biography

Loren Naji (b. Brooklyn, NY, 8 January 1957) American conceptual sculpture 

As a child, Loren Naji loved building things and drawing scenes of adventure and fantasy. Later he studied Graphic Design at Kent State University from 1975-1981. During this time, he worked at Geauga Lake Amusement Park drawing portraits.

From 1981-1993 he studied figure/portrait drawing and painting at The Art Students League and The New York Studio School, both in New York City. During this time, he worked as a graphic designer, sign painter and display design/fabrication.

From 1993-1998 he attended The Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) with a scholarship, earning a B.F.A. in Painting. His “painting” at CIA was considered sculpture by many, but Naji felt it was painting on a three-dimensional surface. With this he challenged the departmental divisions in art school. The idea of blending the art disciplines is now in vogue in our postmodern society.

During summers of art school Naji remodeled a condemned building in Cleveland Hts. This became his studio/gallery where he exhibited many shows for ten years. He travelled extensively on expeditions to Indonesia, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Borneo and Turkey living with natives and procuring primitive artifacts for his gallery.

In 2002 he remodeled another building which in the Ohio City community of Cleveland. At this time, he produced what he calls conceptual sculptures and paintings which are cult-like objects with formal elements enhanced through non-visual entities such as hidden maps that lead to buried treasure or obsessively counted large numbers. He also shared this large building as a public gallery.

Naji has displayed his work in The Cleveland Museum of Art, The NEO Show, Asterisk Gallery, Spaces, Pentagon Gallery, The Butler Art Museum, The Maryland Federation of Art, Phoenix Gallery in New York and many juried shows, with awards. He has a public sculpture, “They Have Landed” (a giant eight-foot, 3000-pound sphere) displayed at the prominent Cleveland location, Lorain Avenue, at the entrance to the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, across from the famous West Side Market. In June of 2018 Naji refaced this sculpture, re-inventing his work.

Naji is a decision-making board member of the Skeggs Lecture Series at Youngstown State University and has personally chosen and assisted in choosing many prominent speakers including world famous conceptual artist Vito Acconci.

Naji has been voted “Best Sculptor 2013” in Cleveland by people’s choice in Cleveland Magazine.

He received a $20,000 grant, a $7500. Grant and was given a house to create a gallery space in Collinwood, OH. He created Satellite Installation Gallery

In 2016 he created Emoh, an 8-foot spherical sculpture that confronted homelessness, vacancy and the environment. He lived in the sculpture for a month to promote his cause. USA Today featured an Emmy-award winning video about Naji’s sculpture and experience.

In 2017 he moved his studio/living space to the near east side of Cleveland to bring vibrancy to another down trodden neighborhood, Saint Clair/Superior area.

In 2018 Naji was featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not for living inside his own art for a month.

In 2018 he gathered a “clergy” of art innovators to form The Church of Art which is a group, a gallery, and an ideology. The mission of this group is to answer the question “What’s Next in Art?”, and to include all artists in the creative process while breaking barriers in art.

This fall, Naji will take his sculpture, Emoh, on tour to develop the concept of creating multiple spheres covered with art made by various artists. These sculptures, placed throughout cities as public art, will be equipped with hatch doors, insulation and solar panels, to serve as temporary shelters for the homeless.