Peggy Roalf: Which came first, the pen or the brush? Jason Holley: It has to be drawing, right? When you’re a kid and you pick up your mom's lipstick and draw all over the cat, well… that is as primal as it gets. Painting for me is more socialized and cerebral, and it requires so many more steps, extra gear etc. Drawing is as … Read the full Story >>
I was among the 1,500 or so spectators fortunate enough to have a ticket to the last performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on New Year’s Eve. The 14 dancers took over three low stages in the cavernous Drill Hall at the Park Avenue Armory, offering 50 minutes of excerpts from the 58-year span of the company’s presence in New York. When … Read the full Story >>
Q: Originally from Bologna, Italy, what are some of your favorite things about living and working there? A: I like Bologna because it's full of historical and artistic stuff, and has an audience for contemporary illustration and comics. It's not too big and not too small, comfortable and human-sized, with friendly people. Q: Do you keep a sketchbook? What is the balance between the art you create … Read the full Story >>
Janine Antoni, Nicole Eisenman, Marilyn Minter, Marlene Dumas, Victoria Sambunaris, Carolee Schneemann…these are just a sampling of the artists whose work will be available at auction next Thursday, November 18th, at P.P.O.W Gallery. At previous RHMF events, like the annual Lower East Side Art Crawl (above), women took the lead presenting art to its supporters. The Foundation raises all the money it … Read the full Story >>
Tom Waits, who is to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15th (by no less than Neil Young) has created some unusual background noise for the proceedings. He has ventured beyond his customary terse, hardbitten lyrics into sweeping verse with Seeds on Hard Ground (X-Ray Book Co., 2011). It was first published on his website, then brought … Read the full Story >>
The seven self-portraits of Max Beckmann (Germany, 1884-1950 New York) currently on view at The Met present the horrors he experienced at the front during World War I—and a sense of foreboding that preoccupied him for the rest of his life. He wrote in a 1918 manifesto for his art, “We are on our way to very difficult times.” In one of the highlights … Read the full Story >>
As heatwaves and hurricanes continue to send us indoors, a cool library full of picture books becomes even more appealing. This week, DART’s continuing series that invites creative directors to pimp their bookshelves offers a view into a library that George McCalman, San Francisco-based Creative Director and Co-Principal of McCalman.Co, created for his grandmother. This is what he wrote: At the time of … Read the full Story >>
Peggy Roalf: Originally from Tokyo, Japan, what were some of the experiences of your formative years that made you recognize that you were an artist? Natsuki Takauji: I always enjoyed the once-a-week art classes in school and some of the work I made; I still remember them to be pretty good for an untrained kid. I knew I could do it better than the … Read the full Story >>
Two colossal white ceramic figures of little girls, sculptures by Yoshitomo Nara, popped up on the Park Avenue Mall at the beginning of the month to herald a show of the artist's work at Asia Society. Yesterday afternoon, I spent about half an hour watching the interaction of New Yorkers and visitors with these White Ghost figures. Without irony, I'd like to report that … Read the full Story >>
The debut issue of The Guide generated some pretty interesting reader response. Enough, in fact, to prompt a follow-up issue with tips on how to support artists and the arts through the holiday season. In no particular order, here are my top picks for the week: Limited Editions:Post-punk downtown scene photographer Laura Levine, whose work is featured in No Wave (Abrams Image … Read the full Story >>
Andy Warhol with his dachshund Archie in 1973. © Jack Mitchell, courtesy The Whitney Museum of American Art. With the Whitney Museum of American Art closing its survey Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back at the end of the month, this week’s DART Interview features a Q&A Glenn O’Brien did with Warhol for Interview magazine [The Crystal Ball of Pop] in June, … Read the full Story >>
The last day of summer slipped by almost unnoticed here in New York. The summer invitational, Pimp Your Sketchbook, continues with Blair Thornley. I use sketchbooks to hunt for and collect images, information, gestures, study the light on something, or to just make unplanned drawings from my unconscious. Of course, also for illustration concepts and lists of what i want to do. I use at least three or … Read the full Story >>
DART launches the New Year with a celebration of sketchbook art and artists. Jonathan Twingley, whose sketchbook habit was explored during the 2015 Summer Invitational, emailed to tell about a recent project for Amtrak that originated in his sketchbooks. This is what he wrote: We seem to be in the midst of some kind of Global Sketchbook Craze. Everybody from stay-at-home-dads in Des … Read the full Story >>
All over the world community gardens thrive, offering city dwellers a chance to get back to nature and, given enough sunlight, put some food on the table. But there are allotments and there are allotments. In Amiens, France, about an hour by train from Paris, a 1.6-acre section of marshland between the Somme and Avre rivers has been cultivated by hortillons, or market gardeners, since … Read the full Story >>
DART presents an occasional lineup of events related to new work by illustrators. Following is the mid-February installment. Please check contact information for details. NEW YORKCalifornia FreshGroup show featuring work by Martha Rich Thomas Lee Bakofsky, Frieda Clayton, and Pamela HendersonAidan Savoy GalleryFebruary 8 - March 3, 2007Opening Reception: Thursday, February 8, 7 - 10 pmIllustration left: © Martha Rich, … Read the full Story >>
The term "comics" has a rather broad definition today, and one that expands even further through the first exhibition of African comic art in the United States, at The Studio Museum in Harlem. The work featured in Africa Comics (on view through March 18, 2007) can be interpreted as documentary art, where format cedes its weight to content. The mostly colorful art found in … Read the full Story >>
Tuesday, November 12 Opening reception, 6-8 pm: Karim Marquez | Underground at the Lower East Side. Orchard Windows Gallery, 37 Orchard Street, Basement, NY, NY. Opening day, 10am-6 pm: Roni Horn | Everything was sleeping as if the universe were a mistake. Hauser & Wirth, 511 West 18thStreet, NY, NY. Wednesday, November 13 Opening reception, 7-9 pm: Escape Velocities | Symposiumat … Read the full Story >>
Art Fairs & Special Events Opening week, July 7-13: Les Rencontres d’Arles. Multiple locations. 50 exhibitions. Continuing through September 21. Information. July 9-12 ICON8 The Illustration Conference. Portland Art Museum and various locations, Portland, OR. Information. July 10-July 13 Art Market Hamptons. Bridgehampton Historical Society, 2368 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, NY. Information. DART on Flipboard The June issue is now live. You … Read the full Story >>
The second annual LA Art Book Fair runs from Friday through Sunday at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Organized by Printed Matter, the event will bring together close to 300 exhibitors from 18+ countries. The LA Art Book Fair is the companion fair to the NY Art Book Fair , held every fall in New York. In 2013, 27,000 artists, book buyers, collectors, dealers, curators, … Read the full Story >>
Since its accidental discovery by Henry Hudson 400 years ago, Manhattan has been the island at the center of the world. Claimed by the Dutch, whose dominance lasted a mere half century, Niew Amsterdam, or New York, was founded in the spirit of Dutch society and culture, with tolerance and international trade its cornerstones. A celebration of New York's Dutch heritage is currently underway … Read the full Story >>
