Emily Davis Gallery
Monday–Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Emily Davis Gallery is nationally known and presents challenging contemporary exhibitions and events that showcase the most current expressions and critical thinking evolving in the visual arts today.
Exhibitions
The Emily Davis Gallery at The University of Akron, Mary Schiller Myers School of Art is pleased to present these exhibitions. Dates and times are subject to change, check back here and on the Myers Calendar for up to date information.
Myers School of Art
On View at Emily Davis Gallery, Myers School of Art, The University of Akron
The Emily Davis Gallery at the Myers School of Art at The University of Akron will present two concurrent exhibitions that consider the art of the portrait. One exhibition features Cleveland-based photographer Abe Frajndlich’s images of Cindy Sherman from the mid 1980s. The other exhibition features self portraits from a group of regional artists.
Cindy Sherman UnMasked
Photographs by Abe Frajndlich
This group of images is significant for multiple reasons: it captures an artist early in her career, offers rare behind-the-scenes glimpses into her practice, and highlights connections to the University of Akron and the city of Akron. Frajndlich was teaching photography classes at the Myers School of Art when the Akron Art Museum organized the first major touring exhibition of Sherman’s work. Many of these photographs have never been exhibited or published, nor shown as a comprehensive group until now.
Frajndlich first met and photographed Cindy Sherman in Akron, Ohio, in the summer of 1984. These photographs were taken over the course of a few hours, just prior to the opening event of her first American retrospective exhibition at the Akron Art Museum. A few years later, Frajndlich spent three days with Sherman in her New York City studio, where he created images for stories in Vanity Fair and in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Magazine.
Frajndlich states, “Those were the halcyon days of photographic portraiture, where most artist/subjects knew what a photo shoot involved, and were willing to give a photographer the time needed to create the visual story…there was no better subject, than someone as open and unaffected as the Cindy Sherman I worked with that spring.”
Since the 1970s, Frajndlich has worked as a freelance commercial photographer, producing editorial work for several U.S. and European publications, including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Magazine, ArtNews, London Sunday Times, and the New York Times Magazine. After receiving degrees in English Literature, Frajndlich studied for several years with master photographers Minor White and Nathan Lyons. His work can be found in museum collections worldwide including Biblioteque Nationale in Paris, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and regionally at the Akron Art Museum and Cleveland Museum of Art. Frajndlich has been in exhibitions throughout the United States and in Germany, France, and Belgium, with recent career retrospectives in Munich and Frankfurt. After living and working in New York for 35 years, Frajndlich recently returned to live and work in Cleveland, Ohio.
More than 10 monographs of Frajndlich’s artwork have been published. A recent project, Women in the Arts, will cover his more than 50 years of portraits of women artists, curators and collectors. Several examples from this publication will also be on view in our exhibition, including portraits of Yoko Ono, Annie Liebovitz and Helen Frankenthaler.
Portrait of the Artist
Featured Artists: Anna Arnold, Taylor Clapp, Abe Frajndlich, Kalia Horner, Ashley Kouri, Nick Lee, Clarence Meriweather, Emily Olszewski, Frank Oriti, Anna Young, Katarina Zuder
In response to Abe Frajndlich’s photographs of Cindy Sherman, the gallery will also feature self-portraits by regional artists. Paintings, drawings and photographs by these artists reflect a variety of responses to the idea of self-representation.
Human beings love to look at themselves. Whether they employ metaphor and symbolism, create fictional characters or use exacting depiction, these artists are often present themselves or facets of their identities. The observer is challenged to examine both the artist and themselves as they consider these portraits.
Unmasking Identity
Together, these exhibitions invite audiences to reflect on the enduring power of portraiture. Sherman’s legacy lies in creating alternate identities, while Frajndlich’s career has centered on documenting other artists and glimpsing what lies beneath their constructed images. Paired with self-portraits by regional artists, including University of Akron alumni and current adjunct faculty, these shows ask timeless questions: Who is behind the mask, and what are they revealing or concealing?
Reception: Thursday, October 9, 2025, 5:00–8:00 p.m.
October 9 – November 26, 2025
Monday through Friday 10 am- 5 pm
These exhibitions are organized by the Emily Davis Gallery and both are curated by Arnold Tunstall, Director, University Art Galleries.
Paid parking available in Folk Hall parking lots (scan signs to pay by the hour).
For more information about exhibitions: call us at 330-972-6030, email us, visit us online, or find us on facebook.