Utah Visual Arts articles published in 15 Bytes, arranged by category.
Entering the gallery, I am greeted by five wooden pedestals of varying heights, each supporting dried lavender. The subtle fragrance permeates the air, though not as strongly as I might have expected, relying more on the memory of its scent. It immediately pulls me inward, evoking a sense […]
“I could do that in five minutes.” It’s a common refrain, frequently and flippantly said, usually while looking at a Pollock-esque paint splatter worth an amount north of your mortgage, but, really, it’s said of any kind of modern art. Which is unfair, because “modern art” can mean […]
When June Harwood moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1950s, she found a fertile environment for her own artistic interests in the Hard-Edge movement then taking shape. She became friends with several artists, including Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg, who were developing a new, reduced, classic style […]
The first question you may ask yourself is, Why? Why stick a piece of chewed bubble gum onto a brightly-painted Volkswagen Bug in downtown Provo, Utah? Surely, not to be transgressive: the owners have encouraged you to. Nor likely out of necessity—that is, a big wad of gum […]
Most of “The Sound of Many Books” is taken up by the wall of tomes: going on five shelves of them, no two the same, the gaps between them like missing teeth that testify to regular use. This is an avid reader’s library. Who that reader may be […]
Walking into Allen and Alan Fine Art—(or ‘A’ Gallery, as it’s generally known)—it’s clear you’re stepping into a space that reveres artwork. Past the desk, on the left, two large-scale paintings by Jennifer Rasmusson draw you in with a subtle yet dignified seduction. The space, lit by natural […]
Writing for 15 Bytes, the temptation is always to go straight to the art. In the case of the current show at Art Access, that might mean Allianys Pupo Restrepo’s “Royalty Playing Cards”—decks of classic playing cards that have been digitally printed. The actual decks are laid out […]
How long does Connie Borup tinker with her drawing, shifting and rearranging it, erasing and starting over? Or is it possible that she is lucky enough to find these graceful, elegant lines already composed by nature’s calligraphy? Borup’s recent work, currently on display at Phillips Gallery, continues her […]
Downstairs at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Making a Scene highlights a burgeoning West Coast art scene, charting developments in abstraction and surrealism in the 1940s and 1950s (see our review here). Upstairs, two shows focusing on Los Angeles show us what happened next. Alongside the […]
If you visited the Utah Shakespeare Festival this summer you may know how crowded with art the Southern Utah Museum of Art has been. The venue is usually packed — constructed as part of the architectural trend where designing an art museum focused more on creating an interesting […]
It’s well known that sensations like flavors, odors, and sights tend to be unpleasant on first encounter—a mechanism that protects individuals from unknown dangers—but that with further experience they may come to seem neutral, even positively delightful. Captured in a single image, the phenomenon might take the form […]
What was happening on America’s other coast as New York City was poised to become the center of the international art world? The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art explores this question by digging into its surprisingly rich vaults to stage San Francisco, the Golden Years 1930-1960: Making […]
What happens to an artist’s work when they die? The select few will be fought over at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Most will become a burden to their heirs: what to keep, what can sell, what to do with all the rest? Somewhere in between, among the mid-tier artists […]
This May, when residents of Alpine, Utah mourned the demolition of the town’s last remaining pioneer-era home, the Carlisle House—razed to make way for an expanding charter school—painter and sculptor Dennis Smith was among them. He grew up in this Utah County town, nestled beneath the soaring granite […]
For much of the 20th century, painting and photography felt like mortal enemies. Any history of Modernism will explain how the camera forced artists into the varieties of Abstraction, among other things. That the schism has now healed is shown by Maggie Davis in her “Windowpane Poppies,” a […]
There was no headline-grabbing announcement when Laurel Cannon Alder decided to leave the Utah Division of Arts & Museums. As grants manager, she wasn’t the public face of the division but rather one of the many art professionals who work in the community behind the scenes. And not […]
Dozens of ceramics line a back gallery at the Southern Utah Museum of Art. Some are so smooth yet tactilely tempting that you’ll want to reach out and caress them—or, maybe inspired by Harry Bertoia’s sound sculptures in the adjoining gallery, you’ll be tempted to pluck them with […]
Earl Jones, an influential artist known for his deep love of mountains and the human form, passed away Aug. 25, 2024 at age 87 after a remarkable life and career. His works, often described as poetic and unabashed, conveyed his vision of nature’s power and human vulnerability, themes […]
