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.
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 […]
“In Arcadia” by Madeline Rupard, acrylic on panel, 2017 In ancient Greek mythology, Arcas, the son of Zeus and Callisto, ruled over Arcadia, a utopian paradise that later housed the god Pan. Arcadia eventually eclipsed its namesake to become a symbol for a mythical and unblemished landscape, a […]
“Cows in Feedlot” by Mark Crenshaw Do we really know where our food comes from? How it grows? If it’s really nutritious? Unless we grow all of our own vegetables, spices, and raise our own livestock, we cannot know for sure. In his new exhibit the Edible Landscape – now […]
“Mecklenberg Autumn” by Romare Bearden As the American artist Barbara Januszkiewicz once noted, people need to “be drawn to the visual arts [to] expand [the] imagination.” On the power of art and progress, Januszkiewicz further stated, “creative thinking inspires ideas [and] ideas inspire change.” Embracing Diverse Voices: A […]
Enter the quiet Alvin Gittins Gallery in the Art & Art History Building on the University of Utah campus and your eyes are drawn immediately to the right wall. A massive 9’ x 32’ work of art, full of black and gray washes, lines, and squiggles calls for […]
Spring is coming (if not already here), which means you can expect to find exhibitions of student works in venues across the state. In Cache Valley a group of students at Utah State University has been getting the jump on everyone else. Under the direction of sculpture Professor Ryoichi […]
I don’t usually think much of exclusionary shows, unless it’s by medium or genre, but it was just International Women’s Day and I trust that the curators at and for Adobe took that into account when they organized this exhibition of strictly female Utah artists. (Did you, Andrew Ehninger?) […]
Walk into the Kimball Art Center in Park City and the space feels open, warm, and inviting. It’s quiet, but there’s a comfort to the quietness, much like one would find at a library or a cozy café. It’s a place perfect for contemplation, and through April 16 […]
Between Force and Fragility Lydia Okumura and the gendered nuances of Minimalist sculpture by Scotti Hill When writing about sculpture, critics often use inadvertently masculine vernacular, expending such terms as “dominant” or “forceful” in describing a work’s construction and effect. While feminist scholars are right to point out […]
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 […]
Annie Poon’s short film The Split House depicts and reconciles her personal struggle with bipolar disorder. The title comes both from the separated emotional nature that Poon experienced in the treatment of her condition, and the location of Split, Croatia, where she served as a missionary for The Church of […]
Long ago relegated to the domestic sphere, embroidery is often seen as a decidedly feminine form of labor. Which is why, taking a renewed interest in practices such as textile work and ceramics, feminist art sought to question society’s often demeaning classifications of such mediums as ”women’s work.“ […]
No one is as greatly affected by the violence of war as children. The most vulnerable population, children absorb the physical, emotional and psychological traumas of war in unique ways. Brian McCarty’s exhibit WAR-TOYS: Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Strip, at the Woodbury Art Museum through March 16th, approaches […]
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times . . .” So Charles Dickens celebrated an era that has resonated far too often with human history, but perhaps never more so than it does with the Americas today. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens […]
Our attention was riveted first by the election. Then, the transition. And now by the new administration. Political engagement in America seems to be surging, with people from both sides of the political spectrum taking to the streets. One wonders, though, if that energy will be turned into […]
Originally from a small Midwest town in rural Indiana, Steve Smock moved to Utah for its alluring outdoor adventure and rugged nearby mountains. An avid biker, Smock found a home in Salt Lake City’s cycling scene as a bike technician in various shops around the city. So when […]
The complexity and depth of Jylian Gustlin’s paintings are the true intersection of science and art. Entropy, the Bay Area painter’s current exhibition at Gallery Mar in Park City, is a vision of calculated beauty that results from infusing technology, mathematical theory and creative expression into a body of […]
Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange In a now-legendary time, Howard Brough carried primary responsibility for the splendid, if spatially challenging gallery on the fourth floor of the City Library. During those years of service he must have […]
Utah in winter presents not an altogether pristine landscape if you ask a local meteorologist. As those who live here can attest, the Wasatch Front is no stranger to temperature inversions that trap colder, smoggy air beneath a warmer air layer. The resulting haze is not only unpleasant; […]
