Andrea reports on the efforts of those involved in the CETA program in the 1970s to reveal and document – and add into the art historical record – the great work produced by the artists in the program and celebrate CETA’s lasting impact on small arts organizations, with funding of administrative staff positions that helped the groups stabilize and grow. Andrea points to CETA as an example of good funding policy that should be considered going forward.
Read MoreSyd Carpenter’s Farm Bowls are mini-portraits of the farms and people she met on trips through the South. Named after these family farms, the Farm Bowls are “remarkable variations on the same, simple form” says reviewer Andrea Kirsh, who also comments about the “Mother Pins” that “they have stunning ranges of textures, coloring, and forms.” The exhibit is at Rowan University Art Gallery until March 26, 2022.
Read MoreAndrea sees works on paper that she first saw in the late 1960s by Anne Ryan, and notes that the highly controlled collages stood apart from the time’s big gestures by abstract expressionists. Andrea says Ryan’s collages are “important reminders… that first-rate art comes in many forms and needn’t follow the common path.” See it at Washburn Gallery, NYC, thru April 2, 2022.
Read MoreMary Obering’s geometric abstractions glow from the placement of gold leaf on their tops or sides and Andrea Kirsh says they are like nothing else being made today. The work is up at Bortolami through Feb. 26, we recommend you get over and see this under-known artist and her glowing works.
Read MoreFeminist artist Joan Semmel’s first solo museum exhibit is long overdue. Our contributor Andrea Kirsh says that Semmel “…breaks taboos about the depiction of women, their bodies and their thoughts.” The show is at PAFA through April 3, 2022. Be sure to catch it.
Read MoreAn 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.
Read MorePart two of Andrea Kirsh’s annual round up of the best in art books is here, including two intriguing books: one on abstract art; the other on art world forgeries and hoaxes! These are great for those interested in 20th/ 21st century abstraction, or those who enjoy mysteries/ detective stories. Make sure to check out “Books for Holiday Giving, Part 1”!
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