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EVENTS, MEDIA, AWARDS:
TRANSFORMATIONS 2020: An Exhibition of the Imagination, online from the Pennsylvania Center for Photography, Doylestown, PA (dates approx 11/7/20 – 2/1/21)
Aggregate Animated Shorts 4th Annual Short Film Festival, Aggregate Gallery, Oakland, CA (7/25/20 – 8/7/20) Best in Show award for SHAPING REALITY at the virtual awards ceremony November 8
Graphic Era: A Celebration of the Graphic Arts, Delaplaine Arts Center, Frederick, MD (4/4/20 – 4/26/20) [see Thoughts post here]
This exhibition has moved online due to COVID-19 closings–you can do a really cool virtual walkthrough here.Fiberart International touring exhibition, Museum of Art/Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO (5/22/20- 7/16/20) This exhibition was, sadly, canceled due to COVID-19 closings.
Hard and Soft 2020, Denton Arts Council, Patterson-Appleton Arts Center, Denton, TX (2/7/20 – 5/9/20) This exhibition has moved online due to COVID-19 closings–see all about it here, including a really nice video walk-through
Fellowship Gallery Exhibition, Federated Church, Chagrin Falls OH (Jan – Feb 2020) — Artist walk-through on Sunday 2/2/20 at 11:15am. All are welcome!
Vogue Knitting Live Columbus, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus OH (10/31/19 – 11/3/19)
Workshop: Knitting What You See, Potomac Fiber Arts Guild, Potomac, MD (10/10/19 – 10/12/19)
Beyond the Surface: SDA Juried Members Exhibition 2019, part of the Surface Design Association’s 2019 conference in collaboration with the St. Louise Artists’ Guild, St. Louis, MO (9/20/19 – 10/23/19)
Brew House Gallery Artist Dialogue panel discussion as part of Fiberart International 2019, Pittsburgh, PA (8/17/19)
Exposure Gallery, Surface Design Journal, vol. 43, no. 2, Summer 2019 [link to the article]
“An Interview with Melinda Stees,” Yarn: The Australian Magazine for Creative People, no. 54, June 2019
Fiberart International 2019, Brew House Association Gallery and Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA (5/31/19- 8/24/19)
Fiber Art Forum at Fiberart International 2019, Brew House Association Gallery and Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA (6/1/19)
The Nation magazine’s OppArt series: YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO (4/24/19)
A Fusion of Art and Music with Barry Stees and Friends, part of the Chagrin Arts 2019 concert series: includes my video featuring four new knitted works accompanying a new composition by Jeffrey Rathbun. Chagrin Falls, OH (4/26/19)
ClevelandClassical.com preview feature on the “A Fusion of Art and Music” concert (4/23/19), and review (5/7/19).
Breaking Barriers: Art as the Messenger, participant in a panel discussion at the Cato Institute (4/17/10): watch the recorded livestream here.
Nuance: Craftsmanship, Imagination and Innovation, Peters Valley School of Craft, Layton, NJ (4/13/19 – 5/20/19)
Fiber Art Now blog guest post: One Stitch = One Pixel: The Art Knits of Melinda Stees (2/10/19)
The Nation magazine’s OppArt series: NO WAY TO STOP A WOLF (2/4/19)
Freedom: Art as the Messenger, Cato Institute, Washington, DC (4/11/19- 6/14/19)
Craft Revolution, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA (2/2/19 – 3/23/19)
Focal Point, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD (1/24/19 – 2/24/19); Juror’s Choice Award for “Eclipse (feat. Bats!)”
Vogue Knitting Live NYC 2019 Knit Art Gallery, New York Marriott Marquis (1/25/19 – 1/27/19)
Excellence in Fibers IV, Fiber Art Network exhibition-in-print in Winter 2018/2019 issue
Craft Forms 2018, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA (12/8/18 – 1/26/19)
47th Annual Juried Art Exhibit, Valley Art Center, Chagrin Falls, OH (11/2/18 – 12/12/18); Honorable Mention for “How will YOU take a stand? (Unexpected 3D #1)”
Up Close, Artrepreneur (an Orangenius company) online exhibition of winning portfolios; 2nd Prize in Sculpture/Craft category
Textile Art Collective Gallery in Embellish: The Australian Magazine for Textile Arts, #35: “With Inspiration from the Farmyard,” September 2018
NewNow 2018, Artists Archive of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH (9/13/18 – 10/18/18)
Figure Study–Hidden Story, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, CA (9/8/18 – 10/21/18)
Art in an Age of Anxiety, Arts Guild of Sonoma, Sonoma, CA (8/30/18 – 10/1/18)
The Art of Labor: SDA Juried Members Exhibition 2018, Surface Design Association and San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA (7/22/18 – 10/14/18)
Thread Count: New Directions in Fiber Art, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA (6/2/18 – 7/1/18)
Fiber National 2018, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA; (6/1/18 – 7/29/18); Bunny Clark Award of Excellence for THE START OF IT ALL
Resistance Art in Trumpian Times, Kyo Gallery, Alexandria, VA; (5/25/18 – 9/28/18); Winner of a solo exhibition in 2019 for NO WAY TO STOP A WOLF
Portraying Pets and People, 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC (5/3/18 – 5/26/18)
Clearly Human III, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, St. Louis, MO (4/13/18 – 5/26/18)
Material National Fiber Arts Exhibition, d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA (2/20/18 – 3/29/18)
Surface Design Association Friday Fibers Roundup: Extreme Knitting (3/2/18)
Identity: PEOPLE, Valley Art Center, Chagrin Falls, OH (1/26/18 – 3/7/18)
Meowzy, 3 Square Art, Fort Collins, CO; (1/18/18 – 2/16/18); Gold Award for LAST MEMORY OF BELA
Consilience of Art and Science, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA; (1/26/18 – 3/2/18); First Place award for LINE DANCE AT METAPHASE
Hand in Hand: Craft and New Technologies, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey (1/20/18 – 3/24/18) and Traverse City (4/14/18 – 6/6/18), MI
Anima<>Animus<>Animal, permanent online exhibition at artscenetoday.com (as of 2/19/18)
Subversive/Domestic, Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Waynesboro, VA (12/2/17 – 1/20/18)
Nude Nite Miami-Wynwood, Miami, FL (11/9/17 – 11/11/17)
Cellulart: Bridging Cytoskeletal Research and Art, University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts, Toledo, OH (9/29/17)
Micro/Macro, Sulfur Studios, Savannah, GA (9/22/17 – 9/30/17)
Fin, Fur & Feather, Valley Art Center, Chagrin Falls, OH (9/2/17 – 10/11/17)
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Required Reading
A review of a new biography on Dennis Cooper, an important figure in 20th-century LGBTQ literature, looks at what differentiates him from his peers. Writing for the Boston Review, David H. Hobbs explains: Which is also to say that Cooper’s … Continue reading
What a Painter Taught Me
In 2011 I was invited by Demetrio Paparoni, my former editor at the Italian art journal tema celeste, to write a catalogue essay about Francesco Polenghi, an artist whom I had never met (Francesco Polenghi, Skira, 2011). Polenghi lived in … Continue reading
Martin Puryear’s Open Questions
According to the checklist for Martin Puryear at Matthew Marks (November 12, 2020 – January 30, 2021) there are six sculptures in the exhibition. However, “A Column for Sally Hemings” (2019) — which was in Puryear’s solo exhibition at the … Continue reading
The Melancholy Marriage of Tracey Emin and Edvard Munch
LONDON — Edvard Munch and Tracey Emin — what a gloom-struck pair! We see them together, in two photographs hung side by side on the wall, as we enter the exhibition at the Royal Academy. They look uncannily of a … Continue reading
Writing from Another World
It is one thing to create an alternative world, which is what many science fiction writers do. It is another to write from inside an alternative world, which is what Eric Baus achieves in his fifth book, How I Became … Continue reading
Pieces of a Woman Falls to Pieces
In a 24-minute single take, a stylish blond named Martha (Vanessa Kirby) delivers a baby. She grunts, squats, sweats, curses, rendering this most womanly of labors intensely unfeminine. The handheld camera swerves to and fro, roving voyeuristically throughout the hall … Continue reading
Playboi Carti’s Impressionist Rap
Playboi Carti has lost himself in sound. The Atlanta rapper’s Whole Lotta Red, released on Christmas as a surprise present to fans, defies rap’s usual rules as meaning dissolves, trap’s sonic hallmarks are pastiched, impulsive segues continually disrupt the flow, … Continue reading
The Internet Can’t Get Enough of Bundled-up Bernie Memes
Due to overwhelming demand, we bring you a fresh batch of viral bundled-up Bernie memes, which took the internet by storm after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s inaugurations. It’s now clear that the senator from Vermont emerged as the … Continue reading
Trimmed in Gold, Ceramic Vessels by Artist Yurim Gough Challenge Notions of Gender
All images courtesy of Paradigm Gallery, shared with permission Through nine ceramic bowls, Yurim Gough untangles the complex narratives surrounding performance, appearance, and gender fluidity. Her identity-centric pieces—which are infused with layers of pencil renderings, thread, and other materials that … Continue reading
Copy of Salvator Mundi Discovered In Naples Apartment
In 2017, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” fetched $450.3 million at a Christie’s auction, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold. This week, a 500-year-old copy of the work, likely painted by a student of Leonardo, was discovered in the relative obscurity … Continue reading
How BTS’s Internet Presence Feeds “ARMY” Meme Production
My assessment of BTS is unabashedly biased. I’m what you call “pandemic ARMY,” becoming a fan shortly after the first lockdown, among over a 100 million fans who watched their October “Map of the Soul: ON:E” online concerts. Hell, I … Continue reading
The Artists Who Lurk on the Dark Web
Launched in 2011, Silk Road was a dark web marketplace where unlawful goods and services, including illegal drugs and (allegedly) the services of professional hitmen, were bought and sold regularly by the site’s users. According to the FBI, It was … Continue reading
A Virtual Sundance Brings Movies About Isolation and Mediated Realities
The Sundance Film Festival is around the corner, and while this year it’ll be mostly digital — with a limited number of festivalgoers actually in Park City, Utah — the fact that it’s happening at all is cause for optimism. … Continue reading
An Innovative Installation Embeds Lights into a Five-Acre Field to Spur Crop Growth
Spread across a thick field of leeks in the Netherlands is Daan Roosegaarde’s new installation that illuminates the practice of modern farming, highlighting the fields that feed us and their plights. In “Grow,” the Dutch artist and designer, who’s … Continue reading
Why the Art World Needs Populism
As we watched the outgoing president’s cult of rabid followers storm the capital, we spectators could at least feel secure in the knowledge that, although we might have witnessed the ugly truth about what America really is—that sort of populism … Continue reading
Week in Review: Internet Reacts to Joe Biden’s Inauguration; Comic Auctions Break Records
Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter. Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet to ever perform at a US presidential inauguration, moved audiences across the … Continue reading
Holy Bidding, Batman! Bruce Wayne and Tintin Break Comic Art Auction Records
Two record-setting sales on January 14 are the latest indication of the strength of the international market for comic books and comic art. At Artcurial in Paris, a rejected 1936 Tintin cover illustration by Belgian cartoonist Hergé sold for €3.2 million … Continue reading
How Amanda Gorman’s Poetry Roused a “Country That Is Bruised but Whole”
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy invited Robert Frost to read at his inauguration, and since then, only three other presidents have included poets in their ceremonies. President Joe Biden picked Amanda Gorman, 22, for Wednesday’s program, making her the … Continue reading
Explore Vermeer’s ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ in Incredible Detail with an Interactive 10-Billion Pixel Panorama
Last year, researchers released records from nearly two years of analysis of Johannes Vermeer’s most-recognized artwork, “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” While their findings didn’t include the subject’s highly sought-after identity, they did reveal that the gray backdrop is actually … Continue reading
Is Any Modern Porn Worth Preserving?
In early December 2020, a New York Times op-ed alleged that pornography streaming giant Pornhub, one of the most visited sites on the internet, was hosting videos of child pornography, revenge porn, and sexual assault. Visa and Mastercard subsequently pulled … Continue reading
A Slippery Drama About the Uncertainty of Memory
After 20 years practicing neurosurgery in America, Márta (Natasa Stork) returns to her native Budapest to rendezvous with János (Viktor Bodó), whom she fell in love with during a conference. But when he misses their appointed reunion, she tracks him … Continue reading
An Exquisite Tribute to Terry Adkins, Maker of Monumental Sonic Sculptures
ST. LOUIS, MO — Terry Adkins was an artist who improvised. Whether in sculpture, performance, video, or printmaking, he rooted his projects in history, and then imbued them with a sense of experimentation. “I am engaged in an ongoing quest … Continue reading
The Blue Hour: Lyrical Illustrations Catalog a Menagerie of Specimens in Earth’s Rarest Pigment
All images © Isabelle Simler, shared with permission French illustrator and author Isabelle Simler deftly renders the liminal time surrounding dusk through a poetic exploration of Earth’s rarest color. The Blue Hour winds through the natural world on a journey … Continue reading
30 Years of Offbeat Documentaries With Lynne Sachs
About a year after Sheffield Doc/Fest paid tribute to her films, veteran documentarian Lynne Sachs is now being similarly honored by the Museum of the Moving Image. The program Lynne Sachs: Between Thought and Expression collects 30 years of shorts … Continue reading
On Inauguration Day, Artists Remixes NYC Street Signs With a Cheeky Farewell to Trump
A most fitting goodbye to the nation’s 45th president is taking place in his very own native New York. Urban artist Adrian Wilson, known for his clever interventions in public spaces, has struck again: today he reworked a sign for Thompson Street … Continue reading
The Best Inauguration Memes, From Bernie’s Mittens to Lady Gaga’s Hunger Games Pin
It’s now official: Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States. On this historic day, Twitter is buzzing with memes and jokes about moments in the inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC, with special attention paid to Senator Bernie … Continue reading
A Short Film Chronicles Mural Fest Kosovo, Void Projects’ Initiative to Infuse a War-Torn City with Public Art
“At that time it wasn’t easy for me to be in the public with my camera because the country was very sensitive to reporters like me,” photojournalist Hazir Reka tells a group of muralists. “Being in the public with … Continue reading
Trump’s Last-Minute Pardons Include Art Dealer Helly Nahmad, Charged for Illegal Gambling
Hours before the end of his single-term presidency, Donald Trump unleashed a blitz of presidential pardons to 143 people. Among them is New York art dealer Hillel “Helly” Nahmad, a Trump Tower resident who was sentenced to prison in 2014 … Continue reading
The Very First Photograph of a US Presidential Inauguration
Inauguration of James Buchanan, President of the United States, at the east front of the U. S. Capitol, March 4, 1857 (photo via Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Montgomery Meigs Papers) The first known photograph of a United States presidential inauguration was … Continue reading
Mapping Jewish, Indigenous, and Spiritual Life in LA
How might religion and spirituality leave a mark on a city? The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has been supporting three different projects that document the impact of faith-based communities in Los Angeles: Mapping Indigenous LA, Mapping Jewish LA, … Continue reading
Surreal Scenes and Pixelation Overlay Vintage Artworks in Hybrid Oil Paintings by André Schulze
All images courtesy of Paradigm Gallery André Schulze scours dusty thrift store bins and private advertisements for vintage paintings and photographs created in the first half of the 20th Century. The German artist restores the found artworks and then dramatically … Continue reading
A Disquieting Look at How AIs Foment Political Extremism
LOS ANGELES — Do AIs dream of revolution? Don Edler’s Devil You Know — now screening online at Hunter Shaw Fine Art — suggests they can, although not in the way you might expect. Part video essay and performance art, … Continue reading
Elegant Figures Inhabit the Surreal Dreamworlds of Thanh Nhàn Nguyễn’s Sublime Illustrations
“Season of silence.” All images © Thanh Nhàn Nguyễn, shared with permission Populated with low clouds, oversized peonies, and birds covered in fish scales, Thanh Nhàn Nguyễn‘s dreamscapes merge fantasy and tradition in a celebration of Vietnamese culture. In his … Continue reading
The Living Legacy of the Kamoinge Workshop, a Force in Black Photography
The Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of influential African American photographers formed during the Civil Rights Movement, was born out of a hope of creating a support system for producing, displaying, and archiving photographs in the face of rejection from nearly … Continue reading
Chicago Promises $2.5 Million in Grants to Artists and Art Organizations
Chicago will distribute about $2.5 million in grants to local artists and art organizations, the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) announced. The city launched a new Artist Response Program on Monday, January 11, which will provide … Continue reading
The Story of the Scorched Melania Trump Sculpture in Slovenia
In 2018, Berlin-based US artist Brad Downey commissioned Slovenian artisan Ales “Maxi” Zupevc to create a sculpture of the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump. It was the first time Zupevc had ever been asked to do something … Continue reading
Trump Executive Order Ironically Includes Statue for Banality of Evil Author Hannah Arendt
A Trump executive order that includes erecting a statue for Hannah Arendt, the political thinker who dedicated her scholarship to understanding the roots of totalitarianism, struck many as a new height of irony. The executive order, signed on January 18, … Continue reading
Rael San Fratello’s Pink Teeter-Totters at the U.S.-Mexico Border Win Beazley Design of the Year
The three neon pink seesaws that slotted through the U.S.-Mexico border were just named the 2020 Beazley Design of the Year. Conceived by Oakland-based artists Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello (previously), the playful, subversive project was installed in July … Continue reading
A Nigerian Art Gallery, Focusing on Women Artists, Opens in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — As Los Angeles’s international cultural profile has risen over the past decade, galleries from more established art capitals have opened outposts here. Next month, however, will be the first time that a contemporary gallery from Africa will … Continue reading
Films That Center and Celebrate the Might of Black Women
Nikki Giovanni has never been one to pull any punches. When the celebrated poet is asked how early racism develops in children, she dryly responds, “Yesterday.” Referencing the intellectual might of Black people, and Black women specifically, she reminds us, … Continue reading
Purchase College Invites Graduate Students to Join Vibrant Community of Makers and Thinkers
The MFA in Visual Arts at Purchase College, SUNY, is a small, selective interdisciplinary program that fosters the artistic, intellectual, and professional growth of students through independent studio work and rigorous academic studies. State-of-the-art facilities include photography, video and digital … Continue reading
Duplicate Limbs and Unusual Mashups Revitalize Vintage Ceramic Creatures by Artist Debra Broz
All images courtesy of Paradigm Gallery Simultaneously adorable and bizarre, Debra Broz’s porcelain creatures breathe new life into antique knick-knacks. The Los Angeles-based artist (previously) carefully gathers discarded figurines that she separates and reassembles into humorous and unusual sculptures: an … Continue reading
The Delightfully Debased Art of Nicole Eisenman and Keith Boadwee
Nicole Eisenman and Keith Boadwee, currently on view at the Flag Art Foundation, is a testament to the three-decade long friendship between these two queer artists. Having established an impressive career that includes winning the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2015, … Continue reading
A Tiled Wave Ripples Across Olafur Eliasson’s New Installation in Downtown Chicago
“Atmospheric wave wall” (2021), 30 x 60 feet. All images courtesy of CNL Projects, shared with permission Last week, artist Olafur Eliasson (previously) unveiled a massive, wave-like artwork that mimics the rippled surfaces of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. … Continue reading
Translating Deaf Culture, Christine Sun Kim Underlines the Difficulty of Interpretation
LOS ANGELES — You know that split-second lag when translating between two languages (however you define them), when meaning starts to slide into a string of unintelligible symbols? That’s the space that Christine Sun Kim’s artworks occupy. Her drawings use … Continue reading
1,500-year-old Archway Partially Collapses in Iraq, Prompting Urgent Calls for Help
Recent damage to the Taq Kasra, a 1,500-year-old architectural masterpiece in Iraq, has renewed urgent calls for government officials and cultural heritage organizations to protect the Persian monument. Located approximately 25 miles south of Baghdad, the Taq Kasra was built … Continue reading
Ishmael Reed Picks Hamilton Apart, Bit by Revisionist Bit
The cover of The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Archway Editions, 2020 (photo by Zhaleh Afshar for Hyperallergic) Ishmael Reed’s play, The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda is a corrective to the revisionist missteps of the Broadway musical, Hamilton. À la A … Continue reading
Bringing the FBI’s War on Martin Luther King Jr. to Light
It’s been public knowledge for decades that the FBI waged all-out war on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, with particular intensity directed at Martin Luther King Jr. Yet it’s not until now that a major film has opened … Continue reading
Andy Warhol’s Defiant Hopes for Queer Art
This essay is excerpted from Andy Warhol: Love, Sex, and Desire. Drawings 1950–1962 published by TASCHEN. Andy Warhol. Love, Sex, and Desire. Drawings 1950–1962 by Michael Dayton Hermann, Drew Zeiba, Blake Gopnik (published by TASCHEN) One day, somewhere maybe around … Continue reading
Trump Baby Blimp Has Entered the Museum of London Collection
When Donald Trump made his first official visit to the United Kingdom in July of 2018, he was greeted by mass protests and a giant balloon of his diaper-clad doppelganger hovering over Parliament Square in Westminster. Now, as Trump is … Continue reading
This Elaborately Armored Samurai Was Folded From A Single Sheet of Paper
All images © Juho Könkkölä, shared with permission Juho Könkkölä spent upwards of 50 hours scoring and folding just one sheet of Wenzhou rice paper to create this painstakingly detailed samurai complete with plated armor, traditional helmet, and sword. Beginning … Continue reading
Required Reading
Everyone should read historian Timothy Snyder’s important essay “The American Abyss: A historian of fascism and political atrocity on Trump, the mob and what comes next.” He writes: Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president. When we give … Continue reading
Poems in the Language of Death
In 1970 Paul Celan published a single line in the Paris journal L’Ephémère: “La poésie ne s’impose plus, elle s’expose” — Poetry no longer imposes itself, it exposes itself. Exposure resonates throughout Celan’s work: the isolated self, scarified by the … Continue reading
The Independent Spirit of Herbert Gentry
Herbert Gentry was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1919 and died in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2003, at the age of 84. In 2001, he moved permanently to Sweden because America lacked an adequate health care program. Otherwise, he would have … Continue reading
Rudy Burckhardt’s Innocent Eye
In a world where an artist is either a professional or an outsider, it is useful to consider these words by Rudy Burckhardt: I am enough of an amateur existentialist and Buddhist to believe that we actually just mess around … Continue reading
Trump’s Last Act
On January 14, 2017, six days before the inauguration of the current president, Hyperallergic Weekend launched a weekly image-and-text series, Drawing in a Time of Fear & Lies, with a work by William Powhida called “Various Dismal Futures.” Based on … Continue reading
Rachel Eulena Williams’s Threads of Abstraction
Over the past few years, Rachel Eulena Williams has honed a distinctive style of brightly colored, multi-dimensional abstract paintings. The artist reconfigures canvases that she removes from conventional supports, and collages a myriad of diverse materials onto them. While always … Continue reading
How to Recognize Right-wing Dog Whistles and Symbols, From Viking Hats to Flags
How did a mob of angry Trump supporters come so close to harming members of Congress on January 6, 2021? Capitol police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), two government agencies adept at suppressing dissent, have been conspicuously lenient … Continue reading
Are Trump Staffers Taking Home White House Artworks That Belong to the Public?
Are Trump staffers taking artwork from the White House illegally on their way out? A stuffed bird, a framed photograph of the outbound US head of state meeting with the Chinese president, and a bust of Abraham Lincoln were some … Continue reading
A Collection of Experimental Kinetic Art, Featuring Marcel Duchamp and Jenny Holzer
The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, received a gift of 98 works of kinetic art from the collection of the David Bermant Foundation in Santa Barbara, California. The substantial donation, which had been in the works for several … Continue reading
A Tyrannical Tabby Rules an Opulent Assemblage of Densely Layered Scenes by Artist Kris Kuksi
“Tabby Tyrant” (2021), mixed-media assemblage, 31 x 31 x 9 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Joshua Liner Gallery, shared with permission A bejeweled tabby presides over Kris Kuksi’s sprawling new landscape teeming with retro figures, ornate baubles, … Continue reading
Around the Block: David Zinn’s Quirky Chalk Cartoons Spring to Life in a New Short Film
If you’ve walked the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the last few decades, you’ve probably spotted the wide-eyed monsters and mischievous dragons of David Zinn (previously). Since 1987, the artist has been drawing chalk-and-charcoal creatures in site-specific works … Continue reading
How We Can Hold Art Galleries Accountable
We shook the table with “Change the Museum” and “Oscars so White”, so why not “Cancel Art Galleries”? Why are horror stories of racism, sexism, and abuse in art galleries open secrets that remain unaddressed? The dominant agents of the … Continue reading
60,000 Bees Recreate the Nefertiti Bust and Other Classic Sculptures in Wax with Artist Tomáš Libertíny
“Eternity” (2019-2020), natural beeswax, wood, glass, Cor-ten steel, 230 x 100 x 100 centimeters. All images © Tomáš Libertíny, shared with permission Tomáš Libertíny prefers to collaborate when recreating iconic busts and sculptures, although his chosen partners don’t join him … Continue reading
Antibodies and Oppositions: Artwork That Addresses Our New Normal
PARIS — Antibodies, the Palais de Tokyo’s timely exhibition, presents a cacophonous mix of recent work addressing the oppositions that define our new normal: distance/proximity, physical/virtual, open/closed. More appropriately titled, “Anti-bodies,” the works displayed test the limits of our fleshy … Continue reading
Week in Review: Jewish Heritage Museum Vandalized With Confederate Flag; UK Rejects Antiquity Regulations
Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, the Smithsonian, … Continue reading
Guggenheim Names Naomi Beckwith as Deputy Director and Chief Curator
Naomi Beckwith (Photo by Nathan Keay for MCA Chicago, courtesy the Guggenheim Museum) The Guggenheim Museum in New York announced today, January 14, that it has named Naomi Beckwith as its deputy director and chief curator. In the role, Beckwith … Continue reading
More Than 90 Artists Create Original Works on Vintage Envelopes for ‘Couriers of Hope’
By Andrew Hem What brings you hope? That’s the central question behind a new group exhibition presented by Port City Creative Guild. Couriers of Hope boasts more than 120 original pieces from more than 90 artists—the list includes Rosanne Kang … Continue reading
A Dolly Parton Statue Might Be Coming to Nashville, Tennessee
Country music icon Dolly Parton may one day be immortalized with a statue at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. Democratic Rep. John Mark Windle introduced a bill on Tuesday, January 12, calling to erect a statue “to recognize [Parton] for all … Continue reading
The California Studio at UC Davis Is Accepting Applications for Artists in Residence
The Department of Art and Art History at the University of California, Davis is pleased to invite applications for the inaugural Teaching Artists-in-Residence in The California Studio. We are looking for artists in all disciplines, traditional and non-traditional, who are … Continue reading
Loose Fibers Billow Out of Warped Ceramic Sculptures by Artist Nicole McLaughlin
All images © Nicole McLaughlin, shared with permission “As a product of an American father and a Mexican mother, I am influenced by the conflicting expectations I have received as a woman within my two cultures,” says artist Nicole McLaughlin. … Continue reading
A Modern Update to the “Gentleman Thief” Genre
Pop culture loves cycling through endless reiterations of classic characters like Sherlock Holmes, but one recent update of an old literary figure stands out from the rest. The French TV series Lupin is a contemporary spin on Arsène Lupin, Maurice … Continue reading
Pondering Rituals and Considering Resolve for Queer Artists at the Opening of a New Year
Preface This article was originally commissioned by EastEast. After receiving my first draft, the editors said that mentions of queer artists, and their activism related to their sexual identity needed modification due to the publication’s funding by the embassy of … Continue reading
25 Years of Pixar’s Vibrant, Emotional Color Palettes
Pixar recently marked the 25th anniversary of the release of its beloved film (and franchise), Toy Story. A renowned all-ages romp that remains close to the hearts of millions worldwide, Toy Story was also the first fully computer animated feature … Continue reading
This Warty Pig Painting Is Thought To Be the Oldest Cave Art in the World
Deep within Leang Tedongnge, a cave tucked away on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, archaeologists discovered this mulberry-hued painting of a warty pig and two hand silhouettes potentially belonging to the artist, which is now believed to be the oldest … Continue reading
Escape Into Soundwaves From the Comfort of Your Home
It’s possible to slip beyond the confines of your living quarters, without even turning a doorknob or cracking a window. Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett, public radio veterans and founders of the World According to Sound, a podcast that spotlights … Continue reading
A Los Angeles Nonprofit Is Supporting Prison Abolition Through a Community Ceramics Practice
All images courtesy of People’s Pottery Project, shared with permission People’s Pottery Project (PPP) has a simple mission: “to empower formerly incarcerated women, trans, and nonbinary individuals and their communities through the arts.” The value of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit, … Continue reading
Warhol Foundation Distributes $3.9 Million to 51 Organizations Grappling With Pandemic Losses
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented blows to the cultural sector, forcing closures, canceling events, and leaving institutions scrambling to adjust to the new online landscape. According to a survey by the American Alliance of Museums from November 2020, almost 30% … Continue reading
Following Third Suicide in One Year, Vessel Closes Indefinitely
When the Vessel opened in March of 2019, it was seen by many as an aesthetically challenged symbol of corrupt opulence and suspicious financing. But now, for the third time in less than a year, a person has died by … Continue reading
A Technicolor Flower Bed Sprouts From a 70-Foot-Tall Water Tower in Arkansas
All images © Justkids, shared with permission A drab water tower in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, is overrun with a 70-foot-tall garden of technicolor flowers and vines thanks to artists Darren and Emmelene Mate, aka DabsMyla. The Australian wife and husband … Continue reading
Breathing With Zarah Hussain at the Peabody Essex Museum
Long before the coronavirus started making its way around the planet, Zarah Hussain had been thinking about breath. Focused on the intersection of science and spirituality, Hussain melds ancient traditions of meditation and breathwork with contemporary technology. The resulting work … Continue reading
Viral Sink Reviewer Eviscerates MoMA’s Restrooms
A quirky Tik Tok account dedicated to rating sinks and faucets in public bathrooms across New York City posted a scathing takedown of the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) new washrooms. Sink Reviews delivers amusing, detailed reviews of sinks in … Continue reading
Your Concise New York Art Guide for January 2021
New year, new energy, right? Regardless of how many resolutions you’ve managed to stick to (or have perhaps wisely given yourself a break on), finding more ways to immerse yourself in art is always a worthy goal. This month, we … Continue reading
Bold, Striking Portraits by Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe Render Expressive Subjects in Shades of Gray
“Red Bandana on Green Suit” (2020), oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches. All images © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe courtesy of Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, shared with permission Set against bold, impasto backdrops, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe’s portraits emphasize … Continue reading
Wonder Woman the Museum Worker is a Less Convincing Disguise Than Clark Kent’s
When we last saw Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in 2017, she offered a glamorous vision of a museum job: surrounded by ancient weapons in her Louvre office, dressed in luxe cashmere and killer boots, stunningly beautiful. Unreal as this … Continue reading
Your Concise Los Angeles Art Guide for January 2021
We’re back with our first monthly roundup of art exhibitions in 2021, and I’m particularly enthusiastic about this selection. There’s a mix of Los Angeles minimalism, an overlooked surrealist, exciting work from recent MFA grads, and poignant art made during … Continue reading
Roam the Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum via Augmented Reality
What if you could roam the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, learn about the artwork, and even play some trivia games, all from the comfort of your phone screen? That day has come thanks to … Continue reading
An Intimate Photographic Series Glimpses the Lives of the Children Who Fish in Ghana’s Lake Volta
All images © Jeremy Snell, courtesy of Setanta Books, shared with permission Blanketing much of Ghana’s landscape is Lake Volta, an artificial reservoir with the largest surface area in the world. The enormous body of water spans from the southern … Continue reading
An Expansive View of Asian Identity at the Asia Society Triennial
It was clear from its premise that the Asia Society Triennial would be a difficult feat: a triennial about the most populous continent in the world and its diaspora amid a crowded field of hundreds of biennials and triennials — … Continue reading
A Tribute to a Filmmaker Who’s Chronicled Black Life, From Civil Rights to Post-Katrina New Orleans
Sam Pollard is one of the most overlooked cinematic multihyphenates in the US. An editor, producer, director, and professor active for more than four decades, he’s played a huge role in chronicling Black US life through both his own work … Continue reading
Maine College of Art Is Now Accepting Applications for Its MFA in Studio Art Program
Call for ApplicationsThe Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art program at Maine College of Art (MECA) supports interdisciplinary studio practice, which encourages students to think across traditional academic boundaries, expand their art practice, and challenge their intellectual curiosity. An MFA … Continue reading
The Wolf House: A Horror Film Plunges into the Disturbing Mind of a Child through a Blend of Stop-Motion Animation and Murals
Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León descend into the psychologically disturbing world of a child escaped from religious fanatics in their feature-length film The Wolf House. Layered with audio of unsettling voices and the quiet mutterings of a young girl, the grotesque … Continue reading
Esther Pearl Watson Channels Strange Pandemic Life in 100 Paintings
LOS ANGELES — In 2020, I can’t count the number of times that my social media feeds shared how iconic names, like Shakespeare and Shelley, created landmark works while in isolation. But this overlooks the mental weariness and overwhelming grief … Continue reading
How a Trump Executive Order Aims to Set White Supremacy in Stone
Do y’all remember the “Unite the Right 2” rally, held in Washington DC on August 12, on the anniversary of the deadly white supremacist march in Charlottesville? I didn’t think so. The violence and terror of the first Unite the … Continue reading
Interview: Photographer Jem Cresswell Speaks to the Intimacy and Humility of Documenting Humpback Whales
All images © Jem Cresswell, shared with permission For years, Sydney-based photographer Jem Cresswell (previously) has been diving into the ocean to document the otherwise unseen lives of humpback whales, a humbling experience he recounts in the latest interview supported … Continue reading
Weird Animations About Infidelity, Warfare, and Quitting Smoking
Bill Plympton sculpts mesmerizing animation out of caricature. Though he works with just basic drawing materials, he transcends those limitations by imbuing everything he makes with offbeat charm, evident in works such as his Oscar-winning 1987 short Your Face. The … Continue reading
Plan to Sell Diego Rivera Mural at San Francisco Art Institute Draws Backlash
SAN FRANCISCO — Diego Rivera once described his paintings as “true and complete pictures of the life of the toiling masses.” In the 1920s, the Mexican artist turned from the easel to the centuries-old fresco technique in part because murals … Continue reading
UK Rejects European Union Regulations to Reduce Illegal Antiquity Trafficking
As part of its post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, the United Kingdom has rejected new import licensing regulations imposed by the EU designed to safeguard cultural heritage from illegal trafficking, according to the Art Newspaper. The regulations were introduced by the … Continue reading
Ohio Arts Council Board Member Resigns After Incendiary Comments on Capitol Attack
Susan Allan Block (courtesy of the Ohio Arts Council) Ohio Arts Council board member Susan Allan Block resigned on Friday, January 8, following social media comments in which she referred to incoming vice president Kamala Harris as a “whore” and … Continue reading
Photorealistic Figures Embody Childhood Wonder in Dreamy Murals by Lula Goce
Bronx, New York City. All images © Lula Goce, shared with permission From New York City to Azerbaijan to Kristianstad, Sweden, artist Lula Goce transforms blank walls into ethereal artworks that illustrate childlike wonder and growth. Her murals merge photorealistic … Continue reading