Tag Archive "theory"

Theory talk with Aaron Levy, Slought’s boss

We met Aaron Levy over coffee a while back to talk about theory. Levy, if you don’t know him, is the executive director of Slought Foundation, the gallery and event space with intellectual chops just on the edge of the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.  He’s also a curator and, what we didn’t expect to hear, a red diaper baby.  He grew up in a dialectical vegetarian household that didn’t celebrate holidays, and at age 30-something he’d just been to his first Thanksgiving dinner, with friends, in New York.

How art lost beauty–a link for you

Beauty is Shoe, by Penn prof. Wendy Steiner in Lapham’s Quarterly, discusses the trajectory that led art from beauty to repelling, with some feminist commentary at the core of it. All your theory folks might find this interesting. I know I did.

John Vick: How It’s Made

Post by John Vick Execution is essential to understanding. The way in which an idea is conveyed, a picture made, or an installation constructed greatly influences the viewer’s interpretation of the piece. This is true regardless of artistic intents or aesthetic penchants. Even with supplemental information, such as wall text or artist’s statements, poorly executed work will be neither convincing nor appealing.

John Vick: One Quiet & One Loud

John Vick is a curatorial fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  He has a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania. Successful artworks seem to fall under one of two humors – they can call attention to themselves overtly or be so plainly understated as to provoke curiosity. This has been true of modern art for quite a while. Consider the simultaneous success of the frenetic work of Jackson Pollock and the contemplative work of Mark Rothko. At present, when images, video, and sound are more readily available ... More » »