Where Art and History Will Bring You Back

The historic Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center, or Leonard B. Fite House in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Photo courtesy Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center

Autumn de Forest at the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Centre in Hendersonville, Tennessee

by Steve Rockwell

On a sunny August day it’s a beautiful drive for some 18 Tennessee miles into the country from Nashville to get to Monthaven, a historic home in Hendersonville. Chances are that you’ll step on Johnny Cash Parkway at some point, the city’s main road. To the best of my knowledge, more recent residents of note, the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift don’t have parkways named after them as yet. Continue reading “Where Art and History Will Bring You Back”

dArtles

by Steve Rockwell

dArt logo with an image by an anonymous photographer of Joan Mitchell and Jean Paul Riopelle in Chicago, about 1957. Yseult Riopelle Archives. Private collection © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SODRAC (2017)

It has been nearly 15 years since dArt magazine has stuck its digital fingers into the design and look of its online presence. It’s hardly late-breaking news that the torrent of information flowing through our devices is ever-massing. Its invasive waves lap freely into our private and public spaces. Continue reading “dArtles”

Mitchell/Riopelle: Nothing in Moderation

Musée national des beaux-art du Québec, Québec City, Québec, October 12, 2018 – January 7, 2018 Art Gallery Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, February 18 – May 6, 2018

by Emese Krunák-Hajagos

On my way to this exhibition I was thinking of Joan Mitchell and Jean-Paul Riopelle as a Golden Couple of a Golden Age. The Golden Age is true. Paris still had its charm and New York was rising into its future glory. Riopelle was a golden boy, irresistible and charming with his expensive race cars – including Bugattis – boats, properties and artistic success. Mitchell was a very confident person, athletic and not shy about her body at all. Looking at photographs with her lovers we can’t miss seeing the sexual magnetism radiating from her. It was a good match in many ways, but they were everything but a golden couple. Continue reading “Mitchell/Riopelle: Nothing in Moderation”

Unbreakable: Ceramics Redefined

Group Exhibition Curated by Karen Gilbert with Penny Byrne, Kathy Stecko, Claire Curneen, Cathy Lewis and Keun Woo Lee at Jan Kossen Contemporary in New York City

by Christopher Hart Chambers

Penny Byrne, Operation Falconer, 2015, vintage ceramic figurine, mixed media, epoxy resin, enamel paints, 29” x 13” x 13” and Operation Slipper, 2017, vintage ceramic figurine, mixed media, epoxy resin, enamel paints, 29” x 13” x 13”

This exquisite little exhibition of recent, international, narrative sculptures demonstrates the technical virtuosity and wit of the five artists whose works are included. Four are figurative, one implies abstract landscapes. Continue reading “Unbreakable: Ceramics Redefined”