I am especially jealous of anyone who gets to see the Joan Mitchell show. So very very jealous! If you go, tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness!
Hey you fellow Foragers! There are some incredible shows going on right now. Here are just a few of my recommendations for must-see museum and gallery shows this week!
Summer can be a slow time in the art world. Some galleries close altogether, reserving their resources for the busy Fall season, while others show off their best artists for tourists and travelers.
Here are a few shows happening right now, if you’re looking for something artsy to do over the holiday weekend!
One of the things I love most about the art world is the diversity– of people, styles, ages, eras. It’s amazing to not only see the work of new graduates and up & comers, but to look back at the artists who made the way for today’s success. This week’s round up of must-see museum and gallery shows includes work from recent MFA graduates, old-school Abstract Expressionists, modern figurative savants, and some abstract artists who just wanna have some fun.
Oh how I wish I could be in all these places! Someone needs to hurry up with that teleportation device. If you’re in any of these areas and able to see these incredible gallery shows, share your experience on Instagram & tag me @artsyforager with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness!
In this week’s round up of gallery shows and museum exhibitions, I am so bummed that I’m nowhere near any of these spots because each of these shows looks amazing!
Click through the gallery links above for more information about each show. If you check ‘em out, tag me ( @artsyforager ) on Instagram with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness! If you go I’ll be totally jealous!
You guys know I’m always searching for the best artsy finds for you. Well, in this new series of posts, I’ll be sharing the museums & gallery shows you need to see if you possibly can!
And there is a whole lot of yumminess going on in all four corners of the country!
east |The Way & The Wayfarers, group show featuring work by Jay Knapp, Joshua Hogan & Kuzana Ogg** at Westmoreland Museum of Art
Click through the gallery links above for more information about each show. If you check ‘em out, tag me ( @artsyforager ) on Instagram with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness!
**FYI– work by Kuzana Ogg is now available through The Trove! So even if you can’t see her show, you can still check out her gorgeous work and maybe make it your own!
This post contains affiliate links. As a Great.ly Tastemaker and curator of The Trove, I receive a small commission on each piece sold from The Trove boutique gallery.
This week, it would seem, is one to be filled with all sorts of newness! In addition to the new post series started on Tuesday and the introduction of my Great.ly shop, I’m excited to finally launch a new featured series I’ve been pondering for a while now. I’m always on the hunt for new ways to support and promote the artists whose work I love. When we travel, we’re on the lookout for local art shows and happenings. Which led me to think, hey, you guys must be, too!
Each Thursday afternoon, I’ll be posting a round up of interesting gallery or museum shows I think you outta know about– one from each region of the country, North, South, East & West. ( FYI– sometimes North and Northwest will be interchangeable, just because. )
west |Jennifer JL Jones, Invisible Thread at Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM**
Find details about each show by clicking through to the gallery or museum links above. If you check ’em out, tag me ( @artsyforager ) on Instagram with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness!
**Jennifer JL Jones’ show ends June 8th! Get there before it closes.
Image sources via the galleries & museum sites linked above.
Last week, an interior designer friend from Florida was visiting Seattle, so we seized the opportunity to catch up over lunch. I racked my brain trying to come up with a lunch spot I thought would be inspiring to her design senses and then it hit me– the cafe at the Chihuly Garden & Glass museum! I’d been meaning to visit the museum since arriving in Seattle, but it just hadn’t happened yet, so here was the perfect excuse.
The museum centers around the work of renown Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. Chihuly is a bit of a polarizing figure in Seattle– his work, having saturated the Seattle glass market for quite sometime, he’s like the Starbucks of art in Seattle. He’s everywhere, as are copy cats and artists who’ve worked for him so it can be understandably tiresome to see yet more Chihuly. But with that said, the museum is a feast for the eyes and definitely worth a visit!
From an art lover’s standpoint, the mere spectacle of color and texture is unforgettable. The museum is relatively small, only about 1/2 dozen “rooms”, Chihuly’s work really shines in the atriums and outdoor garden spaces. The design of each space is done thoughtfully and with much regard to the characteristics of the works themselves, how the light behaves in and around them, color, etc.
Though the price of admission seemed a bit steep at $19 for an adult ticket, the museum staff was friendly & helpful, which goes a long way in my book! Overall, the Chihuly Garden & Glass is the perfect cultural diversion amongst the touristy offerings at Seattle Center. Oh and lunch at the Collections Cafe was delicious! For more information on visiting the Chihuly Garden & Glass, please visit their website.
If you’d like to see more photos from my visit, check out the Artsy Instagram feed!
Every new place Mr. Forager & I go, I try to hit the local art museum. Not only because I think it’s important to patronize local art resources ( artsy duh ), but I also find them to be an interesting gauge of the local tastes and what’s important to the surrounding culture. After being in Seattle for six weeks, we finally ventured to the Seattle Art Museum last week.
In addition to their current special exhibition, Future Beauty ( more on that in a separate post ), there were a few other intriguing exhibitions on display. I was especially excited to see 50 Works for 50 States, selections from the Herb and Dorothy Vogel collection.
[ Codex Morales Braccio Sermugnano by Michael Goldberg and Untitled by Tony Smith ]
I am continually amazed by the collection this couple put together on a modest income! Truly inspiring to anyone who is intimidated by the prospect of collecting artwork. The Vogels collected many smaller works and works on paper, making them more financially accessible but allowing them to build an enviable collection. Such a great example to follow!
One of the things that impressed me the most about the SAM experience was the thoughtfulness given to how each exhibition was displayed and how the galleries interacted with each other. Glimpses of work seen not just within each exhibition but from one gallery to another allow the work to relate and interact in a way that allows the viewer’s eye to flow naturally throughout the space.
[ Thicket by Martin Puryear ]
A delightful surprise was the small show currently on display in the Knight Lawrence Gallery, In a Silent Way, “a quiet reflection on African American identities and histories”. This small gallery is tucked in a corner of the museum, away from the crowds and bustle of the larger galleries, which was perfectly fitting for such a thoughtful group of works. The palette of the show was almost exclusively black and white, a subtle nod to the subject matter, but each piece filled with subtext of what it means to evolve as a person of African descent in America.
From the museum’s permanent collection, an exhibition of mid-twentieth century work, From Abstract Expression to Colored Planes, features superstars of the era such as Frank Stella, Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler. The progression of that era of modern art is always fascinating– you can literally see the artists deconstructing and reconstructing the meaning of form across time. It is without a doubt one of my favorite periods of art history!
[ contemplating Frankenthaler ]
In keeping with the special exhibition’s focus on fashion, I was especially drawn to the work of Yinka Shonibare, whose Nuclear Family installation shows us a “traditional” family dressed in the structure of Victorian garb in textiles reminiscent of modern Africa. In a different, but no less interesting textile sculpture, Walter Oltmann‘s Caterpillar Suit mixes two destructive species, the caterpillar and the conquistador, while exposing their vulnerabilities and tenuous existences.
[ Nuclear Family by Yinka Shonibare ]
[ Caterpillar Suit III by Walter Oltmann ]
I love the way the Seattle Art Museum is blurring the lines between ancient and modern, leading the visitor down familiar paths only to introduce them to something new and exciting. Can’t wait to see what else is in store!
I have had the work of Dutch artist Ruud van Empel pinned to my Pinterest board for months now. Imagine my excitement when we arrived in San Diego back in October and I saw who was coming to the Museum of Photographic Arts at Balboa Park! Since then, I’ve had the postcard for his show, Strange Beauty, hanging on our fridge, just waiting to see this compelling work up close.
*I snapped this pic before I saw the sign for no photography. Shhh.. don’t tell on me!
The artist’s first solo show in an American museum, Strange Beauty showcases over 40 of van Empel’s digitally created works. I hate to call them digitally enhanced photographs because they are so very much more than that. Ruud van Empel carefully constructs each piece, meticulously layering staged photographs, digital imagery, and collage.
World #7, cibachrome, 41.43×59.06
The results are stunningly haunting, complex imagery. With a background in theater arts and graphic graphic design, van Empel sets a beautifully enticing stage, one in we aren’t sure whether his characters should feel right at home or terribly out of place.
World #20, cibachrome, 23.5×33The Office #41, digital print on paper, 12.01×13.78Untitled #1, cibachrome, 33.11×46.81
As you look closely at each image, you aren’t sure where the actual photograph and the manipulation or collage begins.. in many we would be surprised to know which elements were not present all along.
Generation #2, cibachrome, 130×49
Strange Beauty runs through February 3, 2013 at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. If you’re anywhere near the area, I highly recommend a visit! You can also see more of Ruud van Empel’s work on his website.
Top image by Artsy Forager. All other images are via the artist’s website.
north | Kinetic Sculptures, Prints, and Carved Wood Panels by John Buck at Greg Kucera Gallery
