Labor-intensive, visually compelling works by the Bahamian artist seem to challenge outworn heroes and cultural assumptions of the Western canon, yet some of Strachan’s simplest pieces may be his most pleasing.
Artist Tavares Strachan’s show at Frye packed with subversive drama - Published in Seattle Times, February 6, 2018 Tavares Strachan, “I Belong Here,” 2011. White neon, transformers. (Tavares Strachan)
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Seattle artist Mary Ann Peters explores the migration crisis - published in Seattle Times, October 25, 2017 In "slipstream," an exhibition of Mary Ann Peters' works at the James Harris Gallery, this longtime presence on the Seattle art scene turns her energestic imagination to the migration crisis. (left) “impossible monument (tell tale)” (2017), watercolor, survival blanket, aluminum, sailcloth; (right) “storyboard 6” (2017), watercolor/gouache on clayboard (photo by Rafael Soldi)
Two very different painters show that abstractionism isn’t dead yet - published in Seattle Times, September 19, 2017 Robert C. Jones and Cable Griffith both offer works with an optimistic outlook at G. Gibson Gallery. (Fig 1) Cable Griffiths, “Plein@ir 1.4 (Wenatchee)" and (Fig 2) Robert C. Jones, “Midsummer.”
Plight of immigrants brought to light in ambitious Tacoma Art Museum show - published in Seattle Times, July 28, 2017 Zhi Lin’s “‘Chinaman’s Chance’ on Promontory Summit: Golden Spike Celebration, 12:30 pm, 10th May 1869.”
(Courtesy of the artist and Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Seattle) Diverse notions of drawing at the Whatcom Museum - published in Seattle Times, June 27, 2017 The 29 artists selected by Seattle Art Museum curator Catharina Manchanda for the Bellingham National present media as diverse as photography, video, audio and sculpture as well as more traditional works on paper. Christopher Patton optically transformed close-ups of his handwriting into a series of abstract images, made into a video loop.
Who knew? Paul Allen Collection does abstraction at Pivot Art + Culture - published in Seattle Times, May 22, 2017 The Seattle gallery’s show “Color and Pattern” is a big departure from other, realism-dominated shows from Allen’s trove of artworks. You’ll see masters of the form, though, like Damien Hirst, Wassily Kandinsky and Frank Stella. Pivot Art + Culture is currently exhibiting “Color and Pattern” in its South Lake Union space. The show includes works by such nonrepresentational-art greats as Wassily Kandinsky, David Hockney and Agnes Martin,
Is ‘WE’ installation deep? No. Is it fun? Definitely - Published in Seattle Times, April 12, 2017. At Seattle Art Museum, a peek at Paul Allen’s landscapes - Published in Seattle Times, February 21, 2017 “Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection” is an interesting mix, including the outlier Klimt landscape “Birch Forest” and the Cezanne post-Impressionist masterpiece “Mont Sainte-Victoire.” At Seattle Art Museum, Wendy Saffel stands in stark contrast to the April Gornik painting “Lake Light” (2008). The painting is one of the nearly 40 works in the “Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection” now on view at SAM. (Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times)
‘A Closer Look’ at more of Paul Allen’s art collection at Pivot - published in Seattle Times, December 8, 2016 A review of “A Closer Look: Portraits from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection” at Pivot Art + Culture in Seattle, which hangs photos and paintings together by such artists and photographers as John Coplans, David Hockney and Guy Tillim.
'Matched Makers' is about being married to your work - Published in Seattle Times, October 18, 2016. The show at the Museum of Northwest Art features works by 28 artist couples, including Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight, Sheila Klein and Ries Niemi, and Michael Bray and Anya Kivarkis. Cops who marry cops, like cinema stars who couple with other stars, often make the case that only another member of their profession can fully understand and sympathize with the peculiarities of their job. A similar sentiment is expressed by artist Michael Bray, who says his conceptual jeweler partner Anya Kivarkis “understands the risks and lack of rewards for the risks” in what he does.
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FAIGIN ART REVIEWS
A collection of reviews, featuring mostly NW artists, galleries and museums, on KUOW Radio from 2000 to 2012, in the Seattle Times from 2014 to present, and in other publications, as noted, beginning in 1993. SUBSCRIBE: To receive an email notice of new Art Review Blog postings, please use the Contact Form. |
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