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Intrigued by the work of photographer Rosamond Purcell, Michael sees a documentary about the 75-year-old artist, and he is moved and by the images of odd bits of nature and human-made detritus that are her mainstay. He calls Purcell the Diane Arbus of the natural world. The film comes to Lightbox Film Center in March, 2018.
Read MoreAndrea Kirsh rounds up books for your biblio-pals who love art and are waiting for a nice art book to come their way. Here she talks about a sumptuously-illustrated book on Kandinsky; a fun book about artists’ personal libraries (with pictures!); and a book showing the Carrie Mae Weems’s seminal “Kitchen Table Series” in its entirety. Read on!
Read MoreAndrea Kirsh writes about a decorative installation by Talia Greene at Glen Foerd that draws attention to a historic house’s wealthy’s occupants and the hidden story of the poor workers who built it, tended it, and served the owners. She says the historic house’s current caretakers are making some of the hidden histories visible on their website.
Read MoreNathalie Du Pasquier is one of the founders of the influential Italian Postmodern design group Memphis. Her colorful and immersive installation at ICA is both art and design. Ephraim calls it playful yet rooted in the artist’s adherence to principles of design, structure and systems. A walk through the paintings, rugs, furniture and still life paintings of objects and furniture exposes a seamless and natural interplay between art and design.
Read MoreIlana’s trip to Galerie St. Etienne brings her face to face with political art by Käthe Kollwitz and Sue Coe, including several works made by Coe 30 years ago that cause her to ruminate on today’s identity politics and the question of who owns the right to depict another’s pain. It’s a good read.
Read More“Philadelphia: Finding the Hidden City” is a dense and fact-filled rumination on the character of the city of Philadelphia as reticent, wallflowerish, and modest — a hidden city. Written by self-titled urban observers Nathaniel Popkin and Peter Woodall, and including over one hundred stunning photographs by Joseph E.B. Elliott, of iconic architectural spaces and places in the city, the book has many charms (including the photos and the beautiful hardback cover). Michael says it’s a difficult read, however, as the narrative about the city’s character, written in densely-packed paragraphs with history references galore, is at times overwhelming.
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