Opinion
Why You Should Read Sarah Thornton's Top 10 Reasons Not To Write About the Art Market
This doesn't happen very often. It's highly unusual for someone in an industry to critique its inner workings.
Latest
Art
Experiencing Emily Noelle Lambert's Personal Creative World
Sitting on one of Emily Noelle Lambert's free-form, functional sculptures and surrounded by other found wood sculptures, huge canvases, and smaller paintings tucked around her Heart Heat exhibition at Lu Magnus, I had the distinct feeling that I entered into the artist's personal world, a place wher
Art
Painting for Bollywood
PUNE, INDIA — Last summer I was offered an interesting project by a good friend, film director Sachin Kundalkar. He was about to start shooting his Hindi film Aiyyaa and asked me to create paintings for the movie. Kundalkar is a brilliant storyteller and director, and before this major Bollywood pro
Announcement
The Art & Absinthe Guide to Brooklyn
Pernod Absinthe Superieure, creator of art history’s most inspirational spirit, has teamed up with WAGMAG, the Brooklyn art guide, to bring you mobile interaction with the thriving arts community of Brooklyn, NY. This app features WAGMAG'S monthly gallery and events listings, as well as the best coc
Art
Revisiting the Radical Energy of 1968
Currently on view at the Oakland Museum of California is The 1968 Exhibit, which focuses on the culture of that unforgettable year. Organized by the Minnesota History Center, the Atlanta History Center, the Chicago History Museum, and the Oakland Museum, this expansive show explores the tumultuous y
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, the difficulty of selling stolen paintings, what art forgers paint in their down time, Picasso's 17 year old lover, the "meaning" of hotels, the state of political art, the lives of the 1%, and more.
Film
Ethnic Cleansing: Colorblind Casting in Cloud Atlas
Last month, British actor Jim Sturgess sent a tweet to his 40,000 followers which read: “Yellowface? Blackface? Pinkface? Pinkberry? Blueberry? Strawberry? Bananas? Frozen Yogurt? All the toppings? ... Lovely!” The message was Sturgess’s veiled response to recent criticism of his role in the upcomin
Art
Dreaming in Argentina When Juan Perón Was President
There are a many reasons to go see Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop, curated by Mia Freeman, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yves Klein leaps into the void and Lyndon Johnson’s nose grows long and pointed (would that this would happen to all politicians who lie to their constit
Art
The Four Horsemen of a New Detroit
DETROIT — Detroit faces the best/worst of times. It teems with inventive artists and entrepreneurs whose work and presence generate solid philanthropy and investment. At the same time, increasingly severe budget cuts are hitting schools, police, firefighters and transportation systems hard; poverty
Interview
When a Painting Glows in the Dark
When the lights went out at the opening of Craig Olson’s show at the Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, a painting called “Baba Yaga’s Question” dissolved from a red-and-green cloverleaf-shaped panel into a field of unearthly luminescence. Everyone clapped.
Art
Playful, Sinister, and Simple Ceramics
Just north of UC Berkeley's campus, hidden away in a small patch of woods, is the Berkeley Art Center, currently showing the exhibition Local Treasures: Bay Area Ceramics. Wanting to know more about the Bay Area's art scene — craft included — I felt compelled to visit. The beautiful, small building
Art
Steeped in Tradition but Straining Toward the Future
MANILA, Philippines — There is a sweet dish in the Philippines called halo-halo, a rainbow of beans, fruits, and jellies mixed with ice and topped with ice cream. Literally translated, it means “mix-mix,” as if repetition were needed to reassert its delectable cacophony of flavors. Walking the halls