ST. LEWIS Pulitzer Arts Foundation Though Medardo Rosso (1858–1928) is not as widely known today as he should be, a number of his contemporaries (including the influential French poet Guillaume Apollinaire) considered him to be as great a sculptor as Rodin. “Medardo Rosso: Experiments in Light and Form” addressed this omission with a visually arresting and extremely informative presentation of his works from 1882 to 1906, curated by Sharon Hecker, a leading Rosso scholar, and Tamara H. Schenkenberg, an associate curator at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.
Akio Takamori
SEATTLE James Harris Gallery The works in Akio Takamori’s recent show revealed a strangely somber and perplexing side to this usually exuberant ceramic artist, examining the rituals of male public behavior. These were the last works that he produced before succumbing to a long bout with cancer last year. Idio – syncratic and characterized by masterful technique, Takamori’s work is also known for a perilous awkwardness, which often doubles as self-examination.
Whitney Biennial 2017
NEW YORK Whitney Museum of American Art Smaller and more diverse than in years past, this year’s Whitney Bien – nial featured the work of 63 artists spread across two floors, the stairwell, and lobby of the museum’s new Renzo Piano building. With few walls, high ceilings, and works hung together in separate spaces as if in mini gallery shows, the layout encouraged viewers to wander about almost as if they were at an art fair.
Christian Benefiel
WASHINGTON, DC Flashpoint Gallery In Christian Benefiel’s recent exhibition, three large sculptures filled a small, elongated space. Each work, created of interwoven pieces of wood, was held together through the strength of the intricate con – nections linking its individual parts. Benefiel sees his constructions as a physical means of addressing the interactions of singular elements in complex systems, whether social systems ( societies and governments) or biological ones (organisms both simple and complex).
Norbert Prangenberg
COLOGNE, GERMANY Galerie Karsten Greve Nearly every top-heavy Figur sculpted by Norbert Prangenberg (1949– 2012) is reminiscent of an ancient amphora or pithos, although without the lid or twin handles. The rest of his symmetrical Figuren approximate modern barrels. We eventually realize that neither of his container types can hold liquid or grain, because they remain fundamentally un-reconstituted ropes of clay. The concentric coils were crudely kneaded into lengths up to 2.5 inches thick before being barely smoothed and vertically stacked.
Andy Moerlein and Donna Dodson
BOSTON Boston Sculptors Gallery Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein recently transformed Boston Sculptors Gallery into a new kind of Wonderland with their related shows, “Zodiac” and “Geology.” Dodson’s anthropomorphic deities, arranged in two circles, reference both Chinese and Western zodiac symbols. The archetypal figures emanate an extraordinary calm. Each takes a similar stolid stance yet clearly expresses her individuality.
J. Ma, C. Smith, C. Walker
MUNCIE, INDIANA David Owsley Museum of Art The three artists featured in this show come from different places – Jongil Ma from Korea (now living in New York), Christopher Smith from the U.S., and Corban Walker from Ireland – but they all share an interest in glass and Plexiglas. Curator Lisa Banner, a professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, exploited this commonality in two ways: first, as a means to remember the university’s ties to the Ball family glassmanufacturing business and, second, as a tool to explore subtle changes in material, as well as shifts in vision and viewpoint.
Art Prospect
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Art Prospect Last year, Art Prospect, St. Petersburg’s first and only public art festival, marked its fifth year. Since its inception, its artistic vision has been shaped by Susan Katz, an American who has lived in St. Petersburg since 1998, and Kendal Henry, a New Yorker involved with public art. In 2016, the festival focused on social practice and community engagement, with projects by 33 different artists and artist teams, 22 from Russia and the remainder hailing from the U.S., Switzerland, Norway, Finland, and Poland.
Heinz Mack
NEW YORK Sperone Westwater In Heinz Mack’s recent, three-floor exhibition, carefully selected monochromatic paintings, wall reliefs, ink drawings, and stelae were placed together to read like a narrative. The quest for narrative in abstract terms is beginning to appear integral to Mack’s work. Rather than em phasizing mediumistic aspects, he clearly went for the impact of earthly and celestial light on physical form, a position related in some ways to the Romantic poet, playwright, natural philosopher, painter, and color theorist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), a figure with whom Mack has been compared.
Vancouver Biennale
VANCOUVER Vancouver Biennale A stack of five cars, precisely balanced on a twisted old-growth cedar trunk, erupts from a patch of green grass-an incongruity amid the spider web of roadways and elevated rapid-transit lines edging the downtown core of Vancouver. The 33-foot-high, 25,000-pound Trans Am Totem-its massive tree stump supporting the vehicles like an arboreal Atlas-is a tribute to, as well as a critique of the car, North America’s enduring symbol of personal freedom and technological innovation.
