Contributed by Adam Simon / Lineage is not a concept with a lot of currency these days; too close, perhaps, to its more d�class� kissing cousin, tradition. We look to academia and art history to find precursors for artistic innovators. Typically, the presentation and criticism of art tend to focus […]
Author: Sharon Butler
Amna Asghar: Plumbing orientalism
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Amna Asghar�s gently captivating new paintings, on display at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery on the Lower East Side, explore a rich variety of experiences and perceptions associated with the geographical movement or cultural displacement. Such a shift could be a matter of orderly emigration, traumatic upheaval, or […]
Art and Film: Argentina�s haunting precedent
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Argentina�s decade-long �dirty war� (1974�83) during which a right-wing military junta �disappeared� about 30,000 left-wing dissidents � that is, executed them without acknowledgement of their deaths � ended over 35 years ago. Yet Argentina�s outstanding contemporary filmmakers continue to revisit the dirty war. In 2009, […]
Caroline Wells Chandler: Pied Piper of weirdness
Contributed by Jennifer Coates / I met Caroline Wells Chandler when he was an MFA student at Yale, and we immediately connected in a lunatic mind-meld way. Together, our imaginations sparked, and last year we collaborated on �Electric Mayhem,� a two-person exhibition at Crush Curatorial inspired by the band on The Muppet Show. For […]
Yevgeniya Baras: Impastoed strata
Contributed by Jason Andrew / Spend anytime out in the rural West, particularly the plains of southwest Texas, and you�ll discover the daunting challenge of repelling dust and dirt. At some point, you just have to accept a little discomfort as a small cost of the region�s wondrous horizons, […]
An ocean of rivers: Esteban Cabeza de Baca
Contributed by Sangram Majumdar / Since I first visited Esteban Cabeza de Baca‘s studio when he was enrolled in Columbia�s MFA Program, his work has evolved, but his restlessness and unwillingness to fit into a visual niche has remained unchanged. In his first New York solo exhibition, “Worlds Without Borders” on view at Boers-Li Gallery through June 15, […]
Quick study
This edition of �Quick study� includes good news about how the arts drive economic growth and bad news about MoCA curator Helen Molesworth. Also: Grant Wood�s retrospective at the Whitney, Russian collectors’ hankering to join in the global art world, the future of art fairs, a mural in Parkland, Joan Baez is a painter, and one of my […]
MFA report: Hrag Vartanian finds �home” in RISD painting studios
MFA exhibitions invariably�must encompass�a vast range of disparate material, and it�s a stiff challenge for a�guest curator to create a unified show�that frames a�cohesive�experience for the viewer. This year, the RISD MFA Painting Program invited�Hrag Vartanian, the talented editor and co-publisher of Hyperallergic,�to curate the�MFA exhibition for its�painting students. Vartanian […]
Rainy day in New York
Thomas Berding, Sunrise Sunset Die Cut, 2016, oil, acrylic and flashe on canvas, 70 x 62 inches. When I got to the studio this dreary grey morning, my coat and tote bags were sopping wet. Looking up from the building�s entrance on Washington Street, I saw that the Manhattan Bridge […]
The fairs! The fairs!
In March, the art fairs come to New York, and�I’ve put together a brief list, with descriptions and helpful links to the individual fairs. Note that many have lectures and panel discussions, so make sure�to check out their websites before planning your weekend.