A new art exhibit at The Society of the Four Arts skips the foreplay and leads with the most daring Art Deco while leaving the dirtiest (politics) out. I walked in and there it was: a Japanese nude barely covered in black lace leaning back on a couch, and attended to by a younger female helper. Clearly, I had made a mistake, but some steps later another daring female stood … [Read more...]
Chance find brings French master’s work back to light
Before he knew the name, title and exact age, the Norton Museum’s curatorial associate for European art knew the piece in front of him was something exceptional. Past the cracks, layers of dust and the darkness that had settled, he knew. “When I first saw the work, my adrenalin was pumping,” Jerry Dobrick said. “I knew it was a superb painting, no matter who had painted it.” … [Read more...]
At home in the Southwest: Boca Museum show gets there beautifully
A mountain can be round and painted in warm, earthy tones or triangular, in dark blues and greens, or malleable, sporting a rosy fleshy hue or stiff in teal and gray. The unexplored isolated region of Santa Fe turned out to be many different things to a group of artists looking for new inspiration away from the city lights. Southwestern Allure: The Art of the Santa Fe Art … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The season in Palm Beach County art
The new art season in Palm Beach County will deliver some surprises as well as “safety objects.” There are some firsts (see Norton’s pick for its RAW series) and there is the repetitious (the influence of Warhol, the legacy of Flagler), but I have to believe even these announcements are good news, for a museum never brings back shows that act as audience repellents. Let us … [Read more...]
‘Slava’ brings humanity, humor to gentle Arsht show
MIAMI — With its slow-paced rhythms and emotive music, Slava’s SnowShow moves from scene to scene so carefully, so gentle, it feels like the show of a melancholy snail. The wild thing is how it still manages to turn grownups into children and little ones entertained more than an hour. Not to be compared to high-tech shows such as Cirque du Soleil (where mind-blowing tricks and … [Read more...]
County artists make summer richer at Cultural Council show
Those of us who thought the summer was a dead time for exhibits and good only for surfing shows have at least one reason to revise this opinion: the County Contemporary All Media Juried Show. Unveiled by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County in June, this modest but inclusive exhibit features a total of 44 works by 36 Palm Beach County professional artists. One of them … [Read more...]
Strangeness dominates juried show at Boca Museum of Art
The joy of writing about art comes from the same place I imagine a curator’s joy comes from: discovering something truly interesting. I was hoping to find this among the 149 pieces encompassing the 62nd All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. The show attracted more than 1,600 submissions. What I saw was art reflecting strangeness and … [Read more...]
The Rilke Project: Repeated encounters with Dali
In the fall of 1907, the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke returned to Paris to continue his work with the sculptor Auguste Rodin. While there, he repeatedly visited a memorial exhibit of works by the painter Paul Cézanne, who had died the year before. Those letters informed his only novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, as well as his subsequent poetic work, and have … [Read more...]
A roomful of beauty at the Four Arts
They say happiness is a state of mind you can command at any time and place. The same thing can be said about beauty. We decide, in a matter of seconds, whether or not something is beautiful. In a room full of porcelain-skin ladies and velvety, satin dresses, this is not a hard decision to make. The Society of the Four Arts has put together such a room for its ongoing … [Read more...]
Chris Palacio: Building a culture of coffee and conversation
One recent morning I almost committed a crime. I was desperate for a hot cup of coffee and the flashing OPEN sign almost escaped me. The mysterious-looking logo near it didn’t help. I came very close to missing it. What is that? I said to my companion, a fellow scooter-rider, also desperate for coffee. Only one way to find out. That’s how we discovered Coastars, a new … [Read more...]