Minutes before seeing a collection of William Bailey’s meditative still-lifes and figure paintings, I heard, yet again, a series of small-minded and reckless comments by Donald Trump.
Barry Nemett
Barry Nemett, Chair of MICA's Painting Department from 1992-2017, has exhibited his artwork in museums and galleries throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He lectures internationally and has curated numerous national exhibitions. Nemett is the author of the textbook Images, Objects & Ideas (MacGraw-Hill Publishers) and the novel Crooked Tracks (Barnhardt & Ashe Publishing Co.), and he has published essays for numerous exhibition catalogues, magazines, and art blogs. For more info, view his website, barrynemett.com
Balthus in Rome, Where Balls Roam
Recently, I strolled through Balthus’s “The Street” (1933) at a retrospective of his work in Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale. Each time I see that remarkable, disturbing painting, I follow the drama of a different dreamer.
Yogi, a Coyote, a Butcher, and a Vowel: A Personal Bird’s-Eye View of Umbria’s Not-Famous Church of Madonna dei Bagni
Beneath a panorama of the Italian countryside, Wile E. Coyote chased Road Runner while Yogi Berra played ball.
Mud Above Sky Below: Love and Death in Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Migration Series’
Spring, 1968. All my students were black, and I wasn’t. Jacob Lawrence, who was teaching a course down the hall from me at Pratt Institute, was a famous artist and a real teacher; I wasn’t either of those things.
Stop and Smell the Smoke: El Greco and His Houdini Most High
El Greco came back from the dead. “The Greek,” his real name, Domenikos Theotokopoulos, moved to Venice and Rome before finally settling in Toledo, where he became one of Spain’s most well known painters.