As I visited the Utah Museum of Fine Arts recently, there to see the exhibit of art from the 1960’s from the museum’s permanent collection (see our blog), I came across the entrance to Changing Identities: Recent Works by Women Artists from Vietnam, an exhibit filled with powerful images that stunned me […]
No one really knows what makes a person become an artist; talent apparently can sprout in almost any circumstances. Then again, if the seed thrives, it may well feel possible to discern how an artist’s work grew out of the particular events of her life. If there were […]
So a Cowgirl in the UK gets up in the morning and bangs her head on the ceiling; groans out of the bunk bed, as the mattress could be called a little challenging; the bed was one of the pieces of furniture for a film-musical made in 1967 […]
Scopophilia, the inborn love of looking, and espionage, making war with the eyes, are neither identical nor mutually exclusive activities. Voyeurs, who seek the scurrilous and scandalous, can be found at both ends of the spectrum, and so can artists. Operation Salt, a loose association of (currently) ten artists […]
The first piece could easily be overlooked. It’s an upholstered pair of what the British call “inverted commas,” but Americans call quotation marks. Its mate, the last piece, closes the quotation, marking the 20 works in between as something of a statement. “It’s my nod to Postmodernism,” quips […]
photos by Shalee Cooper When artists talk about their work they often project a feeling of inevitability. It had to be; either that or they say it was an accident. Speaking on film, Georgia O’Keeffe points to the top of a nondescript hill she feels she must climb with […]
The Wrestling Scene in ‘As You Like It’; Daniel Maclise, 1855 The narrative is familiar to most. In the latter half of the 19th century, many French artists reacted to what they saw as an academic system irrelevant to their tumultuous society by forging ahead into new directions and […]
“One evening he told us of a friend who came to him for advice. ‘Brother Lambourne, my son wants to be an artist.’ A pause, then a reply. ‘Oh my God; have you tried to dissuade him?’—’Yes, but he won’t listen.’ Another pause. ‘Then, my friend, take him […]
by Robyn Heirtzler Southern Utah artist Jennifer Rasmusson not only makes a living with her paintings, she carries on conversations with them. Her paintings begin with a base of thickened paint to give them depth, followed by an application of colors to erase any sign that the canvas […]
Profile of Salt Lake City artist Jim Frazer.
Chad Tolley & Members Show continues at Saltgrass Printmakers through the end of May. A postcard from SaltGrass Printmakers announcing a members’ show always gets posted by my door: a “must-see” event that by itself justifies a trip to Sugarhouse and the downtown environs. The collective of artists that make up the […]
by Bren Jackson Two exhibits in Utah County this month will allow you to examine and explore modes of depicting the religious and spiritual life. The Springville Museum of Art’s annual juried exhibit on the theme is open through December 27th. North of Springville, the Brigham Young University Museum of Art’s Beholding Salvation, […]
The documents on display in Amy Jorgensen’s The Body Archive: Residual Evidence must be among the most gregariously challenging photographs ever shown. (At the Central Utah Art Center in Ephraim through December 6 and at Art Access from 15 June through July 30, 2007.) Large and colorful, they are full of the optical pleasures […]
photos by Manju Varghese Dangerously conservative. That is a criticism Utah artist Madison Smith received in graduate school from a professor on his final review committee at the San Francisco Art Institute. Although he doesn’t seem phased by it, it is a comment he will never forget. Smith […]
During the month of February, Salt Lake City artist Trent Thursby Alvey explores the relationship between earth and sky at the Kimball Art Center’s Badami Gallery. After first being approached about the exhibit, Alvey gave her show a working title of “Tibet Series” even though she had never been […]
Doug Snow has been a central figure in Utah art for the past fifty years. He was one of the first to champion abstract art in Utah, and, as professor of art at the University of Utah, influenced a number of artists that have received local and national […]
by Laura Durham On October 17 and 18 Squashworks will exhibit Four Generations of American Painting, featuring the artwork of Dave Hall , his father Vernon Hall, his grandmother Esther Bailey Hall, and his great-great grandfather Thomas H. Snow. And to answer your question, no, Squashworks is not […]
THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE SL COUNTY’S JULY “ART TOO! ART NOT!” A MONTHLY PANEL DISCUSSION. DISCUSSING THE “IMPORTANCE OF PAINTING IN SOCIETY” WERE KAREN HORNE, JOHN ERICKSON AND LAYNE MEACHAM. LM: Do we need art? Well, we don’t have any choice. Artists are going to paint […]
Need an excuse to take a trip to the new Salt Lake Library? How about combining that trip with lunch and art? Another great alternate venue for viewing Utah artists is the Urban Bistro. Located across Fifth South from the old library, this friendly little spot offers a […]
