SEATTLE Frye Art Museum Leo Saul Berk’s recent exhibition “Structure and Ornament” featured a series of sculptural installations commissioned by the Frye Art Museum and Frye Foundation. In an unusually apt interface between an artist and the museum’s permanent collection of 19th-century German art, director Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker linked Berk’s variations on his childhood home (eccentric architect Bruce Goff’s Ford House in Aurora, Illinois) to the Frye’s substantial holdings of the multi-disciplinary Munich Secession.
Rita Simoni
BUENOS AIRES Zafarrancho I have been following the work of the Argentine artist Rita Simoni for many years, and I must confess that it still surprises me. Her work offers a clear example of a skill that can’t be ignored by contemporary artists—the ability to adapt to a specific environment using as many stylistic devices and supports as needed. Architect, photographer, visual artist, Simoni can move from the two-dimensional to installation, from an artist’s book to 3D digital design; there are no limits for her. Humectaria took place in an unconventional, almost unthinkable, and even hostile space.
Sculpture by the Sea
AARHUS, DENMARK Next year, “Sculpture by the Sea” in Australia will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The brainchild of David Handley, “Sculpture by the Sea” was conceived as a free exhibition, arranged along a spectacular stretch of coastline at Bondi Beach and designed to attract both a popular audience and art professionals. The Sydney show now draws about half a million visitors annually and generates about $1 million in sales, making it one of Australia’s most significant art events.
Dispatch: Kara Walker at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Domino Sugar Factory, and Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
Kara Walker operates in the liminal—that in-between space of overlap and displacement at the border and on the margins—intent on undermining and transcending fixed definitions and domains of difference. Whether in the form of cut-out silhouettes, for which she first gained recognition, or in more recent projects, including an exhibition that she organized for the
Hunting for Stone: A Conversation with Lee Ufan
A fascinating book published in 2014 by the Fondazione Mudima in Milan documents Lee Ufan’s wanderings through the environs of Lombardy in search of stones—boulders, in fact—to be used as components in his “Relatum” series, along with plates of steel.
Geoff Bartlett: Where the Work Leads
Widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost sculptors, Geoff Bartlett has no constant, identifiable style. And yet, regardless of the fact that he also uses a wide range of diverse media, the viewer has little difficulty in recognizing his distinctive sculptures since certain underlying characteristics have appeared in his work throughout his career.
Upside Down: A Conversation with Alex Sanson
“Upside down” is one way to describe Alex Sanson’s thought-provoking approach to art. In fact, he offers a fascinating case study for artists seeking a financially sustainable business model and a wider customer base. His practice of placing works beyond narrow art capitals and the professionalized art world infrastructure is also inspiring.
Thinking Space: A Conversation with Bernard Williams
Bernard Williams investigates the complexities of American history and culture through painting, sculpture, and installation. Within these broad arenas, his work seeks a kind of open-ended dialogue, addressing identity, flattening hierarchies, and questioning who we are collectively.
Not Hidden, Not Evident: A Conversation with Mirta Kupferminc
The daughter of immigrants—Auschwitz survivors—Mirta Kupferminc was born in Argentina. Because the family had lost every material belonging that might help their children to re-create their past before the war, Kupferminc grew up nurturing her spirit with stories and memories that shaped her life and art and established her interest in human rights.
Surrendering to the Common Life: A Conversation with Cristina Rodrigues
In situ, Cristina Rodrigues’s works read like fanciful relics. Lavishing baroque details over ordinary objects, she masterfully mixes virtuosity with the commonplace. Adventures into the sublime, her installations are as universal in their significance as they are local in their inspiration, purposefully touching the lives of everyone involved.
