The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, February 19, 2024



 
Rediscovering the Harlem Renaissance

Denise Murrell, right, the curator for the Harlem Renaissance exhibition, and Shawn Digney-Peer, a conservator, inspect a Laura Wheeler Waring self-portrait (1940) at the museum in New York on Jan. 26, 2024. Murrell hopes the show will highlight the Harlem Renaissance’s central role in American and European modernism. (Gioncarlo Valentine/The New York Times)

NEW YORK, NY.- How do you measure the United States in the 20th century without Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington? You wouldn’t dream of it. The writers, poets, singers and musicians of the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, centering on the New York neighborhood from 1919 to the end of the 1930s, loom large in the American cultural imagination. The period was when “Harlem became the symbol for the international black city,” as novelist Ishmael Reed described it. But what about painters Laura Wheeler Waring, Charles Henry Alston and Malvin Gray Johnson? Or sculptor Richmond Barthé? Hardly household names. And although other visual artists — Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Archibald Motley Jr., Augusta Savage — have long been celebrated, their contributions have until recently been too often treated as a byway, separate from the rest of European and American modernism. An ambitious new exhibition, “The Harlem Renaissance and Tra ... More


The Best Photos of the Day
Best Photos of the Day
Installation view of Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE on view at MoMA PS1 from October 12, 2023 through March 4, 2024. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo: Kyle Knodell





How Paul McCartney's lost bass guitar was found five decades later   Architect embraces Indigenous worldview in Australian designs   Jeff Koons sculptures hitch ride on SpaceX rocket to the Moon


An inexpensive Höfner violin bass which Paul McCartney used extensively as the Beatles rose to worldwide fame. The instrument has been returned to McCartney after five decades missing. (The Lost Bass Project/Nick Wass via The New York Times)

LONDON.- No one seemed to know what had happened to one of the most important bass guitars in music history, though in the decades since it went missing, there ... More
 


Ngarara Place at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the first of Indigenous architect Jefa Greenaway’s projects to embrace Country-centered design. (Peter Casamento via The New York Times)

MELBOURNE.- Jefa Greenaway will never forget the first time he heard his father’s voice. It was in 2017, when he was watching a documentary about Indigenous Australians’ fight to be recognized in the country’s ... More
 


Jeff Koons holding his miniature moons that are named after inspiring historical figures including Leonardo da Vinci, Ada Lovelace, Plato and Billie Holiday. (Jeff Koons via The New York Times)

NEW YORK, NY.- American artist Jeff Koons watched as a SpaceX rocket carrying 125 of his miniature moon sculptures and other cargo departed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday morning. ... More


'Private Views' 'first in series of four capsule exhibitions that celebrate Galerie Miranda's 6th birthday   'A Survey Exhibition: Louis Stern Fine Arts Through the Decades' celebrates 30th year of Louis Stern Galleries   Robilant+Voena announces exhibition 'Bleu Pastor' featuring works by Philippe Pastor


Laura Stevens, 23 January III, 2018.

PARIS.- Curated across broad themes by gallery founder Miranda Salt, with both new and inventory works, this anniversary cycle reviews the gallery's choices to date and places historical photographic ... More
 


Karl Benjamin (1925-2012), Chino Landscape, 1960. Oil on canvas, 36 x 28 inches; 91.4 x 71.1 centimeters.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA.- Louis Stern Fine Arts is presenting, until March 9th, a survey exhibition celebrating its 30th year in West Hollywood’s Design District. ... More
 


Bleu Monochrome (20 005 BM), 2020. Mixed media on canvas, 116 x 89 cm. Courtesy of Robilant+Voena.

PARIS.- Robilant+Voena is hosting their second exhibition of the St. Moritz season, Bleu Pastor, featuring works by the Monegasque artist Philippe Pastor, in ... More



'Justine Kurland: This Train, 2005 – 2011' reminiscent of Kurland's life on the road   Kei Ito' cameraless photos make the invisible visible   AI art that's more than a gimmick? Meet AARON


Higher Pictures presents Justine Kurland: This Train, 2005–2011. The exhibition coincides with the monograph of the same title published by MACK books, available in March 2024. This is the artist's third exhibition with the gallery.

BROOKLYN, NY.- Higher Pictures presents Justine Kurland:This Train, 2005–2011. The exhibition coincides with the monograph of the same title published by MACK ... More
 


Kei Ito, Burning Away, 2021. Ongoing. 8 silver gelatin chemigram prints (sunlight, honey, various oils), wooden frames, 24 x 20 inches each.

ATHENS, GA.- “Kei Ito: Staring at the Face of the Sun” began on January 27th, and will continue through to July 14 at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia. How do you make a photograph without a camera? Believe it or not, cameraless ... More
 


An image provided by the Harold Cohen Trust, via Whitney Museum of American Art, created by “AARON KCAT, (2001), which painter Harold Cohen developed with computer scientist Raymond Kurzweil. (Harold Cohen Trust, via Whitney Museum of American Art via The New York Times)

NEW YORK, NY.- Yes, it’s yet another show of AI-generated art — but wait! The software known as AARON isn’t ... More


Discover essence of blue dog: Hilliard Art Museum Welcomes 'Sitting with George Rodrigue'   Review: Alexei Ratmansky unleashes the pain of war at City Ballet   Douglas Gordon exhibits film, video, text, and sound works at Gagosian in London


Mardi Gras Dog. Oil on canvas, 1991. Image Courtesy of George Godfrey Rodrigue Jr. Family Trust.

LAFAYETTE, LA.- The Hilliard Art Museum is showing the highly anticipated exhibition, ‘Sitting with George Rodrigue'. Showcasing the exceptional works of one of Louisiana's most celebrated artists, this exhibition reflects Rodrigue's deep connection to his Cajun roots, featuring influential cultural ... More
 


Theo Rochios, left, and Joseph Gordon in a scene from Alexei Ratmansky’s “Solitude,” during its premiere at New York City Ballet, Feb. 15, 2024. (Andrea Mohin/The New York Times)

NEW YORK, NY.- How does a body stand upright when the world is spinning around it? Or, worse, when that world is breaking down with such vehemence that the air seems to grow more toxic by the minute? ... More
 


Douglas Gordon, All I need is a little bit of everything, 2024, installation view. Artwork © Studio lost but found/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2024. Photo: Lucy Dawkins. Courtesy Gagosian.

LONDON.- Gagosian is showing an exhibition of work by Douglas Gordon at the gallery’s Grosvenor Hill location. All I need is a little bit of everything features numerous text works—translated for the first time ... More




Helping Children Through Art: Liu Bolin x Robert-Debré Hospital | Sotheby's



More News

The history of minimal abstraction with a sensibility born of, and belonging to, the Scottish islands
EDINBURGH .- It’s not often that an artist appears with a genuinely new way of making abstract art, but Brandon Logan (b.1996) did precisely this with his degree show from Edinburgh College of Art in 2019, and just four years later he has cemented his growing reputation with his first museum show - at the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, in the Orkney Islands where he grew up, and where he has since returned to live and work. Logan’s ‘paintings’, as he describes them, have a sculptural presence, hanging away from the wall on raised batons. They acknowledge the place that he’s from, finding their colours in the streets of Stromness and the Orkney landscape, and nodding to the islands’ rich traditions of weaving and tapestry, but as he says: ‘I always think of them as paintings because I have a specific interest in what paint can do. I’m obsessed ... More


Pacific Rim sculptors presenting 'A Question of Balance' at Museum of Sonoma County
SANTA ROSA, CA.- The Museum of Sonoma County (MSC) is currently conducting the exhibition A Question of Balance: Selected Works from Pacific Rim Sculptors (PRS) from January 27 - May 26, 2024 in the Museum’s contemporary art gallery. Artworks for the exhibition were selected by jurors Jeff Nathanson, MSC Executive Director and Art Curator, and Kate Eilertsen, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art. A call for entries invited artists who are members of Pacific Rim Sculptors to submit artworks addressing the balance-related theme. The invitation included this common definition of ‘balance’: a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight or amount, or something used to produce equilibrium. Artists were also provided with additional parameters for the exhibition: balance can refer to gravity, ... More


The Flesh of the Earth. Curated by Enuma Okoro
NEW YORK, NY.- Hauser & Wirth New York is currently showing 'The Flesh of the Earth,’ a multidisciplinary exhibition curated by Nigerian-American writer and critic Enuma Okoro. Through work by artists Olafur Eliasson, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Jenny Holzer, Rashid Johnson, Haley Mellin, Cassi Namoda, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum and Billie Zangewa, the presentation, in the words of Okoro, ‘encourages us all to consider ways of decentering ourselves from the prevalent anthropocentric narrative, to reimagine a more intimate relationship with the earth and to renew our connection with the life-force energy that surges through all of creation, both human and more-than-human. Our human bodies—one of a diversity of created bodies of the natural world—are the primary language with which we dialogue with the earth. ... More


Brian Wilson's family seeks to place him under a conservatorship
NEW YORK, NY.- The family of Brian Wilson, the musical architect whose genius helped power the Beach Boys, is seeking to place him under a conservatorship following the death of his wife, Melinda, last month. According to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this week by lawyers representing the potential conservators, Wilson, 81, has “a major neurocognitive disorder” and “is unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health.” Melinda Wilson had previously provided care for her husband, but after her death Jan. 30, the appointment of a conservator has become necessary, according to the petition filed Wednesday. In a statement, the family said that LeeAnn Hard, Brian Wilson’s business manager, and Jean Sievers, his publicist and manager, would serve as co-conservators. “This decision was made ... More


Ode to a punk rock 'Sex God'
NEW YORK, NY.- Little by little over the last few years, “A Year on Earth With Mr. Hell,” a self-published, sex-heavy memoir by an unknown author, has become a word-of-mouth hit among artists and writers. Novelist and screenwriter Nick Hornby called it “gripping.” Critic Greil Marcus described it as “the most graphically effective sex writing I’ve read in a long time.” Capitalizing on its cult success, the Standard, High Line, a hotel in New York that makes an appearance in its pages, has placed copies in some suites and is selling the book through its website. The author is Young Kim, who was the romantic partner of the punk rock impresario and provocateur Malcolm McLaren in the last decade of his life. In “A Year on Earth With Mr. Hell,” Kim, 52, chronicles the first 10 months of her affair with another punk icon, Richard Hell, who recorded his 1977 ... More


'Genius: MLK/X' offers portraits of the icons as vital young men
NEW YORK, NY.- Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are among American history’s most thoroughly chronicled figures, their voices and mannerisms captured forever on recording after recording, their lives picked over in book after book. By himself, Malcolm X has been the subject of two Pulitzer-winning biographies in the past 13 years, and just last year, Jonathan Eig’s “King: A Life” landed a spot on Barack Obama’s yearly best books list. Both men adorn countless T-shirts, posters and memes. They aren’t just people; they’re also symbols — of civil rights, of social progress, of a decade that saw many of its heroes murdered. But symbols don’t make for particularly compelling drama. So when Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre signed on to play King and Malcolm X, respectively, in the new National Geographic series “Genius: MLK/X,” ... More


Quinn's Feb. 23 Fine & Decorative Arts Auction offers diverse array of Asian, American, European and Modern works
FALLS CHURCH, VA.- Works by Thomas Hart Benton, Paul Reed, sculptor Bill Mack and Old Lyme Colony Impressionist Will Howe Foote will join European and Modern furniture and beautiful objets d’art at Quinn’s February 23 online Fine & Decorative Arts Auction. The 474-lot sale consists primarily of consignments from prominent estates and collections in the northern Virginia region, with an emphasis on fine Asian, American, Continental and Modern arts. The sterling silver category is crowned by both a 4-piece Tiffany & Co., tea set and a stunning 19th-century Chinese Export dragon-and-pearl tea set; while specialty collections include high-quality paperweights and antique Japanese netsukes. A ... More


The story of 'Wham!' comes from an unlikely source
NEW YORK, NY.- Two young Londoners — one of Greek Cypriot origin, the other of Egyptian descent — set up a pop band in the 1980s that goes on to sell more than 30 million records. They break up several years later, at the pinnacle of their fame, when the two hit the ripe old age of 23. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Wham!, the British pop duo, and its two stars, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. It’s a story that director Chris Smith tells in a Netflix documentary, which is nominated in Sunday’s EE British Academy Film Awards, known as the BAFTAs. Other contenders in the documentary category include “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” about the actor’s battle with Parkinson’s disease; and “American Symphony,” a year in the life of musician Jon Batiste. Smith previously directed the Emmy-nominated 2019 documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” about a fraudulen ... More


Young artists make back-to-back debuts at the Philharmonic
NEW YORK, NY.- For the past two weeks, the New York Philharmonic’s podium has been occupied by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, a Finnish conductor who with a little spontaneity and a lot of sprezzatura offers a jolt to whatever orchestra he encounters. But that’s not what has made these two weeks interesting. Rouvali, after all, led multiple programs last season, making a long-awaited return after his debut in late 2019. Having proven himself as a guest worth keeping around, he has become comfortably part of the orchestra. His latest residency, though, has been more notable for the appearances of other artists: violinist Esther Yoo and the much-hyped pianist Bruce Liu, both in their debuts, who with any luck will be just as present as Rouvali in the years to come. Liu’s Philharmonic debut at David Geffen Hall on Thursday followed a stop last season ... More


8 documentaries that capture something true about love
NEW YORK, NY.- Romance and love are oddly tricky to capture authentically in a documentary. So much of what fosters real connection — as opposed to, say, “Bachelor”-style performative love — happens away from cameras. Plus, every love story is a bit of an experiment, and the observer effect applies: being filmed tends to change the results. But you can capture something about romance in a documentary. I don’t mean the kind that ends in disaster and a true crime documentary. I mean the movies that reveal something to us about the highs and lows, the glories and discontents, and above all something ineffable about love itself, transcending just romance. You probably have your own favorites, and your list might include one of mine: “Fire of Love” (2022, Disney+), Sara Dosa’s swooner about volcanologists Katia ... More


Jaime King is on a journey
NEW YORK, NY.- Jaime King had been feeling that something was off. “There’s this strange, volatile energy,” the actress, director and model said on a recent Saturday. She perched on the hearth of a fireplace at her home in Los Angeles, knees to her chest, gaze flitting between the fire and the view beyond a sliding-glass door. “If I’m not looking at you, it’s because I’m listening,” she said to a reporter. “I was nervous earlier, and then I was like, shaky, and then I was like, whoa, what is this vibration?” The premiere of her latest film, “Lights Out,” in which she plays a morally corrupt police officer, might have had something to do with her apprehension. King, a self-described introvert, was about to embark on a promotional blitz that would take her from the hillsides of Hollywood to the scrum of New York. “Socially speaking, I don’t really go a lot of places,” she said. “Once in a blue moon, I’ll go to the Bung ... More



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Flashback
On a day like today, Romanian-French artist Constantin Brâncuși was born
February 19, 1876. Constantin Brâncuși (February 19, 1876 - March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered a pioneer of modernism, one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century, In this image: The 1911 gilded bronze sculpture "Prometheus" by Constantin Brancusi is displayed during a preview of "Brancusi Serra" at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao October 7, 2011. Curator Oliver Wick described the third element of the interaction between the two sculptors as Frank Gehry, architect of the museum.

  
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