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Letter America: Dear Southwest Airlines

Letter America Dear Southwest Airlines, I’m writing to complain about the unfair way I was treated on a recent flight from San Francisco to Phoenix. ... More

May 20, 2013 By Robert Wilder Comments 5
 
 
 

 

 
Home / Articles / Arts /  Art Features
 
Wednesday, April 14,2010
Art Features

Visual Jazz

Clichés become clichés because they’re true

John Photos
I need to confess something: I don’t usually go for abstract painting. In the course of history, the rejection of illusionism (the attempt to make a painted object appear real) seems important but, at some point between Yves Klein and Robert Ryman, it feels like the ship bottomed out.  If I’m not careful, I end up in conversations about irreducibility and flatness, which are really just fancy ways to describe wallpaper.
Wednesday, April 7,2010
Art Features

Another Man’s Treasure

Lance Letscher slices, dices and designs devices.

John Photos
Collage may be the most relevant medium for contemporary culture. The cutting up and repurposing of discarded and obsolete print media is the artist’s version of recycling and sustainability. It reflects thriftiness, a clever way to pinch pennies in a time of job instability and tightened belts. But collage also is a distillation of the way we consume information in pieces and without much context.
Wednesday, March 31,2010
Art Features

Collective Calls

The words change, but the message stays the same

John Photos

Telephone is a moralistic game; it serves as a warning not to believe everything one hears. It spells out the danger of spreading rumors and the importance of checking one’s sources. Though it is only a game, telephone clearly articulates the difference between what is said and what is heard.

Wednesday, March 24,2010
Art Features

Sweet Nothings

John Tinker wants to be your sugar daddy

John Photos

My favorite exhibitions are the ones that transform reality so that I feel less like I’m in a gallery looking at a picture and more like I’m inside someone’s skull and the artwork is the embodiment of their ideas. John Tinker’s immersive solo is like walking into Willy Wonka’s laboratory, with its blend of fantastical foods, dangerous toys and mischief.

Wednesday, March 17,2010
Art Features

Living Dead

Skotia Gallery reopens with a bang, but was it ever closed?  

John Photos

If I were trying to sign on with a gallery, I might think about Skotia Gallery. The high ceilings, dark interior, and happy chirps and hums of staff-selected techno music create a comfortable atmosphere. These details contrast nicely with the often-twisted imagery. The shows are consistently strong, especially in technique.

Wednesday, March 10,2010
Art Features

The Sound of Silence

Monroe Gallery’s photo show makes a real racket

John Photos

As I stood in front of a 1972 photograph of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed arm-in-arm, I wondered if I was able to accurately assess the image. Was I drawn to Bowie’s piercing eyes, Reed’s impossible hipness and Mr. Pop’s bared teeth clutching a pack of Lucky Strikes?

Wednesday, March 3,2010
Art Features

Wipeout

Jimi Gleason’s paintings are a real drag—and it’s a good thing

John Photos

The inviting tactility of Jimi Gleason’s painted surfaces promises to enhance the viewing experience. It follows that my thoughts should remain so sensory, since the absence of subject matter leaves one without referents. In the case of pure abstraction, there is only the thing and its thingness.

Wednesday, February 24,2010
Art Features

Second Chance

After a deep freeze, Chris Jonas’ Garden gets an extended growing season.

John Photos

Chris Jonas' colossal project, Garden, has been reprised at CCA. The exhibition was unceremoniously cut short in December when CCA nearly folded, but now the venue is honoring its commitment to a project that is very involved and worth the visit.

Wednesday, February 17,2010
Art Features

Polyamory

Meow Wolf doesn’t skimp on love—or ambivalence

John Photos

The 5 pm deadline was hours away on Friday, Feb. 12, and the members of Meow Wolf were darting in and out of the ramshackle space they use as their gallery. Work was being hung and more work was arriving by the folder-full. There were no name tags or prices yet posted, and empty beer bottles cluttered the surfaces where sculptures would soon go.

Tuesday, February 9,2010
Art Features

Getting to Know You

Be kind to thy neighbor, for they might be insane

John Photos

Picking up where it left off with Talking Pictures, SITE Santa Fe continues its exploration of relationships with One on One, a tense group exhibition in which artists examine the lives of others, often at a disturbing proximity. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed myself, but One on One presents surprisingly nuanced variations on the theme of (paired) identities.

 
 
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