Michael gives us a glowing review of the 12th annual HUMP! film festival, which was composed of twenty-two amateur and DIY pornographic films. Featuring a diverse group of body types, races, genders, sexualities, and ages (all over 18), the group of films challenge commercial pornography. Michael says, “Many of the films are filled with tenderness, sincerity, vulnerability, even humor.”
Read MoreThis year the curatorial statement for documenta 14 followed suit with the general state of the arts by concentrating on political unrest, economic disparities exploitation, and the displacement of people. Andrea shares some of her favorite moments of the quinquennial festival, and also gives us a critical review of some of the unfortunate selections made by a few curators.
Read MoreOur newest writer to join Artbog, Catherine Rush, reviews the dreamy world created in “Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes” at The Painted Bride Art Center. It is one of the many wonderful performances premiering as part of the 2017 Fringe Festival. She writes, “The work’s structure is built intentionally in the tensions among its talented collaborators, thematically mirroring the dazzling acrobatics both playfully and profoundly employed.”
Read MoreMichael gives a glowing review of “To My Unborn Child,” an imaginary elegy from visionary Black Panther Fred Hampton to his son. Premiering at the 2017 Fringe Festival, the play Michael says, “makes no attempt directly to connect Fred Hampton’s story to issues that beset the African American community today, but the connection is as obvious as it is heartbreaking and disturbing.”
Read MoreMichael checks out the new Tiger Strikes Asteroid space at Crane Arts, with a guest-curated group show he calls important for dealing with serious issues of our time, such as colonialism, police brutality and eco-devastation. The show’s up through Sept. 14, 2017. Make time to go.
Read MoreA.M. Weaver takes you through the darkened space of the gallery, where video projections, some accompanied by installations, buzz, coo, and talk with you about issues that have been with us forever, involving bodies of color in a world not of their control. It’s a good read and a great show, up through Sept. 8, 2017. Catch it soon!
Read MoreAndrea reviews two recently published books about art made in America over the last 70 years, and shares with us her short list of books she’s eagerly awaiting to be published. The first book she reviews analyzes and debunks common misperceptions about the work of artists from the American Indian Movement. The second book chronicles the many artists living in New York City after the Abstract Expressionist movement, which is the product of a traveling art exhibition first seen at Grey Art Gallery. Though Andrea says, this book “is valuable as considerably more than a catalog to an exhibition.”
Read MoreIn this review, Flora takes us through details of Leah Modigliani’s project, which is based on research of two archival pieces in the 19th century sculpture collection at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The exhibit awakens ideas akin to the current debate over removing public Confederate monuments, though Flora says, “Modigliani’s critique of violence and destruction offers hope.”
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