Roni Horn aka Roni Horn Whitney Museum of American Art The welcome mat laid out by Roni Horn and the Whitney, a collection of ninety-six color photographed portraits of the artist’s niece (This is Me, This is You 1998-2000) wastes no time with gentle introductions to the show’s primary theme. … Read more
San Francisco painter by Neila Mezynski I first saw Barbara Vos’s work in 1992 in a show entitled “Absence of Proof” at Somar Art Gallery in San Francisco, Ca., recently renamed Somarts. The exhibit also included Gustavo Rivera and David Miller’s work. I was immediately struck by the energy and boldness in Vos’s work. One … Read more
Recently, while visiting the Los Gatos Museum of Art, I came across the work of Latino Torelli, an Italian painter now residing in Oakland, Ca.. The museum in association with the Los Gatos Art Association produces the Annual Open Juried Show, an organization comprised of bay area artists, Torelli’s painting, “Alley by the Portal, Oakland”, … Read more
by Robert C. Morgan A Gathering of The Tribes: January 10 – February 1, 2009 Portrait of the artist, Grace Rim. Courtesy of the artist. After six years of an escalating art market following the invasion of Iraq, where prices for mediocre spectacles rose beyond the fringes of obscenity, artists and their investors find themselves … Read more
by: Neila Mezynski Six Sculptors From Humboldt State University Piante Gallery is the perfect place to house six contemporary sculptors’ work, with its high ceilings and old world charm, the nouveau elegance and provocative nature of their efforts is beautifully displayed. All 6 sculptors are professors on the faculty of Humboldt … Read more
BROADTHINKING: Unnatural Acts and Other Illicit Thoughts about Nature at Broadway Gallery reviewed by Susan L. Yung An art exhibit curated by Chris Twomey at Broadway Gallery in Soho is a compilation of installations of eleven individual artists metamorphing natural or waste products into creating (infusing) another form of existence or new life in the … Read more
New paradigm blues are what happens in between changes. Changes are what nobody wants because while they are happening there is massive disorientation. New paradigm euphoria is what happens with the sort of hope generated election night. This sort of hope engenders possibilities for change. This writing is about my hopes for art’s possibilities in the coming times. Read more
Catherine Opie: American Historian By Rebecca Lossin Catherine Opie: American Photographer, a mid-career retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, is a deceitfully simple title. The historical project that so successfully binds images as disparate as black and white cityscapes and larger than life tattooed bodies, is perfectly encapsulated in a label whose meaning is at once … Read more
See, I haven’t really paid my (figurative) dues at the station since I exercised my alumni rights and re-joined two years ago. I admit that. So when they stick me with the Country show, I get it. I’m not mad. But we do get bored. I mean, you can’t exactly kill ‘em with that format, you know? We have a broad enough knowledge and some basic views on the genre, definite respect, by all means, but Country just isn’t where we’re at. There’s a limitation to it, a certain ceiling you hit, and the cracks we make are sporadic and short. We love Hank Williams and Merle Haggard and the outlaw fringe, and we try not to slip into corny in the remaining 2 hours. Read more
From what I’ve heard, in biennial organizer Dan Cameron’s description and in other reviews, much of the art in this city-wide exhibition will have New Orleans as its subject. This is quite a difference from other biennials, which are often just a collection of the last 2-4 years of Chelsea hits from disparate sources. Instead, this exhibit will feature work made specifically for this site, unveiling the interpretations and reflections on New Orleans of the international contemporary artist. We in the audience will see what they have to say about the place and events surrounding their art. Read more
