Art
Painting in The Age of Anxiety
I have an innate distrust of work that has a whiff of nostalgia drifting off its surface, whether it is for Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, or, further back, Albert Pinkham Ryder.
Review
Art
A Master of the Flesh and Painter of the Soul
Ivan Albright represents a deeply transcendent, even Platonic, idea of the soul, although one could be forgiven for missing it among the mercilessly unglamorous bodies of his figures.
Art
Photography in Search of the Real
Real Worlds invites viewers to consider photography not just as documentation of myriad moments but as a means to more deeply understand lives and interpersonal relationships in Western cities.
Books
Who Really Owns the Elgin Marbles?
However we judge Lord Elgin’s original acquisition of the Parthenon sculptures, it’s easy to wonder whether the Turkish rulers legitimately had the right to allow him to dispose of these artworks.
Art
The Sweet Chaos of the Bay Area's Artistic Heritage
Way Bay visualizes the currents of unbridled creativity that have coursed and flowed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area over the last two centuries.
Books
A Photographer Follows the Urban Migration of China's Rural Trees
In Forest, photographer Yan Wang Preston documents the big business of relocating mature rural trees to the new urban centers of China.
Art
An Exhibition that Frustrates Our Grasp of Abstraction
Though Out of Easy Reach has a unifying theme, it presents a variety of tastes and approaches in a way that feels like ungainly curation which ultimately does not clarify how these women artists now steer the conversation about abstraction.
Art
An Artist Asserts Control Over the Commodification of Her Work
Carmen Argote's exhibition at Commonwealth and Council suggests that she has no money left after participating in Made in LA, displaying work that resists any potential role as pricey art objects.
Art
Kitschy Iconography Pulled from the Depths of Pop Culture
Delano Dunn caps off his Project for Empty Space residency with the multi-layered, mixed-media exhibition, Dreams of Fire and Starshine filled with delightfully saccharine, pulpy, images of smashed and smelted pop culture data.
Art
The Revolution Will Not Be Biennalized
The 10th Berlin Biennale proves that Germany has yet to confront its contradictions as a place that is open and welcoming to refugees versus a place of growing anti-immigrant, right-wing populism.
Art
Cleveland Mounts Global Triennial But Local Artists Are Largely Overlooked
No one art festival can do everything, but FRONT has made a bold inaugural effort to establish itself as a new art destination.
Art
Awe-Inspiring Portraits of Chicano Men that Resist Typecasting
Harry Gamboa Jr. started this series in 1991, after hearing an announcement on his car radio that warned: “Be on the lookout for a Chicano male. He is dangerous.”