By Myles Ludwig If you’re looking for art that fits the temper of the times, you’d find it under the tent at the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Art Fair in West Palm Beach. The collection of some 70 galleries there are, for the most part, are presenting work that is angry, confrontational, prickly, howling, assaulting, bristling with non-directional outrage to the point … [Read more...]
In small ink strokes, humanity writ large: Rembrandt at the Four Arts
A striking candlelight effect may be the loudest marking of one of the greatest artists in the history of art, but a new exhibit extinguishes it in favor of his other theatrical — and humane — sensibilities. Detail-soaked biblical passages, scenes of street life and portraits of the distinguished and the marginalized have aligned at the Society of the Four Arts to … [Read more...]
Miami Art Week 3: Proof of city’s growth as hub for art
By Sandra Schulman If you were feeling some fair-tigue earlier this month during Miami Art Week, the shows at the city’s museums give breathing room and stellar installations to their artists. Miami saw three new museums open in December, and new exhibits at longtime spaces dug deep. The Rubell family, Mera, Don, and son Jason, have been at the forefront of art collecting … [Read more...]
Hart’s art draws boomers, Dead fans to Boca gallery
Wentworth Gallery in the Boca Raton Town Center Mall bears little resemblance to the venues where San Francisco-launched act the Grateful Dead cultivated its following of Deadheads, a throng that grew between formation of the band in 1965 and the death of founding guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia in 1995. But former Dead drummer Mickey Hart’s forays into visual art … [Read more...]
Miami Art Week, Part 2: Beach sculpture, Thomas room beat banana
By Sandra Schulman The main draw of Miami Art Week has been the Art Basel Miami Fair at Miami Beach’s sleek and spacious new convention center. The doors blew open Wednesday morning for a preview look. The improved layout is pretty grand, with two open living room lobby areas for sitting and regrouping. Some of the biggest-name booths sit around these areas, making it … [Read more...]
Miami Art Week Part 1: A conservative mood with nostalgic art
By Sandra Schulman The edgy political climate worldwide has resulted in a mega Art Week that seems to be taking a more conservative approach to the art and exhibits, with many shows looking back wistfully, from the glamour gals of Miami to the roots of Indigenous people. Using art as a respite from the world seems more of a necessity than an indulgence. The local … [Read more...]
Georgia O’Keeffe: Norton takes close look at an American original
By Sandra Schulman Floating bones and flowers in the Southwestern sky are the most famous images produced by Georgia O’Keeffe. As a woman and an artist, O’Keeffe was a mass of artful contradictions, due to her sensual abstract work and her monastic personal style. As her life as an artist evolved, she became a self-created masterpiece with a progressive, independent … [Read more...]
What lies beneath: At Flagler, women’s fashion confronts its foundation
What came first, the desire to show off a tiny waist or the corset that squeezed internal organs out of the way? A dynamic new exhibition exploring how women’s fashion has shaped American society, and vice versa, gives a Mobius-strip answer. How is that for a silhouette? The gallery walls of the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum are uncharacteristically colorful these days. They … [Read more...]
Norton’s Latin American show tries to reach out for diversity
Santeria reference? Check. Dual-language panels? Check. Diego Rivera? Check. A new art exhibition courts Latin America with good intentions and ends up feeling like a promising blind date. Romancing the unknown is a daunting undertaking, particularly when sensitivity is trending upward and the risk of offending is super high. By all accounts, The Body Says, I Am a Fiesta: … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2019-20: O’Keeffe, Rembrandt shows highlights of PB County’s season
By Sandra Schulman Women in the arts is the season’s theme in Palm Beach County. The stylish life of Georgia O’Keeffe gets the museum treatment at the Norton, and women’s undergarments are the focus of the Flagler Museum’s new Season of Style exhibit. Meanwhile, tattoo art bares all in Tequesta and FAU shows off political embroidery. The Norton Museum of Art A … [Read more...]