Lenka Konopasek is always blowing things up or burning them down. Her beguiling works in paint or sculpted paper, now in a solo show at Nox Contemporary, make manifest that disaster is her thing, her oeuvre — but why is that? We arranged to meet at Nox to […]
“Planning for the stitches is always a challenge because I have to compose, paint, and then assemble this kind of jigsaw puzzle that never fully comes together as I expect. This process limits a lot of the play that exists in traditional painting because of the inherent need to consider more sculptural issues like gravity and how the various components are not only aesthetic but also have to be considered within a functional framework. For example, I might want to add a component into something for visual balance but I also have to consider how I attach it and if it can bear weight.”
Salt Lake City artist Lis Pardoe says has been listening to the audiobook Getting Unstuck by Pema Chodron. “It is all about meditation in hard times. Through a recent difficult family event, I have also recognized the importance of being still enough to let life move through you, no matter how difficult it may be, and that rest is releasing.”
It’s the latest in a series of vintage campers and RVs in minimalist, atmospheric landscapes the artist has been working on the past couple of years. “The portrayal of aging recreational vehicles trigger memories of trips to new places and the promise of protection from the elements,” says the University of Utah graduate (2012). “The metallic icons can be beautiful in their ghostly solitude. Conversely, they are reminders of eroding, transient artifacts, littering the environment and scarring the landscape.”
Anita Hawkins says that due to the size and complexity of the piece currently in her studio, she has been working on it on and off for over a year. “The focused making of it has been helpful in pushing out everything else,” she says.
A year ago, we were busy at Finch Lane Gallery installing our 35×35 exhibit, a showcase for Utah’s young artistic talent. Then the closures hit. (The exhibit only opened to the public, in a limited way, in June.) A year since the closures, we have decided to check in with […]
Douglas Tolman was a student at the University of Utah last year when Covid hit, but has since moved to Green River for an AmeriCorps service term. The interdisciplinary artist has family history in the area and says, “Though I’m proud of my hard-working ancestors who made a living off the land, I’m not proud of the part they played in a violent, colonial takeover. Moving here has been somewhat of an effort to facilitate equity and sustainability in a place which has been hit pretty hard by industrial booms and busts as a result of that violent history, but that is a lot easier said than done.”
READ LOCAL First boasts Utah’s most comprehensive collection of poets and authors. Today, we bring you five poems by Jared Pearce. Pearce obtained a Master’s degree in English from Brigham Young University, and a PhD (in American Poetry, 19th & 20th Century British Literature, and Critical Theory) from […]
The ladies and gentlemen at Phillips had a grand time bringing Spring to the main gallery for the current show – it hits you right in the solar plexus as you walk in and leaves you, well, hopeful. They do it with color, of course: screaming tangerine walls […]
In the upper right-hand corner of a canvas seven feet high and a little over five feet wide, rectangles of gold and orange overlap a mottled patch of sky blue. In front, or so it appears, a series of black loops suggest spirals rising, while a similar figure […]
Regalia is Repertory Dance Theater’s annual choreographic competition and fundraiser. Choreographers have a few hours in one day to create an entirely new work with company members and some local guest performers. The new works are then performed for an audience who ordinarily would place “bids” to choose […]
There’s a small problem with Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal’s first book, and while it doesn’t adversely affect her sophisticated and engaging essays, it could discourage potential readers, which is clearly the opposite of what the publishers intended when they packaged the collection 20 years ago. First, the […]
On Thursday night, around 9 pm, I sat down to watch Ballet West’s latest in their Winter Streaming series — Balanchine’s Rubies. At just over 20 minutes in length, an excavated chunk like this is exactly how much televised ballet I want to watch after staring at my […]
“Without the public, these works are nothing. I need the public to complete the work.” – Felix Gonzales-Torres “The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths.” – Bruce Nauman I was born in Cuautla, Morelos, a small town south of México City, about an hour drive […]
Joseph Toney looks to a variety of sources for influence. He aspires to be like Albrecht Dürer, the German Renaissance artist who was an early typeface designer, mathematician, painter, illustrator and printmaker, by mastering several mediums. He looks to 20th-century art movements like Cubism, Futurism and Op Art […]
Colour Maisch says she loves artists “who are able to distill an idea down to a primary form or space and allow some breathing room.” It’s the kind of art that provides a break “from a constant barrage of meaningless chatter.” Martin Puryear is just such an artist. […]
The things I miss most about the theater are the requirements. I have enormous respect for the fourth wall, not just because I routinely decline participation opportunities, but because it is a mandate to observe and a notice of import. In this new world, there is the fifth […]
“I have a major art crush on John McAllister,” says Nancy Andruk Olson. She found him on Instagram, which she began using a few years ago when she was getting back into painting after a motherhood-inspired hiatus. “Like all major crushes, I use the internet to stalk him […]
MICA, aka Mestizo Arts, recognizes the SLC MURAL MAKERS as the recipients of the Ruby Chacón Social Justice Arts Award. The Ruby Chacón Social Justice Arts Award is given annually to individuals who are advancing justice and equity in our communities through the arts. Our 2020 award goes […]
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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