Hannah McBeth studied art history, classics, and Mediterranean archaeology before getting a Master's at Cambridge University. She enjoys writing, hiking, and traveling to far-off places. Follow her on Twitter @hannahmcbee.
“Epic Tornado” by Jason Jones Thanks to Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein storming the art world in the 1960s, scenes from comic books, graphic novels, and newspaper advertisements don’t look totally foreign in art gallery space. However, animation and illustration are still separated from the serious business of […]
Diving into the Abstract: J. Vehar-Evanoff at Modern West Fine Art BY HANNAH MCBETH ON JUNE 27, 2017 • ( LEAVE A COMMENT ) In Submerged Reflection, up this month at Modern West Fine Art, the versatile painter J. Vehar-Evanoff moves away from depicting the natural world of animals to abstracted landscapes and unpredictable natural elements. As […]
“Becoming Whole” by A.J. Oishi. Acrylic on canvas. 60″ x 72″ Notifications pinging and screens flashing: the average person’s day is filled with hundreds of stimuli demanding attention. In The Human Condition, philosopher Hannah Arendt writes that the point at which the world passed into modernity is when people stopped […]
“The Man Behind the Zion Curtain” by Ben Steele Gallery owner Diane Stewart conceived Art Behind the Zion Curtain as a challenge to artists with local ties to reflect on Utah’s social, political, and cultural issues. Fourteen painters, sculptors, and photographers responded with pieces on view at Modern West Fine […]
Christopher Lynn Misplaced Wall Latex paint on cardboard 2017 What defines sculpture and painting? How do we understand the difference between flat surfaces and dimension? What colors represent contemporary misery? Specific Abject, a group show open through May 12 at the Rio Gallery, features two- and three-dimensional pieces that […]
If you reached into your refrigerator and pulled out a carton of plump strawberries, only to find they’re covered in fuzzy, circular patches of fungus, you’d grimace and throw them away, right? You’d hardly examine the tiny, flowering patterns of decay and growth. But fascination with such microscopic […]
Exhibiting at Modern West Fine Art this month, the traditionally trained painter Ben Steele chooses subjects that hark back to a universal and nostalgic American childhood. From Kennewick, Washington, and educated first at the University of Utah and then at the apprenticeship program in Helper—under the instruction of […]
Mike Lee, an Artist in Residence at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, describes himself as a product of two world cultures, having split his childhood between rural Japan and Utah. His work bridges these two separate geographical and cultural regions with reference to an elusive third: the […]
In his new exhibit, Ryoichi Suzuki’s carved, flowing forms of wood and stone punctuate two rooms in Salt Lake City’s A Gallery. In each sculpture on display, Suzuki uses different types of stone or wood to produce elongated and graceful organic forms. A native of Japan, Suzuki’s subjects […]
If somehow the primal essences of cult horror movies, ‘80s arcade games, abandoned amusement parks, and pulp sci-fi magazines were smashed together, Elmer Presslee’s art might have been fused from the resulting debris. Although many elements feel familiar—callbacks to subcultures of the 1970s and 1980s—Presslee’s style is so […]
Albedo | Nigredo , the collaborative exhibit by Colour Maisch and Gary Vlasic at Finch Lane Gallery, takes an attentive sculptural approach to exploring the mystical way that everyday materials are transformed by artists’ creative processes and the unique environment of gallery space. The gallery creates a space […]
The untitled photographs in Willy Littig’s exhibit Vecinos wander across the walls of Mestizo Gallery like humble pilgrims. Dressed in understated, neat frames, they appear unburdened by worldly pretensions, as if they are on their way to ascetic enlightenment. Littig captured these images on his recent walking pilgrimage […]
In the deep shade of canopies that flutter like leafy parasols above South Temple’s historic mansions, the Alice Gallery, home to the State of Utah Fine Art Collection, displays Downy Doxey-Marshall’s newest show /klōTH/. If you’ve ever wondered how to describe the upside-down letters and slashes that follow […]
The sister fields of archaeology and paleontology share the near-impossible aim of putting eons of earth’s time into human perspective. The movement and scale of time are notoriously difficult for people to understand, but facing the physical remnants of plants, animals, and early humans brings millions of years […]
Kevin Red Star’s paintings at Modern West Fine Art give the immediate impression of no-nonsense stability and strength. Their compositions—featuring mounted Crow warriors, tipis against starry skies, or profiles of chiefs in traditional costume—are balanced and deliberate. Most shapes are fully delineated. The predominant colors are subtle, earthy […]
