Utah Exhibition Reviews published in 15 Bytes, Utah’s art magazine, including reviews of local Utah artists, regional artists, group exhibitions and traveling exhibits of national and international artists.
“Doomscroller invites viewers to reflect on whether our compulsion to engage with constant data streams is a survival strategy or a path to self-destruction.” These words, which conclude the introduction to Doomscroller, an exhibition currently at Ogden Contemporary Arts, posit an intriguing dilemma. The audience will likely identify […]
In Europe, art enthusiasts occasionally come across dismantled fragments of some major, long-gone work of art in a museum or gallery. Often these are surviving parts of some noteworthy, even famous architectural commission from a building that was subsequently damaged in war or otherwise demolished. This might include […]
Walking into Finch Lane Gallery, one is immediately struck by the sheer scope of Carel Brest van Kempen’s work, by what feels like a lifetime of meticulous observation and dedication to painting. BIODIVERGENT presents an extensive range of pieces, oscillating between hyperrealistic renderings of wildlife and surreal, metaphor-laden […]
In The Second Sex, her indispensable survey of the status of women, Simone de Beauvoir dispenses with the romantic notion that once upon a time women ruled the world, pointing out that men were always larger and stronger, and a less civilized time in history than ours was […]
Once confronted with the name “Copper Ouroboros,” many might think of a serpent swallowing its tail, or a never-ending cycle, a symbol of infinity. But for others, copper evokes something different: a utilitarian resource, essential yet often overlooked, a material tied to industry, infrastructure, and, crucially, environmental consequence. […]
For much of its history, and even today in many places, art has been considered a craft and not a profession. Now, our artists are required to provide themselves with the benchmarks of professional status. One of the details in such an artist’s resumé is where the individual […]
The Southern Utah Museum of Art’s Salt Lines exhibition places the fragile state of Great Salt Lake at its center, not through advocacy or policy-driven rhetoric, but through poetic, immersive, and deeply sensory works that settle into the mind like salt into the seams of everyday life. If […]
Clay is elemental. Ancient. Intimately connected with humanity’s development. It is the stuff of creation myths, from Mesopotamian to Mesoamerican. Gods mold clay and animate it with the breath of life. Meaghan Gates’ sculptures seem to embrace this lineage, embodying a vitality that makes them feel like living, […]
The late novelist and essayist Martin Amis called it “The War Against Cliché.” Visual artists don’t talk about it so much, but particularly in Contemporary Art there’s been a move away from the predictable format of years past, though by no means has that familiar version disappeared. Yet […]
One of the rarest and yet most compelling phases in an artist’s career is the time when she emerges like the universe from the chaos of limitless possibilities and begins to find her best direction forward: the work that will fulfill her potential. Antra Sinha has been working […]
Regular visitors to Phillips Gallery will be familiar with the work of Mark Knudsen, whose paintings of what he has called “the new West” have been a regular presence in its exhibitions for several years. Knudsen’s style—rooted in his years as a designer and illustrator for The Salt […]
There’s a nifty bit of architectural symbolism going down at the Bountiful-Davis Art Center this month. Around the periphery of the building’s main space, three separate artists have set up works that address the ever-present dilemma of how a society feeds its members. What’s in the middle, instead […]
Each of the three satellite galleries at BDAC currently offers an individual artist’s view on the theme of what we eat: how it’s grown, harvested, and handled. It’s not a common theme in art, but these artists have found creative ways to explore it, and the staff at […]
One of the more charming and inspiring stories to be told in paint recently has only a couple of weeks remaining at the South City Campus of Salt Lake Community College. Old Man and His Mountains: The Trail of Tails, Trials, and Triumphs is the work of Robert […]
Artists identify so well with the insults their critics hurl at them, that some of those eventually became the proper names of the most popular and respected artistic styles in history: “Impressionism,” “Cubism,” and “Baroque” come to mind. Meanwhile, Americans have always had ambivalent feelings about intellectual pursuits: […]
Jerrin Wagstaff’s American Mythology, currently on display at Modern West, is a profound exploration of abstraction, narrative, and the myths embedded in the American landscape. Seamlessly blending historical context with a striking visual language, Wagstaff creates works that are at once accessible and challenging, inviting viewers to grapple […]
One of the things that women are generally better at than men is building a community. Get men together and many compete for status, want to be at the top of whatever they make. Women are more likely to seek connection and bond over their experiences than try […]
