Museums

January 14, 2022 by Janyce Denise Glasper

Upstairs and downstairs, the question of what goes where and why, at the museum

Our contributor Janyce Denise Glasper writes an opinionated essay about artists’ placement in museums. Where does Jasper Johns go? Where does Emma Amos? Some artists receive accolades mostly after their death, while others receive praise again and again in life. The art world is still a mostly white world and mostly a white man’s club.

January 11, 2022 by Kate Brock

Transparency, opacity and the limits of human understanding in Jennifer Packer’s “The Eye is not Satisfied with Seeing,” at the Whitney Museum

New Artblog Contributor Kate Brock reviews ‘Jennifer Packer: The Eye is Not Satisfied With Seeing,’ a retrospective of the painter’s radiant portraits, interiors, and funerary bouquets. “The lack of dimensional representation of Black people, especially Black women, in the history of painting… leaves the eye unsatisfied… Packer’s vision reveals the historic absences,” Kate says. Catch the show at the Whitney before it closes April 17, 2022.

January 6, 2022 by Susan Isaacs

‘Afro-American Images 1971’ exhibit is restaged by Delaware Art Museum in a museum mea culpa

“To write about the Black presence at the Delaware Art Museum is to recall the absence of curators, exhibitions, and artists,” says art historian and artist Simone Austin in the catalog for the re-staging of the exhibition ‘Afro-American Images 1971,’ now at the Delaware Museum. Our contributor Susan Isaacs gives the story of the current exhibition and its historical predecessor, and says, “The show is very important.”

December 17, 2021 by Andrea Kirsh

Amber Robles-Gordon’s anti-colonial quilts and personal histories at American University Museum at the Katzen Center

An artist’s visit to her mother’s birth place in Puerto Rico awakens her to the complexities of immigration and family – and to the dubious socio-political actions and inactions by the U.S. government in its far-flung territories. Our reviewer Andrea Kirsh is moved by the powerful collage works and double-sided quilts of Amber Robles-Gordon. The show closed Dec. 12.

December 15, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Powerful show of art by women and non-binary artists working in the region today, at the Delaware Contemporary

Regional women artists of all ages ply various media, from plaster and paint to fibers and installation, in a show that is a demonstration of women and non-binary artists’ power to create. Our reviewer Susan Isaacs says: ‘Given the particularly fraught moment we are facing now regarding… voting rights and control of women’s bodies and those with a uterus, “Fields and Formations” is an especially important statement about the creativity and commitment of women and non-binary artists. “ We encourage you to see this exhibit, up now to January 7, 2022.

December 13, 2021 by Janyce Denise Glasper

Quiet, beautiful and atmospheric, Jennifer Packer’s people and funerary bouquets at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Filled with saturated color and light emanating from unexplained places, Jennifer Packer’s atmospheric works suggest a “provocative harmony,” says Janyce Denise Glasper, in her review of the artist’s solo show at LA MOCA. The show is up to Feb. 21, 2022. Packer also has a solo show at the Whitney Museum right now, on view til April 17, 2022. Be sure to catch this rising star, whose approach to figuration is truly new.

November 30, 2021 by Janyce Denise Glasper

Inclusive and engaging, the Scantland Collection’s “Present Generations” at the Columbus Museum of Art shows contemporary art’s power to connect

The Scantland Collection show of contemporary art at the Columbus Museum of Art is inclusive and powerful and invites a more engaged public, says reviewer Janyce Denise Glasper.

November 23, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

‘Seeing Climate Change’ with artist-activist Diane Burko at American University Museum

In her review, Susan Isaacs calls Diane Burko’s art an activist response to the call to arms to save the planet. “Diane Burko: Seeing Climate Change,” on view until Dec. 12, 2021, at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, is a wide-ranging overview of Burko’s beautiful abstract, photography- and map-linked paintings of eco-catastrophes today (melting glaciers, dying coral reefs).

November 11, 2021 by Andrea Kirsh

Powerful and overlooked, “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art reveals an innovative and feisty woman artist

“Emma Amos: Color Odyssey” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a revelation for those who want to know the art of Emma Amos, who came up during Abstract Expressionism’s heyday and fought against abstraction in works that are complex, inventive and in several cases, stunning.

November 11, 2021 by Deborah Krieger

The visceral impact of scenes of intimacy in “Any distance between us” at the RISD Museum

After almost 2 years of sensory deprivation, Deborah ventures out to a museum exhibit about intimacy, especially focused on art by queer artists and artists of color. The sense of touch is heightened in the works and causes a heightened reaction in our reviewer. Enjoy this great and topical read!

October 6, 2021 by The National Liberty Museum

Applications open for “This is My Home,” five commissioned artist installations at the National Liberty Museum

The National Liberty Museum announces an exciting new project, “This is My Home,” in which five artists will be given stipends ($1,500 – $2,500) to create site-specific installations for the museum’s next major exhibition! Project proposals are due no later than Sun., Nov. 21, 2021, 11:59 (EST). Learn more in this post!

September 29, 2021 by Janyce Denise Glasper

Delivering joy, wonder and deep thoughts, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson at the Columbus Museum of Art

In this joyful review of “Raggin’ On: The Art of Aminah Robinson’s House and Journals,” Janyce Denise Glasper dives into the expansive exhibition– which includes paintings, sculptures, books, photographs, and historical recreations of Robinson’s home– and is filed with wonder and praise. “Raggin’ On,” which Janyce says would interest both children and adults, is on view at the Columbus Museum of Art through October 3, 2021.

September 8, 2021 by Logan Cryer

Designer Anna Russell Jones at the African American Museum, under-known and happily discovered

Logan Cryer visits “Anna Russell Jones: The Art of Design,” a survey of work by the designer and first Black woman artist to graduate from the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now Moore College of Art and Design). Logan says the showcase is impressive, but lacks important historical context. You can see ‘Art of Design’ at the African American Museum in Philadelphia thru September 12, 2021.

August 23, 2021 by Andrea Kirsh

The under known history of Alma Thomas, in print and on view

Andrea Kirsh reviews “Alma Thomas; Everything is Beautiful,” a catalog for the exhibition of the same name. Andrea says both the catalog and exhibition tell the under known history of Alma Thomas’s life as an artist, educator, role model and inspiration to many. The traveling exhibition runs until Sept. 25, 2022; currently on view at Chrysler Museum of Art through Oct. 3, 2021. The catalog is available at the Museum or through Yale University Press.