Utah Artist Profiles published in 15 Bytes, featuring magazine length profiles of Utah artists.
Joe Carter in his studio. Photo by Simon Blundell. Joe Carter might not look like a “Burning Man” regular, but this summer’s gathering is the first he has missed in years. “We went to Element 11, instead,” he says, referencing Utah’s new, cozier version of the enormous desert […]
Ryan Trimble “Man can embody truth, but he cannot know it,” said Yeats. This is the motto photographer Ryan Trimble lives by and the thesis of the personal introduction on his website. Trimble is a photographer, writer, and father of three daughters, but he is first and foremost […]
Pam Bowman came to installation later in life, but over the past dozen years she has been making up for lost time, with numerous exhibitions here and abroad that have garnered respect and recognition, as well as a Utah Arts Council Visual Art Fellowship. Her most recent installation […]
Laura Sharp Wilson’s studio reveals the many influences that inform her work — the room in her basement in Salt Lake City s brimming with books that include botanical drawings, Asian art, outsider art, calligraphy, cartooning, abstract art, and Soviet art posters, so it’s no wonder her canvas […]
Bonnie Phillips at Phillips Gallery, 2014. Photo by Zoe Rodriguez Photography. “I’m not so sure you have to like art as much as be stirred by it; we’re so easily stirred by something we like, but can we find that emotion inside with something we question?” That’s how […]
Stephen Goldsmith in Salt Lake City, 2014. Photo by Zoe Rodriguez. “What—exactly—are you?” I ask Stephen Goldsmith as we walk through City Creek Park, past an elegant little flume that Goldsmith created when he was involved in the redesign of the park back in the ‘90s. Making sense […]
Bonnie Sucec in her Salt Lake City studio. Photo by Simon Blundell. While her father was busy shaping his young daughter into a pinball wizard, Bonnie Sucec’s mother encouraged her to paint pictures on the walls of their Midvale home. And later, at Jordan High, revered Utah abstract […]
Figure painter Marcus Vincent turned to narratives of experience through color dynamics in his collection titled “Objekte,” on display at Utah Valley University’s Woodbury Art Museum. Here, he examines barely perceptible sheens and subliminal color pops in one painting in the exhibition. Photo by Gary Brodeur When an […]
Salt Lake City artist Bret Hanson. Photo by Simon Blundell. Bret Hanson has been playing guitar since he was 16. “At one point, I wanted to start using a slide guitar but I didn’t want to buy one because it was so expensive,” he says. “I thought to […]
We often conform our lives to the expectations of others: family, medical professionals, religious doctrine, local culture or society as a whole. These choices help us to navigate our path through life and grant us acceptance by our chosen “tribe.” Sometimes, unquestioning conformity is to our detriment, eroding […]
Identity is a tricky thing. It’s hard to know anymore if we are supposed to proudly declare our differences or attempt to blend them seamlessly into the larger tapestry; be aware of color, gender, ethnicity, or blind to it. The task is made more difficult for the hyphenated […]
photos by Simon Blundell John O’Connell’s new work fascinates on several levels: they are abstracted 3-D compositions with spare painted portions that beg for lots of time to absorb. Mark-making and writing are there but mostly obscured beyond recognition; inexplicable cuts are evident in the surfaces of the […]
Wayne Geary is a big fan of Salt Lake City’s Main Library. He’s a frequent patron, and holds a Friends’ annual membership, which has allowed him to buy hundreds of CDs from the bi-annual library sales a day before most everyone else can. ”That’s when you get the […]
One of the most annoying questions you can ask an artist is: “How long did this take to make?” Stacy Phillips’ solo exhibit at Trove Gallery, opening Dec. 30, demonstrates the long gestation time it takes to bring creative ideas to life. In fact, it provides a glimpse […]
photos by Simon Blundell Maureen O’Hara Ure shares her truth, however whimsical, however wrenching, in mixed media on panel. The incident in “The Night of the Fire,” which is part of Love & Work, her fascinating solo show at Phillips Gallery through Nov. 11, actually occurred in 1978, when […]
Seemingly a bit lost in the 21st century, Joseph Marotta finds a number of things wrong with now; and particularly with here. His photographs explore the concept of time – the way we experience its passing and how that experience now seems to be accelerating. So when […]
Artist Ralphael Plescia died earlier this month, leaving the future of his unique work of outsider art in Salt Lake City in doubt.
In his honor, we are rerunning this video piece from 2016.
