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I recently received an email from an artist recommending I check out their current show up in NYC. As with all of life, serendipity reared its head. While I have not met Charles McGill, his work felt similar to some recent work that I have obsessed over (punching bags by artist Jeffrey Gibson). A compelling combination of art and sports, with a violent and gentle presentation of the irrational political structures of race. While Gibson covers actual punching bags with…
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This weekend Kara Walker premiers her installation sponsored by Creative Time in the Domino Sugar Factory on the eve of its demolition. The installation is billed as a departure from the artist’s usual highly sexual, dark narratives of antebellum slaves of the South within the confines of the black silhouette. The exhibition promises to be photogenic, as there is a unique hash tag for users to post their selfies and installation shots, which will stream live into the exhibition. The…
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Last week the world (Fox News and Buzz Feed), had a shocking announcement/expose on hand – the government was being asked by one of its agencies to purchase a work of art for display at the American embassy in Pakistan that was valued at $400,000. The news outlets, of course, screamed that this was tax payer money, and how dare we place a $400,000 sculpture in a place where the annual income is $1,250. I would like to step back…
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I’ve just returned from a 4-day art soak in NYC – it was perfect and productive, and my consensus is that art is alive. While I would say that art seems most alive in the most venerable art institution, and some of the contemporary art galleries in Chelsea and the Bowery. There was a load of “meh” – especially in the major contemporary art “institutions”. Overall though, it felt more promising than other visits. Art is in transition: that is…
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A friend who is traveling on business in London brought to my attention a recent story of a little girl who wedged herself into a Donald Judd sculpture at the Tate Modern. He sent me a photo of the sculpture and asked me for my take on this, the British and American press is aghast at this happening, and actually I think this is a wonderful case of kids keeping it real. My response to him… “…..My first reaction in…
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Years ago I used to work at an ice cream store right near the Wellesley College Campus, the one and only White Mountain Creamery. There I served countless women their “study break” snacks – enormous amounts of ice cream. So I’ll generalize that Wellesley College girls like their sweet things. A lot. Currently on campus there is a brilliant sculpture by Tony Matelli titled Sleepwalker. A hyper-realistic sculpture of a frumpy man in his underwear sleepwalking. It’s tender and pathetic,…
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Per my suggestion for artists to get dirty in 2014, I can look no further to the complicit and dirty exhibit in Dallas at the Nasher Sculpture Center this week to prove my point of getting dirty. The entire exhibit is based on the clay works of major artists – nothing is more primal than clay. Clay is the cheapest, basic, most common and dirty material. It’s also very sexual – it’s warm, smooth and slithery when wet, and the…
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Image courtesy Marc Quinn and Singapore’s Garden by the Bay. The artist Marc Quinn, known famously for his bust sculpture titled “blood head self portraits” created over a five year period of the artist’s head made entirely from his blood, has another project equally as personal heading it’s way to Singapore. These sculptures were also shown in 2008 for show at the Chatsworth House in the UK and at Musée Océanographique in Monaco in 2012. The work is comprised of…
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