Any exhibit of more than one artist has something in common with a double bill at the movie theater, including an implicit invitation to speculate about why these artists, or their gallery, chose to show these particular works together. In the case of Claire Wilson and Zack Pontious, […]
A bee at work in the cherry blossoms Gravity Hill, by Maximilian Werner For an essayist and fishing enthusiast, popular University of Utah writing professor Maximilian Werner didn’t do too badly with Crooked Creek, his first novel. Nominated for the Utah Book Award, it went up against In […]
Glass is the most contentious medium in art, and has been so since mid-way through the 20th century. Before that there were just as many arguments among glass artists and their audience, but they were tempests in so many blown glass teapots. What happened to change all that […]
Individual works in Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) may include western scenery, desert skies, colorful iconography, ethnic clothing and possessions, horses, and assorted mythic activities, alone or in various combinations. Some contain none of these. But the one […]
During the twentieth century, someone was always looking around and calling what he saw “the death of art.” Yet those years saw the creation of more original and innovative ways of art-making than in any other comparable era. Following the lead of painting, most of those newer […]
Geoff Wichert takes a look at artists using humor in their work, at Finch Lane and Art Access.
The theme of Friday evening’s festivities at King’s English was “The Earth Is Not Flat,” from the title of Katherine Coles’ fifth volume of poetry, just published and eagerly anticipated by followers of Utah’s leading poet. If that title sounds more like it belongs on a scientific treatise […]
Artworks can make visible the success of their makers, but to understand the struggles that produced them, and so the triumph they represented, something more is needed. Paul Cézanne was an artist who mastered his chops long before he was accepted by the gatekeepers, and the stories of […]
I like to emphasize the contrast between a first glance appearance of the strangely beautiful image and my fascination with them and the harsh consequences of the disasters depicted in them. —Lenka Konopasek The first Lenka Konopasek I remember encountering was among the most unforgettable works of […]
photos by Simon Blundell The Contemporary art world advertises itself as suspicious of beauty, which it rejects as a goal or even a strategy. Sometimes, though, it feels as though not just beauty, but any natural pleasure is on their taboo list. Political or sociological statements, the […]
Within the matte and frame lies an almost blank, gray rectangle. Recognizing the one contrasting spot—a foot, toes downward, entering at the top-left corner—causes this undifferentiated area to pop into focus: a reach of asphalt or concrete stretching away from the camera, into which open space a woman […]
Leslie Thomas and Mark Knudsen present two visions of the New West at Phillips Gallery.
“With no news from abroad, a culture ends up repeating the same things to itself. It needs the foreign not to imitate, but to transform.” —Eliot Weinberger We take for granted that Utah has one of the more vibrant and lively arts cultures in the nation. That said, […]
At Kayo in November, two eternal, contrary trends in art occupy opposing walls in what has become Shilo Jackson’s signature exhibition style. On one side, Ryan Harrington’s exquisitely crafted assemblages exemplify the Contemporary mode: each broadside makes a philosophical statement: here they comment on the universal, counterintuitive resort […]
When they make me president, I’m going to ban all group shows. – Dave Hickey Recently, two of Utah’s best-known art centers underwent major changes. One lost its home, the other changed its name. Through the turmoil, both pledged to continue supporting a particular brand of art, which […]
My first published writings on art were written in Southern California, and published by a magazine in Portland, Oregon. They were written in the LA area because that was where my stained glass studio was, and the city was then a hot place for glass art. My […]
In so many ways our modern societies are enlightened, more civilized in matters of personal liberty than was true in the past. Most of us probably take for granted that the ongoing debate over same-sex marriage marks a watershed in evolving public attitudes. Yet while there has been […]
Geoff Wichert considers the work of Anna Campbell Bliss on the eve of an exhibit at Salt Lake’s The Leonardo
