ARTES MAGAZINE

Place, memory, and emotion are closely intertwined in the paintings of Charles Burchfield (1893–1967), at a exhibition currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Thoroughly grounded in the landscapes and neighborhoods of Western New York, Burchfield meticulously observed and freely interpreted places that others might overlook—sites not conventionally scenic or remarkable—transforming them [...]

 Seeking – Director for Museum, open 4-10 days a year with hundreds of curators involved, and tens of thousands of visitors. Must be able to cope with logistical nightmares and able to please everybody all the time.   How many museums are there in the world? Have a guess. I have no idea so email me [...]

  What’s going on?    The dismaying dearth of intellectual rigor in our popular culture has been parried with an overly- zealous esotericism among the architectural elite. This clique of influential architects has been given a much louder voice by their precocious benefactors than befits their numbers and yet their stamp upon the contemporary architectural landscape has [...]

Stereotype and cliche are to Marjorie Strider as Istanbul is to Orhan Pamuk or the chador to Shirin Neshat. They are goads to her art. She first came to art world attention in the 1965 “International Girlie Show,” with her blandly outrageous bikini girls flaunting their flawless suntans and smiling their Ipana smiles. They were [...]

      If ever there were a middle-of-the-road exhibition, this year’s Whitney Biennial is it. In the spirit of an Obama promise for ‘Change’ and to ostensibly try to please everyone—traditional nattering nabob art critics included—guest curator Francesco Bonami and Whitney senior curatorial assistant Gary Carrion-Murayari transformed, with a few standout exceptions, what is usually a [...]

This unusual story may not at first appear to be entirely relevant when considering the dark magic of insurance. Certainly many people need a cup of strong coffee before submitting themselves to an insurance analysis. But, other than that, what relevance is there between insurance and the art of coffee making…possibly, none. (left):  An illustration [...]

More than half a dozen grand hotels once graced the Watch Hill, peninsula on the western shore of Rhode Island, but a decade ago only one remained, Ocean House, an aging and ailing wooden behemoth whose top floors had been condemned for years. Odds were increasing that this iconic landmark, its era long past, would soon [...]

  And by obligation, of course, I mean the artist’s motivation to deliver a work of art to the world that represents a highly individualized statement about a relevant theme or subject. In doing so, should the impact, legitimacy and enduring success of that creative effort be measured by the response of the viewer, alone? [...]

  There will be no ruins of Las Vegas. Everything of its previous history is absolutely erased by design. Nothing will be left to uncover, as David Macaulay did in his post-apocalyptic comic, Motel of the Mysteries, which imagined a Howard Carter-like excavation of a roadside motor lodge.      What seemed absolutely contemporary in 1968, when [...]

Our minds become numb and our eyes glaze over as the harsh reality of yet another natural tragedy in the world enters the corner of our visual field. Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, has once again been devastated by disaster. Having the misfortune to be built over one the many tectonic faults [...]