December 2019

Semiotic Overloads and Proxy Dimensions: Joomi Chung and John Humphries at the Weston Art Gallery

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in *, December 2019

Semiotic Overloads and Proxy Dimensions: Joomi Chung and John Humphries at the Weston Art Gallery

Changes of shape, new forms, are the theme which my spirit impels me now to recite. Inspire me, O gods, and spin me a thread from the world’s beginning… —Ovid, Prologue to Metamorphoses[1] In Joomi Chung’s Image Space/Memory Space, there are mountains and motorbikes, traffic cones and tree branches, satellites and skyscrapers, flocks of birds […]

Henry Lawrence Faulkner

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in *, December 2019

Henry Lawrence Faulkner

The bohemian life and creative mission that drove Henry Lawrence Faulkner encompassed more than visual art, but it is perhaps his stylized and sometimes colorist work that most indelibly left an impression on the world.  Extraordinarily prolific, Faulkner left behind more than 5,000 works.  He was both a romantic and pragmatic, at times knowing that […]

Art of Ernest Blumenschein

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in *, December 2019

Art of Ernest Blumenschein

The Dayton Art Institute continues its celebration of its Centennial year by highlighting the career of one of Dayton’s most successful 20th century artists: Ernest Blumenschein. This exhibition of 15 works examines his love of the spontaneous sketch, his stature as a fine oil painter and his remarkable contribution to his community in the American […]

Best Fiction of 2019

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in *, December 2019

Best Fiction of 2019

2019 was an exceptionally fine year for new fiction.  My list of the best fiction of this year was difficult to make, as so many excellent choices are available.  In reading other such lists (“The New York Times Book Review”; “The New Yorker”, NPR, Amazon, amongst others), I noted that these lists have few novels […]

Two Photographers: A Personal Appreciation

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

Two Photographers: A Personal Appreciation

Part One In the autumn of 2019, two giants of American photographic arts died, a mere seven days apart from each other. They were close friends and neighbors in the New York of the ‘50s, at one time even working together on the same project (a film). Both were Jewish, and deeply humanistic, and both […]

Intervening on the Museum – Lauren Henkin’s “Props”

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

When you visit the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center within the next few months, you’ll notice some oddities hiding in the buildings’ nooks and crannies. If you’ve visited before, you’re familiar with the famous building designed by architect Zaha Hadid. Curator Steven Matijcio says it’s “meant to disorient the viewer,” and Hadid wants you to recalibrate […]

“A Celebration of Life,” YWCA Greater Cincinnati Women’s Art Gallery, through January 10, 2020

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

“A Celebration of Life,” YWCA Greater Cincinnati Women’s Art Gallery, through January 10, 2020

The Women’s Art Gallery at the Greater Cincinnati YWCA ends the year with “A Celebration of Life,” which was co-curated by Ricci Michaels, Urban Expression 101 Project, and Ena Nearon, Women’s Art Gallery manager. The show features the work of seven visual artists and one poet: Erika Nj Allen, Guatemala; Monica Andino, Honduras; Hei-Kyung Byun, […]

Kienholz' Fortune-Telling Carousel Revolves Around Empathy and Chance

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

Kienholz' Fortune-Telling Carousel Revolves Around Empathy and Chance

Currently on view at LA Louver, Ed and Nancy Kienholz’ playfully eerie mixed-media tableau, The Merry-Go-World or Begat by Chance and the Wonder Horse Trigger (1988-92), evokes the feeling of exploring an abandoned carnival. It’s as though the clowns have departed, the crowds have disappeared, and the games have been packed up; but for some […]

Gerhard Richter’s Distorted Fields of Vision and Allen Feldman’s “Photopolitics”

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

Gerhard Richter’s Distorted Fields of Vision and Allen Feldman’s "Photopolitics"

A collection of Gerhard Richter’s prints are currently being exhibited at the Gagosian Gallery in New York City’s Upper East Side. The works include two more recent pieces–Mustangs (2005, fig. 1)[1] and Frau mit Kind (Woman with Child, 2005, fig. 2)–and the infamous Betty (1991). Rather than extensively detail Betty’s theoretical mirth, which has been […]

15 ͤBiennale de Lyon – Art Contemporain – Là où les eaux se mêlent

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

15 ͤBiennale de Lyon - Art Contemporain - Là où les eaux se mêlent

  This past October, I spent three serendipitous days in Lyon, France where the 15th Biennale de Lyon Art Contemporain Là où les eaux se mêlent (Where Water Comes Together with Other Water) happened to be taking place. This extraordinary international art exhibition opened September 18th, 2019 and runs through January 5th, 2020. The Biennale […]

Profile of Patricia Olding

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

Profile of Patricia Olding

Patricia Olding says she likes to paint something others might miss. To call attention to it. “Not an apple, but this particular thing about apples. I believe the unnoticed needs to become the preeminent subject of my paintings.” We talked in Olding’s studio at the Pendleton Art Center, where she has worked since 2001, in […]

Harmon Museum and Art Gallery in Lebanon, Ohio

December 28th, 2019  |  by  |  published in December 2019

Harmon Museum and Art Gallery in Lebanon, Ohio

Big is not always better.  Look no further than Lebanon, Ohio’s Harmon Museum and Art Gallery, 105 S. Broadway, not well known, but with distinctive offerings. The greatest joy, according to executive director Victoria Van Harlingen, is seeing residents, new residents and visitors come to the museum, drop their jaws and go ‘Wow.’  “They didn’t […]