Space, Hopkins Hall Gallery and the facade of the former Long's Bookstore. A public reception at Urban Arts Space in downtown Columbus is open to all, Friday, Sept. 25, 6-8 p.m.

Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne features a selection of work from renowned artists, including works by Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Mike Kelley, David Hammons, Tony Smith, and many others. The majority of the works in Open This End can be seen at Urban Arts Space, 50 W. Town St. in the historic Lazarus building. Hopkins Hall Gallery on campus features Jimmy Carter, a multi-media work by Jennifer Steinkamp. Visitors to campus may also view Felix Gonzalez-Torres' public work, Untitled (For Parkett) (1994) on the former Long's Bookstore facade at 15th Avenue and High Street.

The exhibition incorporates numerous themes important to contemporary art, including Pop Art and Conceptualism, the Pictures Generation, performance art and the Abject Body, California Conceptualism, Minimalism, German Pop and European art since the 1980s, identity politics, and portraiture and self-portraiture. The collection is intertwined with social issues of the contemporary world, including race, gender, technology, education, philanthropy, communication, and ethics. 

The exhibition's name echoes a 1962 painting by Andy Warhol. The earliest piece in the show, "Open This End" frames the exhibition as a present to be unwrapped, a gift for audiences to experience and discover.  

Several universities with connections to Blake Byrne and his family, including Duke University, Ohio State, Columbia University and Lewis & Clark College, will feature Open This End as it travels across the country. The exhibition celebrates Byrne's 80th birthday. 

Blake Byrne's parents attended The Ohio State University, and his father taught in the college of engineering. Blake Byrne and his family established a scholarship fund for electrical engineering students in honor of his father and his father's mentor, Professor Perry Okey. The John F. Byrne and Perry Okey Memorial Scholarship Fund is given to first-generation college students at The Ohio State University. 

For more details, visit the Urban Arts Space website, or call (614) 292-8861.

Photo: Wangechi Mutu, Pretty Double-Head, 2010, mixed-media, ink, collage, spray paint on Mylar, 34" H x 41.75" W (86.36 cm H x 106.05 cm W), Collection of Blake Byrne. Image courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects; photo by: Robert Wedemeyer.