Carl(os) Roa visits Mina Zarfsaz’s Dead Ringer, a multimedia installation on view through January 21st at Vox Populi Gallery. An assemblage of found objects and recorded voices sandwiched between two mirrors, this absurdist sculpture begs for audience participation, and Roa puts himself right in the scene.
Read MoreEvan gives props to the famous New York portraitist, Chuck Close, for being a virtuoso of photo techniques (everything from daguerrotypes to large-format Polaroids). But in a show of 90 prints, all very well executed, some of the works — and especially the celebrity photographs — fail to ignite empathy or excitement, he says. NOTE: This post was written prior to the sexual harassment charges against Close were made public. The article is about the artist’s photographs and does not deal with his behavior towards women.
Read MoreChip reviews the InLiquid show, “As By Digging,” at Painted Bride, with three artists whose work digs for emotional truth in personal and other human histories.
Read MoreIntrigued 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.
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