By Sandra Schulman Long time Miami-based artist and teacher Karen Rifas was given a great luxury in her new show Deceptive Constructions at The Bass in Miami Beach. She had the large high-ceilinged exhibition space room available to her in advance, so she could literally plan the show within and around (and up and down) it. The result is a joyous contained geometric … [Read more...]
Summer season preview: In the PBC galleries
Who says we can’t have a tan and culture too? Contrary to popular opinion, art offerings in Palm Beach County don’t end with the summer. They actually go hand in hand. As temperatures soar, museums and galleries open their doors to welcome locals and tourists and any bikini body escaping from the sun. If the upcoming shows – featuring tapestries, paintings, photography and … [Read more...]
Photographer Aguilar takes on societal convention in bold show at FIU
By Sandra Schulman In a bold, in-your-face confrontational show, Laura Aguilar dares viewers to see her world in all its naked, lesbian, overweight glory. Show and Tell, in Miami at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU through June 3, is a dark look at a woman’s journey to self-acceptance. In a world that often glorifies women being thin and blonde, … [Read more...]
‘Road tattoo,’ weekend arts fest lead off April culture bonanza in West Palm
By Sandra Schulman During this year’s newly created Art Affair, which opens today and runs through April 15, the action is centered on Rosemary Avenue in West Palm Beach, with a new series of events and an influx of vendors as well as the unveiling of a mile-long “road tattoo” named Genii Loci, stretching from Okechobee Boulevard to Sunset Lounge. There will also be a … [Read more...]
At Norton: Art patron Whitney had gift of her own
Who should Meryl Streep play next? The Norton Museum of Art’s latest exhibition could be the answer. It might seem at first the story of a poor little rich girl finally getting what she wanted or a study on the wonders money can do to procure recognition and fame. But it is not what it looks like. Unlike her New York City neighbor Florence Foster Jenkins, Gertrude … [Read more...]
Three artists hosts interactive gallery space at CityPlace
By Sandra Schulman Further expanding the way the arts are seen in West Palm Beach, a new artist-run space has opened in CityPlace that lets gallery goers interact in an up-close insider way. Garala – a combination of the names of the three artists who run it – actually have studios in the elegant space and also exhibit the work is a bright, accessible way. The … [Read more...]
Paper dresses at Four Arts, but not like you’ve seen before
By Georgio Valentino The Esther B. O’Keeffe Gallery of Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts is currently showing some of history’s most sumptuous costumes, from the gilded luxury of the Medici court to the embroidered splendor of the Silk Road to the whimsy of the Belle Epoque ballet stage. Except these aren’t dusty old originals. Fashioning Art from Paper is a … [Read more...]
Luxe redux: An embarrassment of riches at dazzling Jewelry, Art and Antique Show
By Myles Ludwig The Palm Beach Jewelry Art and Antique show now at the Palm Beach County Convention Center is a gem in an elegant setting. It is chock-full of goodies, so many I spent more than two hours just walking, looking and chatting and found myself so bedazzled I didn’t have the stamina for the connected fine crafts exhibits that I usually enjoy. Foreign languages … [Read more...]
Seeing art, and yourself, in Cornell’s ‘Looking Glass’
By Lucy Lazarony The art in Looking Glass intrigues and invites. You’ll find yourself wondering just how an artist created a piece. And you’ll see your reflection peering back as you take a closer look. Melanie Johanson, curator of the Cornell Art Museum, says Looking Glass is the most interactive of all the shows she’s curated. She calls it “immersive.” Viewers of the … [Read more...]
A quieter kind of art on view at Ann Norton’s gardens
Even in the reign of creativity, it is hard to find some breathing space these days. When not politicized or meant as cheap shocks, art production increasingly seems less interested in long-lasting effect and more intent on eliciting a sharp, quick form of anger or brainwash. The reaction lasts long enough to be shared, before quickly disappearing like content on Snapchat. All … [Read more...]