It’s a worn cliché, the idea that we should think “outside the box.” But sometimes the metaphor rings with the sound of truth, especially when the box is an actual one. Kristina Lenzi was, in her words, “on a rampage” to put performance art on Utah’s map, but […]
When, in the 19th century, French and English painters figured out how to make the impact of light on paper permanent, they invented photography. But that wasn’t the beginning of the search for a way to accelerate the labor of drawing. They and other artists had been playing […]
Disaster is rich fodder for artists, from Aflred Sisley, the French Impressionist who painted the 1876 flood of Port-Marly, to Utah’s Lenka Konopasek, of whom Ann Poore wrote, “Konopasek is always blowing things up or burning them down … disaster is her thing.” So when fire first unveiled […]
Tory Guilfoyle is an artist, curator, and visual arts professional living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She studied photography at Savannah College of Art and Design before transferring to Westminster College where she received a BA in Arts Administration. Tory has spent over 10 years working in the […]
Going forward, we’ll have to be careful. We’ll have to specify whether we’re talking about the “new” Gittins Gallery or the “old” one. The old one is located in the University of Utah’s fine arts building, that towering Brutalist hunk of concrete slab and wood trim that can […]
My friend Jen loves dogs. And dogs love her. Over the years in which I’ve been lucky to know Jen and call her a friend, she has fostered many, many dogs—lovingly called her pack. One day I ran into her on the street near Liberty Park while she […]
In April, Utah’s two flagship modern dance companies respond to the environment. With To See Beyond Our Time, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company joins the swelling number of artistic voices calling for dramatic change to save Great Salt Lake. Co-created by Ririe-Woodbury artistic director Daniel Charon and theatre director Alexandra […]
What could the adjective “homemade” possibly mean to someone who is homeless? At the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, the first of 13 exhibits offers an answer of sorts. Back in 1993, artist Willie Baronet, finding himself struggling with the dilemma of how to react to homeless persons […]
3/28 SLUGMAG: A Portrait of Humor and Sadness in The Melancholy Play Wasatch Theatre Company presents a charming and eccentric look at mental health at the Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center with the latest show in their season, The Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl. A bank teller named Tilly (Ariana Farber) journeys to find happiness as […]
“Go West,” was Horace Greeley’s exhortation. The West meant the future, opportunity, a supposed blank slate upon which to write one’s own narrative. At least for the “young man” of his audience. But Alexandria “Inez” Garcia has been going east, to the past, on a journey to discover […]
People come to Utah for many reasons. At the top of the list, there’s completing a spiritual passage. Then there are the National and State Parks and Monuments, which are known worldwide. Skiing draws whole planeloads from large cities with no ski slopes. The first time my family […]
“I think flowers represent our universal desire to appear like we have our crap together,” observes Emily Fox King, whose majestic floral still life paintings in oil on canvas declare that Spring has sprung at Phillips Gallery – while outside, Nature waffles between snowstorms and 80 degrees. “These […]
The entire historical range of mimetic artistry — the copying of natural appearances — is essentially on display at Ogden Contemporary Arts in a single exhibition: Tamara Kostianovsky’s Mesmerizing Flesh. Best known from its Western version, beginning in the Renaissance, which began in several parts of Europe around […]
Lenka Konopasek, a Utah artist who emigrated to Utah from the Czech Republic, has documented disasters in her art involving humans and nature in many ways: tornados, mega storms, explosions, fires, even personal accidents; and yet when Modern West Gallery invited their artists to submit work concerned with […]
There can be few more mysterious and daunting creative tasks than designing new buildings. In recent centuries, the process inevitably began with the shape of a box, the result of natural construction materials, the need for stability, and for the final product to fit with existing usage. The […]
Artificial Intelligence may soon cure your neighbor’s cancer. More likely, it will put you out of a job. And that might just be a prelude to its destroying all of mankind. Hide from it, ignore it, embrace it … it seems pretty clear from people in the know […]
Finances aside, what is the most important task shared by roommates? According to Nataly, one of 28 artists participating in Radical Joy, in the east gallery of Finch Lane, it seems it’s to create a common space of sharing and support. The casual intimacy enjoyed by the ambiguous […]
Malachi Wilson’s gallery card initially challenges the viewer who seeks an explanation of his art’s purpose. With careful reading, however, eventually it does make sense. “These works use distinct mediums to approach the footprints and forms of different natural objects, including the human body,” it says. Meaning what? […]
Several decades ago the words “A stone, a leaf, an unfound door” opened Thomas Wolfe’s novel Look Homeward, Angel , suggesting that a rock and a leaf had as much importance as a door — or that a secret and invaluable door or truth could only be found, […]
Stewart Seidman creates expressive acrylic works on canvas and with recycled FedEx envelopes that once served as his paint palettes, transforming everyday materials into compelling contemporary art.
To discover more artists, visit our Utah Artists Directory
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