A year in business has not given Natacha Koblova all the answers she would like to have, although she did learn another language. The Russian-born 39-year-old polyglot (more on this later) has been in this business of teaching languages for many years. Now she faces the ups and downs of owning an infant language school/business that mixes traditional and unconventional … [Read more...]
Ann Norton show seeks respect for Chilean surrealist
The first time I came across his name was a couple of years ago at the Boca Museum of Art. I was there to do a story, in which I ended up mentioning this one painting I had really liked. But I did not know then whose work it was, who was this Matta guy other that a Chilean artist whose name sounded like plant in Spanish. Ironically, this is what Roberto Matta tried hard to … [Read more...]
At the Four Arts, pages of faith, pages of light
If Hollywood can bring us a Noah with special effects, monks should be able to bring us a radiantly abstract Bible. And that’s exactly what they have done. After 15 years, elegantly crafted pages of gigantic size and glowing imagery are spreading the light. As far as the message goes, time will tell. The Saint John’s Bible is the first illuminated handwritten Bible to be … [Read more...]
Norton’s ‘Industrial Sublime’ a poem of water, iron, stone and sky
If New Yorkers won’t come to New York, the city will come to them, in the form oil paintings, watercolors and oil pastels with impressionist, cubist and realist tones. A rich selection of works depicting the pros and cons of the booming city makes up Industrial Sublime, which opened March 20 at the Norton Museum. The gallery rooms are filled with cityscapes by famous and … [Read more...]
Flagler silver exhibit takes us back to Age of Acquisition
Nobody uses a 137-year-old silver set of 1,250 pieces from Tiffany & Co. to eat lunch anymore or gets a glossy water pitcher as retirement gift. A pen and porcelain plates will do. Sometimes it takes such a decline in popularity to make an art exhibition happen. If it wasn’t for silver’s falling demand, the current show at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum may not have … [Read more...]
Whimsical jewelry captivates at Norton’s Webb exhibit
A gypsy monkey, a turtle and twin frogs are having the time of their life, and not just because they are made of gold, rubies and diamonds. Framed by elegant green walls, these bejeweled animals are among 80 jewelry pieces enjoying a great deal of attention at the Norton Museum of Art. On view since January, David Webb: Society’s Jeweler is like an expensive Christmas … [Read more...]
The fever for modernity: Italian Futurists, at Boca Museum
We wish our world would slow down, unplug, take a breather, but to a group of Italian artists, this world would have been paradise with no sound more soothing than incoming text messages, microwaves and alarms. Known as Futurists, these artists emerging before and during World War I wished to delete the obsolete past and fast-forward their country into modernity. To do so, … [Read more...]
At the Morikami: Street fashion a la Elvis, Brando and Nabokov
Japan’s street fashion knows no minimalism. Like a rainbow rhapsody, its tune says anything goes and more is always better. An ongoing exhibit wrapping up next month tells us it is all about gaining acceptance, not attention. There is no room for judgment and the main goal is having fun. These are some of the notions the Morikami Museum galleries put forward with Breaking … [Read more...]
Boca Museum’s ‘Pop Culture’ gives us images of what we really are
Like a giant slap in the face, the new Pop Art exhibition at the Boca Museum of Art wakes us up from a long hibernation filled with compulsive consumerism habits, celebrity infatuation and overindulgence. The effect, however, is momentary. It may not be enough to change our ways, but faced with a giant hot dog made of mosaics, a thought does come to mind: How did we get to … [Read more...]
Flagler: The right amount of wealth and heart
The best part of writing about a man responsible for historic hotels, impossible railroads and that this state is now livable, is knowing he is remembered for the right reasons. In other words, I can skip the horseradish. There is nothing phony or in need of polish when it comes to Henry Flagler. His legacy speaks for itself and is now the focus of an exhibit at the … [Read more...]