Artblog | reviews, features & interviews

October 13, 2016 by Andrea Kirsh

Chicago Shine – The Freedom Principle at the ICA

Over the past couple of decades, almost all American art museums have claimed a mission to reach out to “underserved communities,” yet none of them have acknowledged that these communities have their own well-developed aesthetics of art and material culture. They differ from the mainstream, and the institutions have not been willing to embrace aesthetic values beyond their own. The first part of “The Freedom Principle” is remarkable for doing just that: exhibiting art–and music–that was selected by a group of artists largely excluded from the mainstream of their period, who developed a different set of aesthetic aspirations and standards.

October 12, 2016 by Roberta

Elaine Byrne – Classic material with a contemporary context

Irish artist Elaine Byrne makes work that uses Dante, James Joyce and other heady source material for her works with political and social commentary on contemporary issues. In one case she is calling out an Irish bank scandal, using Dante’s Purgatorio and a pilgrimage location in Ireland called St. Patrick’s Purgatory; in another she’s raising issues about anti-Semitism in the context of Joyce’s Cyclops section of Ulysses. The videos are captivating, and give so very much to chew over. Elaine’s Irish accent is part of the treat of this 38-minutes long podcast.

October 12, 2016 by Anna Marie Gibertini

Why We Write – Thoughts on the Art Writing Discussion Hosted by Artblog and The St. Claire

On September 28, a group of approximately 30 people gathered in Vox Populi’s black box performance space to talk about art criticism, as part of the 2016 New Art Writing Challenge sponsored by Artblog and the St. Claire.

October 11, 2016 by Roberta

Lipton sisters bring Karen Finley to town for artistic candidate-bashing show, Fourth Lantern Slide Show at Wagner, Penn Arts Innovation Program announced, Matthew Christopher’s book launch at Gershman Y, Plus Opportunities!

Via Amy Lipton, Independent Curator (formerly at Abington Art Center)…Amy and her sister, Jane Lipton, are bringing Performance Art Warrior Karen Finley, to Venice Island Performing Arts Center, Manyunk, for a one-night-only performance, “Unicorn Gratitude Mystery, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 7:30 PM. The piece is one woman’s inflamed look at the 2016 Presidential election and candidates.

October 11, 2016 by Matthew Rose

David Lynch Checks in at ITEM Paris

“Plume of Desire,” a series of black and white lithographs drawn in Los Angeles and Paris but printed at ITEM in Paris, is something of a children’s book for very, very bad children. More than 30 pieces, each 60 x 60 cm, filled the ITEM’s gallery in Paris. These prints are dark, beautiful, and hilarious and typical of the creator of Eraserhead and Lost Highway.

October 10, 2016 by Beth Heinly

The 3:00 Book

October 9, 2016 by Neil Marcello

Lessons from the Casbah – Gillo Pontecorvo’s “The Battle of Algiers”

Whether it was intended or not, “The Battle of Algiers” provides a visual blueprint for urban warfare. Its sympathetic portrayal of the guerrillas celebrates the freedom fighters but does not show a path beyond urban warfare and into peaceful resolution. I can only hope that new viewers of the film will understand the lessons it has to offer and not just absorb the blueprint.

October 7, 2016 by Evan Paul Laudenslager

Under the Skin – Porous Coverage at Fjörd

All five artists’ work collectively covers (porously) the surface of the gallery itself. In fact the physical space itself becomes a porous “skin” to uphold the show. The success here is that Porous Coverage is porous itself, i.e., hardly a conclusive statement at all. Rather, with ample opportunity for flexibility and expansion, we are reminded to examine the intrinsic fragility of the nature of “wholeness” in the realm of our constructed objects, spaces, and selves.