At least since the Renaissance, when artists developed sophisticated perspectival and trompe l’oeil effects to produce convincing representations of the real world or of imaginary scenes, illusionism has been a large part of the story and substance of Western visual art.
Material Dreaming: Photography and Sculpture
In 2004, Xing Danwen began an ongoing series of color photographs titled Urban Fiction. Using showroom models of large apartment complexes created by real estate developers in Beijing as her primary subjects, she digitally inserts a few small figures (often including her own) into windows or onto terraces, roofs, or surrounding sidewalks.
David Smith: Moments of Invention and Experimentation
The work of David Smith is a monolith in the history of modern American art. And like all monolithic structures, it is surrounded by a simplified, essentialized, almost mythological narrative. Now, 35 years after his death, two exhibitions have begun to explore his prodigious output in a much more comprehensive manner.
Defining Nature by Defying Materials: A Conversation with Bryan Hunt
Bryan Hunt is in the catbird seat. He has surveyed four decades of contemporary art, including Minimalism, Process Art, Earthwork, conceptualism, performance, installation, political art, and realism, but rarely has he incorporated these styles into his sculpture, which has embraced materiality, abstraction, and nature.
Al Farrow’s Modern-Day Reliquaries
To say that Al Farrow’s work achieves strong visual effect grossly understates the success of his recent “Twentieth Century Reliquaries” series. Consider the most important piece—The Spine and Tooth of Santo Guerro, an enormous sculpture that at first glance appears to replicate the form of a Gothic cathedral.
Michelangelo Pistoletto: Against Imperatives
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s work has undergone a number of profound transformations over the last 55 years, none more dramatic than those that occurred during a few incendiary years in the mid-1960s. Works from this period provide the core of “Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many, 1956–1974,” which debuted at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is
Los Angeles: Great Expectations in Sculpture
Los Angeles is a city for first impressions. It’s a shallow mantra, but one that serves L.A. well, allowing it to be bombastic and superficial without shame. Subtlety may not be its strongest quality, but obviousness suits this city built on glaring sunshine, sprawling wealth, and artificially just fine.
Celebrating Aberrations: A Conversation with Edgar Arceneaux
Edgar Arceneaux’s concerns link studio practice and work in public space. He uses the persona of the artist, an identity that transcends race or agency, as “a transfigurative subject” within his work. His desire to monitor how his work is received becomes complicit with his idea of what it means to present himself as an
LAND of Opportunity
It all began by thinking outside of the institutional box. In January 2009, LAND—the Los Angeles Nomadic Division—premiered its inaugural set of curated artist activities at four sites across L.A. and emerged as the city’s most ambitions public art initiative in recent history.
Federico Díaz: Post-Human Sculpture
It looks like a giant black tsunami crashing headlong into the wall of the building. Does this mean that the creator of said wave, Federico Díaz, has something against the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art? His response to this question, like many others, isn’t a simple “yes” or “no.”
