In this 36-minute podcast conversation, Logan Cryer speaks to rod jones ii about his transition from college athlete to art student, themes of identity and ancestry in his artistic practice, and his recent exhibition at InLiquid ‘What Are We Claiming?’
Read MoreAndrea 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 MoreArtblog returning contributor, Elizabeth Johnson, reviews a New York exhibit inspired by pandemic isolation and its impact on the human need to connect.
Read MoreOn a trip to the to see “Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas,” Logan Cryer is disappointed by the lack of context provided about the artist, whose “work has a bit of a reputation as not being as well-liked as some major art institutions would advertise,” Logan says. Wanting to better understand the abstract artist’s popularity, Logan felt alienated when they found no clear or compelling defense of the work, neither in the wall text, nor through the (lack of) display of documents from the artist himself. What does unimaginative curation mean for the legacy of the artist? Read the review to find out what Logan thinks!
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 MoreProvoked by the placement of Emma Amos’s art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an exhibit at the same time as the Jasper Johns exhibit, which seemed to put the Black woman artist’s works subsidiary to the white male artist’s, our contributor Janyce Denise Glasper muses on the two concurrent museum exhibits of Jennifer Packer (at the Whitney Museum and at LA MoCA), and says “Jennifer Packer shifts the narrative to where they (Black artists) can land if given the opportunity.” We hope you enjoy this thoughtful essay by a passionate young writer thinking about the power imbalance in the art world today.
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 MoreOur 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.
Read MoreFilled 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.
Read MoreThe holidays are nearly here, and so is Part 1 of Andrea Kirsh’s annual round up of the best in art books, including an art book tour of historical artist homes and studios (including some local ones), a contemporary painting book for art loves of all kinds, and an enlightening look at 20th century art!
Read More“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.
Read MoreThe new book, “The Soul of a Nation Reader” rounds up long-inaccessible material on Black American art and artists from 1960-1980. The authors who collected this material have done a valuable service to the field of art history, our contributor Andrea Kirsh says.
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Support for Artblog has been provided by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.