One question that emerges is the following: is competition the most progressive way of cultivating an artistic-intellectual community, one that focuses on the reception of artistic initiatives and activities that occur in a particular place?
Read MoreIt seems to me that NMAAHC has the opportunity, not yet fully realized, to bring to African American artists the attention and recognition they deserve, and to place them squarely in the cosmos of American art, and at the same time to “privilege the black voice.” Indeed, the museum brilliantly has accomplished that in its other Culture Galleries.
Read MoreIn London for a week of art hopping and beer tasting, I found myself in one of my favorite galleries that combines both–The approach. This sleek contemporary space not only exhibits one of my favorite collage artists–John Stezaker–but also sits above a warm and friendly pub just off the Bethnal Green Tube station in East London.
Read MoreMany submitted, but only 12 were selected as finalists for the Artblog/St. Claire 2016 New Art Writing Challenge! Keep your eye out for all of the winning articles–we’ll be publishing one a day starting soon. From the Colored Girls Museum to the Mormon Tabernacle, you’ll find something to love from these great Philly-centric pieces of writing.
Read MoreSee, when the Art Commission finds fault with a proposal, the relationship between jury and design team becomes that of teacher to student. Desperate for the Commission’s approval (which is required to receive a building permit in Philadelphia), increasingly flustered groups of architects look for hyper-specific guidance from the Commissioners: what materials to pick instead of what they proposed; how many more trees to include on a plan–essentially, “if this is proposal is wrong, tell us how to make it right.”
Read MoreBremermann has lived in Santa Monica, New York, the Virgin Islands, Paris, and most recently Berlin. Not merely an itinerant artist, she has, among other things, worked sail boats and opened a restaurant. Her artwork feels both disciplined and free spirited: it is at once lyrical and whimsical.
Read MoreIn their opening concert, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia created a wonderful bridge between the Classical Period and the present, showing how Mozart’s legacy lives on. Haydn once wrote of Mozart that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years,” and he could well be on the money there. What the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia has accomplished as a consolation is to show us that the soul of Mozart continues to pour into music, no matter what period or style.
Read MoreWhen Jean Tinguely unpacked his “Hommage to New York” in 1960 and turned it on in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art on March 17, 1960, the sculpture did more than self destruct–it exploded, caught fire, and was drowned by the New York Fire Department. But art history was made amid the shattering bottles, smoke spumes, and firey blow up. Tinguely had brought his kinetic junk to the world of art and succeeded in spectacular failure.
Read More
