Utah Visual Arts articles published in 15 Bytes, arranged by category.
A prominent figure in the Utah art world and a dedicated faculty member at the University of Utah College of Fine Arts, Sam Wilson leaves behind a rich legacy characterized by his unique blend of passion, innovation, and commitment to authenticity in art. He passed away Monday, Nov. […]
Jessica Marine makes art that nods to the beauty and absurdity of the world, and amplifies what exists right at the intersection of the two. Many of her paintings playfully personify animals and recognizable characters. Paired with her signature blend of high-contrast illustrative and colorful pop-art styles, her […]
One memory of my friend Tony Smith, who died this past Thanksgiving Day, was his penchant for wearing T-shirts. Ever confident in himself, he wasn’t one to hide the paunch such apparel revealed, even emphasizing the tummy bump in drawings of himself — attire as satire. I […]
It’s clear why Welter distinguishes these works by calling them “fiber art.” Many quilts, especially those likely to be seen in the gallery today, may be no less art, but are more public in their intentions and expression. Rosanna Lynne Welter’s textiles distinguish themselves by sharing more personal, private, even intimate thoughts and feelings. What they don’t do is look like what’s expected, and in that many be found the most important clue of all.
Kathleen Peterson’s central concern, her subject and theme, which can be found in everything she paints, is harmony. … Humans learn primarily from models, and here are some that might help change a viewer’s life. It’s this positive, emotional conviction that inheres in them, and is felt by willing viewers, that accounts for Kathleen Peterson’s substantial popularity and presence in so many collections and homes.
There are not a whole lot of Fairbanks in Utah today; at least not in the art world. But for a period in the early 20th century that surname dominated the state’s art community. Both painters and sculptors, the Fairbanks were adept practitioners of that blend of naturalism […]
From time to time, I’ve been asked if I’ve read Walter Benjamin’s celebrated essay, “The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Written in 1935, it remains one of the mileposts of critical art history. Benjamin argues that over the centuries when it was necessary to […]
On your way to Squatters for a drink, or while catching a show at the Rose Wagner, you can’t miss them: the Temporary Museum of Permanent Change’s 14 placards, each 7-feet high, featuring the striking aerial photographs of Western landscapes deeply scarred by heavy industry and severe drought. […]
Big, glossy images of majestic panoramas, colors punched with saturation. With today’s portable technology and the state’s majestic landscapes these shots are easy to take: you’ll find them on just about anyone’s Instagram page. But not on Andrew McAllister’s. As if in reaction to these landscape glamour shots, […]
For centuries, Western artists labored to understand and reproduce the appearance of the natural world. Art created in the 19th-century academies of Europe testifies to their eventual success, so that by 1905, Picasso could move on, reminding writer and collector Gertrude Stein that, according to previous standards, the […]
As you probably are aware, the place currently called Utah represents a large and diverse landscape. With its arbitrarily drawn borders, this almost-a-rectangle state in the middle of the American West encompasses a remarkably diverse geography. From Rich, Cache, and Box Elder counties in the north to Washington, […]
The story told in Collectable Memories rightly begins with “Swim Lessons,” in which the self-taught artist reveals an intuitive feeling for composition by crowding together five children, one of them her own daughter, in the shallow end of the pool — as well as in the lower left […]
It’s fairly obvious to the discerning that our environment is changing in challenging ways. It’s also apparent that so far, the process remains deniable. Each new degree of temperature, each addition to the severity of storms, soon becomes the “new normal,” so that the continuing slide into inhospitality remains concealed. What Jensen seeks to do in her art is to elevate that almost subliminal transition until it becomes ominous, but to do so without losing track of the appeal of the places she represents. …
There is something to be said about experience, about story. Every person has their own and no story is exactly alike. Yet, somehow, all stories have the power to connect us. The human experience, though unique, shows evidence of a life lived. Stories allow people to relate to […]
What is surely one of the most thought-provoking, suggestive, and yet elusive titles attached to a work of art this season may currently be seen on the walls of Phillips Gallery. As a title, “In Between Dreams” draws much of its power from being an original turn of […]
A striking new mural titled “Daylight” now graces the side of an industrial building along Salt Lake City’s Folsom Trail. This expansive artwork, running 275 feet eastward from 1000 West, is the latest visual enhancement to the rapidly evolving trail. The mural, with its intricate patterns of blue […]
“I experience moments in the natural world that fill me with resonance and freedom,” says Salt Lake City artist Lauren Underwood. “These experiences may happen close to home on a neighborhood walk or in the garden or they may happen far from home on a hike or adventure.” […]
