During a brief two-week run, Storefront for Art and Architecture was transformed into a laboratory by the creative team of Harrison Atelier (HAt) in their latest iteration of dance-installation titled Pharmacophore: Architectural Placebo. Conceived, dramaturged, directed and designed by the husband and wife team of Seth Harrison and Ariane Lourie Harrison the project explores “the cultural and philosophical economy that surrounds medicine, technology, and the human prospect.” Quite a heady agenda.
Art
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A View from the Easel
CHICAGO — In the last two years I have interviewed more than thirty artists, writers and other creative people for my own blog, Praeterita. The creative process was a part of every discussion, so I thought I would invite these interviewees to submit a photo and a short description of their workspace to an ongoing series called A View from the Easel.
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An Artist Grapples With the Worst Documented Attack on Journalists
MANILA, Philippines — On November 23, 2009, just a little over two years ago, Esmael Magundadatu, the vice mayor of the southern Philippine city of Buluan, invited 37 journalists to accompany him as he filed for his certificate of candidacy. The group, along with a cadre of lawyers and family, never made it to their destination.
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Globalization, the Environment and the Effects of Media
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK/ PITTSBURGH, PA — In his new book, Contemporary Art: World Currents, Terry Smith argues that three concerns dominate contemporary art: (1) world-picturing, or the imagination of global interconnectedness, (2) environmental problems and awareness and (3) the effects of social media. On a recent trip to Pittsburgh, I had the opportunity to hear Smith, who teaches at the University of Pittsburgh, speak about these “currents” of art created since the 1980s. When I visited Carnegie Mellon University’s Miller Gallery later that day to review the Pittsburgh Biennial, Smith’s ideas were fresh in my mind and I found myself comparing the exhibition to his understanding of art history.
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Art With a Dash of Hospitality But Save Room for Dessert
I’m almost embarrassed to confess I’ve only just recently made the acquaintance of Wayne Thiebaud’s work. The man’s been painting upwards of 70 years and spent much of his time in California. I, despite my accumulation of years in New York, also consider California my home. There’s really no excuse.
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A Painter’s View of Occupy Wall Street
When I finally started reading about the Occupy Wall Street encampment in the mainstream media I was stunned by how late, and how dismissive it was. After several visits, I found myself wondering how to participate; as a painter, I am always at once feeling a part of and outside of things, and this was no different. And yet my sympathies were strong and my anger at the media coverage was growing.
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The Fine Line Between Sexy and Sickness
Monet Clark’s current exhibition at Krowswork Gallery represents the first solo showing of 20 years worth of performance and video work in which her own body and life experiences serve as subject matter. Images of Clark as the ideal “California Girl” are juxtaposed with documentation of the deterioration of her body due to Environmental Illness, a condition that causes the sufferer to become allergic to common household chemicals.
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First Lady of NY Graffiti Traces Her Evolution
While everyone even loosely connected to the art world is in Miami this week, I want to stick up for those of us still stuck in the cold by taking a look at an artist and medium that could not possibly be more quintessentially New York: Lady Pink.
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AIDS, Art and Activism: Remembering Gran Fury
Long before Facebook and Twitter made getting a message out to a mass audience as simple as a couple of clicks, the art/activist collective known as Gran Fury used a heady combination of bold graphic design, guerrilla dissemination tactics, and art institutional support to communicate the urgency of the AIDS epidemic in light of disastrous government and political inaction.
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Looking at 2011 Art Basel Miami Beach Through the Prism of One Influential Painter
MIAMI — With Soutine in mind, and the world’s best galleries around me, I culled a few great works by mostly 1950s US artists that have Soutine in mind.
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Torres Garcia to the Left of Me, Torres Garcia to the Right of Me
MIAMI — Every year art watchers see trends. Many of these are more about the commentator’s interests and fixations than anything real. This year, I kept seeing works by great Uruguayan modernist Joaquín Torres García.
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Hermitage Invites Contemporary Artist into Their Permanent Collection
MIAMI — For the first time, a contemporary artist has been invited to play with the permanent collection at the fabled Hermitage. Anthony Gormley tackles the museum’s classical collection and creates a humanizing display.
