Starting with Francis Frith (1822-1898), soon after the introduction of the daguerreotype in 1849, photography, antiquity and tourism became so interlinked as to shape Western ideas about non-Western cultures. Because of the tremendous public fascination with Egypt following the Napoleonic wars, the Valley of the Kings became the site of the first experiments in mass tourism, and photography was a major factor in the … Read the full Story >>
Smartphones are a staple of modern life and are changing how we see the world and show it to others. The devices are responsible for more than 90 percent of all the photographs that were made in 2023, but compare the camera roll of a 60-year-old with that of a 13-year-old, and you'll find some surprising differences. In research published in the Journal of … Read the full Story >>
Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814–1879) was a visionary French architect who, among other things, devised the structural system that made it possible for Gustav Eiffel’s Statue of Liberty to sport a skin of self-oxidizing copper. His approach to materials was: understand the properties and the form will ensue. Many years later, this idea was popularized by Louis Sullivan, who coined the phrase, “Form Follows Function”—a … Read the full Story >>
While the illustrator Brad Holland may not be a household name, you could say that if anyone represented the power of illustration to provoke, over the past half century, it would be this artist. Entirely self-taught, he worked his way up from studio rat, sweeping floors in a Chicago tattoo parlor to being one of the first in The New York Times’ roster … Read the full Story >>
Peter Hujar was a leading figure of the downtown New York scene of the 1970s and ’80s—a period of highly experimental art, theater, music and club culture. He is most well known for his sensitive portraits of New York City’s avant-garde artists, musicians, writers, and performers, featuring personalities such as Susan Sontag, William S. Burroughs, Fran Lebowitz, David Wojnarowicz, Andy Warhol, Candy Darling, and … Read the full Story >>
A graphic novel, The Women Who Changed Art Forever, just out from Laurence King Publishing, offers a fresh perspective on four trailblazers of feminist art: Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Ana Mendieta and the Guerilla Girls. Written by Valentina Grande, an art historian, and illustrated by Eva Rossetti, the book tells the story of how each of these artists have drawn from the strengths … Read the full Story >>
While having opposable thumbs sets us apart from the animal kingdom, the ability to hold a shard of charcoal, or any other mark-making stick, and draw, makes us human. For most artists, drawing is often the bridge from procrastination to expression—the quickest shift from being fogged in to being focused. Above: Francesco Clemente, “5-22-2020”, courtesy of Levy Gorvy. In the invitational exhibition currently … Read the full Story >>
Drawing in Battery Park City Parks has begun for the season! Organized by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, this long-running series is a city favorite. Free classes in figure drawing with a live model, as well as nature drawings take place weekly, with all materials provided. Figure Al Fresco Many people are challenged when trying to draw the human figure. The Battery … Read the full Story >>
Colorama: [Formerly] The World’s Largest Photographs George Eastman House announced today that a reproduction of a Colorama image is being installed adjacent to its new Thomas Tischer Visitor Center, which will open to the public on Saturday, October 10. An image of the Taj Mahal, made by Don Marvin in June 1964 was installed in Grand Central Terminal from June 2 to July 9, 1986. Billed … Read the full Story >>
This week The Museum of Modern Art opens a fashion show – its first in 70 years. Items: Is Fashion Modern? asks a question whose answer lands squarely in the sensibility of the know-it-all now-ness that is New York City. While Paris has been the capital of couture, New York is the place where some of the past century’s most culture-defining garments have originated, … Read the full Story >>
Peter Kuper, a charter friend of DART, will be enjoying a career retrospective exhibition opening next Thursday at Scott Eder Gallery, in Brooklyn. As if he didn’t already have enough to do, I sent him a page of questions. Here’s what he wrote: Q: What were you doing immediately before you picked up a pencil to make your first drawing? A: At age four or … Read the full Story >>
Above Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffitti Collection, on view at Museum of the City of New York, centers on the many artists who transitioned from illegally writing on subway cars to creating paintings on canvas and exhibiting in galleries and museums. Their works embody an important transitional moment for the movement’s evolution, as it permeated into broader consciousness and significantly influenced global … Read the full Story >>
The exhibition, This Beautiful Light, is presented by White Cube in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Etel Adnan (1925–2021), a leading artistic and literary voice of Arab-American culture. This poet, novelist, journalist, and artist grew up speaking Arabic and Greek at home, and was educated in French and English. She began to paint in the late 1950s, while working as … Read the full Story >>
As an artist, working with what you have can be one of the most subversive—and liberating—enterprises. It is surely the mainstay of the contemporary craft movement, which emerged midcentury and now occupies the interest of galleries, museums and, significantly, the public. Not surprisingly, working with what you have is also freighted with the resounding echo of women’s work. For example, Anni Albers noted that … Read the full Story >>
There's still a lot of winter left -- plenty of time for you to create an viral snowboarding video. In our semi-regular roundup of video tutorials, we feature six tips for getting great GoPro skiing and snowboarding footage. There are also tips for creating memorable travel videos, making your gimbal footage look better, and making your audio sound better. Want to speed up your … Read the full Story >>
Last summer, four students in the School of Visual Arts BFA Interior Design: Built Environments program took on the challenge of COVID-19 by dreaming up hotel-style spaces for the 14-day quarantine experience. The description for Carol Bentel’s course states that these innovative structures, each completely unique, hold up to 20 inhabitants, allowing guests to feel less isolated while still being apart. Above: Quarantine … Read the full Story >>
Above, © Mary Ellen Mark, from Prom (Getty 2012) Wednesday, May 30 Book signing, 6-8 pm: Paul Graham | The Present (Mack 2012). Dashwood Books, 33 Bond Street (between Bowery and Lafayette), NY, NY. The Visionaries Series presents, 7 pm: Maya Li., New Museum, 235 Bowery, NY, NY. Tickets $25/$20. Photo talk, 7 pm: Jon Ortner | Sacred Lands, Ancient Traditions. Rubin Museum of Art, … Read the full Story >>
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens to the public on Saturday, with member previews that started yesterday. I began my preview yesterday morning with the 2020 Roof Garden Commission: Héctor Zamora, Lattice Detour (above). Zamora (b. Mexico City, 1974) is known for works that engage public spaces and the built environment, and which generate friction between commonly perceived roles of public and private, exterior and interior, … Read the full Story >>
Friday, April 23, 7:00 -8:30pm, DorDor Gallery | InPersonArt Out / curated by Irina ChistikinaWith the arrival of spring, the DorDor Gallery presents the first group exhibition of contemporary artists in this new season, including August Henry, Pranav Sood, Melissa Schainker, Scott Isenbarger, Edgard Rippel, Nate Myers, Laura Michal, Helen Denisevich, Jeanne Verdoux. A performance by Annie Nikunen will be presented at the … Read the full Story >>
Photo-Poetics: An Anthology, on view at the Guggenheim, presents works by 10 contemporary photographers who use the camera as a weapon to make viewers think. Installed in the Tower's 3 main floors, the show offers a close reading of the works in intimately staged solo shows. This might be the most agressively anti-art-fair exhibition to grace a New York winter in recent years. To borrow … Read the full Story >>
