The insistent art works in Beyond Emancipation at Kennedy Heights Arts Center demand attention. “Look at me,” they seem to cry out. “Look at me now. WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M SAYING?” The first message, and there are others, is that emancipation was a first step, a needed step, but only the beginning.
Rather poetically, the announcement card for “Winter Solace” says the two-woman show of Kim Flora’s paintings and Trina Feldhake’s ceramic baskets “reflects the quiet, the surprise, and the texture of the winter season.” It does. At least in part. To start...
This is the second in a series of a quarterly letters, which will cover painting shows in greater New York.
“From the top of the arched opening – as it gradually widens – pours forth a sparkling flow of jewels, a pattering rain of diamonds, and, directly following, a tumble of gems of every color, steeped in light…”
Illuminating work has been spilling out of the intimate brownstones and cavernous light-filled New York...
Flesh. It gleams and swells in Samson and Delilah, giving us the whole story before we can recall the details. It shows us her allure and his weakness. It gives life to this picture, but it is made from paint brushed across a wooden panel. In Rubens’ hands, paint and flesh transform a morality tale into an erotic tour de force.
A stratified structure of litter (constructed of packaging that once housed Cheez-Its, cans of Bud Light and Diet Coke, and Pop-Secret microwavable bags of popcorn) rests precariously atop an old-school reel-to-reel tape recorder in Keith Benjamin’s “the weight,” a sculpture that teeters toward absurdity while evoking the loneliness and exactitude of a hoarder’s consciousness. Nothing is wasted in this work of art. You can...
Justine Ludwig, Assistant Curator of the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, never had to confront the question: “What will I do when I grow up?” Her grandmother was an eclectic collector of art she loved, with no specific period but from all over the world, and her parents trundled her through countless museums on her little girl’s legs. “I used to make paintings and try to sell them to the neighbors,”...
The B. Deemer Gallery in Louisville presents a partial retrospective of the work of artist and educator Robert Knipschild (1927-2004). Paintings include works dating from the 1960s (a little over a decade after he was selected for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned exhibition “American Painting Today”) through the 1990s.
The Marta Hewitt Gallery always looks fresh. There’s something about the bling effect of glass and the space implied and manipulated by that medium. But Hewitt is taking this a giant step forward, lately, pulling in less famous, but equally good artists in other mediums. Currently three multi-dimensional artists, dealing in work-intensive materials are well described in the title: “ Devotion to Detail.” More than just pretty...
The idea of “abstraction” in art has always held a definitive place in my heart ever since I began noticing my love for creative expression. Not only is the idea typically misunderstood by most audiences, it seems to be so because it denies certain concrete realities and meanings we hold dear.
Stacie Seuberling’s landscapes may seem like sets for Romantic ballets; the movement of trees equates to the movement of bodies in space; the lines convey form against curtains of color. Smaller in scale than a stage set, however, their magic lies in Seuberling’s insistence on the real (always an actual landscape), as it combines with a fairy-tale-like evocation of memory, where shadows dis-solve and time slows. Calling...
The year 2011 in new fiction began as bleakly as any in recent memory. By the end of summer, only two or three novels seemed even to be somewhat good – and we need to watch literary/politically correct trends, to make certain we’re not simply reading what’s been declared good for us/for the victimized but newly empowered writer. In past years, literature has been saturated with “chick lit”, “ethnic lit”, et.
Emerging Artists Exposed presents Kristy Kemper discussing her artistic practice, research into animal behaviors, and vibrant layered artworks. In this film interview directed and edited by Shawn Daniell for AEQAI, Kemper explores the intersection of nature, organic forms, and Art Nouveau influences, examining how animal interactions shape visually captivating worlds that are simultaneously magical, delicate, and menacing.
