Imagine you are a daunting century-old sepia image holding the secrets of a lost civilization. What more could you possibly want? A little credit for your creator, perhaps. When, at age 32, American photographer Edward S. Curtis set out to urgently document the many rituals and faces of the Native Americans up close and personal, languages had already vanished and most of … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2016-17: Art in Palm Beach County
This season, brace yourselves for an identity crisis. The art and artists being featured are driven by it. Clearly, creativity thrives in the absence of a defined self. In an attempt to come up with something highly personal and unique, artists are pulling deeper than ever from within them. Equipped with more free admissions, night operating hours and themes suited for the … [Read more...]
Art, science combine in drawings show at Ann Norton
The latest exhibition at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens came out of the blue – or perhaps an attic. It is the sort of thing that happens through a friend of a friend and remains private at the request of an anonymous patron. That’s how the venue ended up with hundreds of engravings and lithographs dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century. On display now, along with … [Read more...]
Ming dragon tiles good addition to Norton’s Chinese collection
Move aside, blue-and-white Chinese ceramics. The new highlight at the Norton Museum of Art is centuries old and once guarded a Chinese temple from the natural elements. On view through Oct. 2 are glazed dragon tiles dating back to the Ming Dynasty acquired by the museum earlier this year. Known as sancai or three-color tiles, the pieces are thought to have adorned the … [Read more...]
Mixed messages at Boca Museum’s All Florida Invitational
It seemed the greatest thing since sliced bread when the Boca Raton Museum’s annual All Florida show went from “calling all artists” to “you are invited.” Having artists extend an invitation to other artists made sense, not to mention it set a good precedent of camaraderie and reciprocity in a highly competitive world. But after seeing this year’s All Florida Invitational, … [Read more...]
At the Norton: Underwater Giverny is fresh take on Monet
The room is quiet, dark and underwater images appear projected on the wall. It’s mostly just water in some of the frames. Not even violent and not even transparent; just calm, cloudy water. Then enters a floating purple silk connected to a bright green stem. It paints the water a different color, like a wounded fish. The phones come out, aim and shoot. This is what everyone … [Read more...]
At the Morikami, paper cuts of another world by very steady hands
From the Moth series, by Hiromi Moneyhun. Solo art shows don’t often turn out to be as good as they are advertised. In the case of Shadows of the Floating World, it is something to be seen to be believed — and even then, we don’t believe our eyes. Celebrating the art of papercutting (kiri-e) now through Sept. 18, the Morikami Museum is showcasing about 22 pieces masterfully … [Read more...]
The fierce beauty of irezumi, at the Morikami
Forget the butterfly, the thorny vine and the heart with initials. Imagine a colorful bird with a fish’s tail, a snake’s neck, and a turtle’s shell expanding from the neck all the way to the ankles. That’s what you can expect to see now at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World features photographs of full body … [Read more...]
Seattle’s streetwise and New York’s street-style: Two sets of armors
Tiny, Halloween, Seattle (1983) by Mary Ellen Mark. Not if, but when you visit the ongoing photography exhibitions at the Norton Museum of Art and the Society of the Four Arts, look for beauty in expected and unexpected places. The subject of the photographs that make up Norton’s Tiny: Streetwise Revisited does not want us to pity her, but it can’t be helped. A teen should … [Read more...]
Forever Andy: Triple Warhol at the Boca Museum
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (1985), by Andy Warhol. (Marc Bell collection) A pastel-pink print featuring the word Macintosh and its logo in rainbow colors was the first Andy Warhol silkscreen Marc Bell bought for the practical purpose of adorning his Apple dealership in New York. The Boca Raton entrepreneur now owns a substantial amount of them and is letting them … [Read more...]