Protest and Authenticity
Genuine political outrage channeled through the sensibilities of strong, creative individuals can certainly generate great art. They are the natural opponents of authoritarianism after all. But we must keep in mind that high emotion is never sufficient to produce great art any more than it results in wise political solutions. More...
Where Art Hordes Go
Like the planets aligning once every long while, three of Europe's most significant art festivals as concurrent this year. More...
Love Trumps Hate
"Love Trumps Hate" has been advocated through art for decades, and now we need to get this kind of art out there again. More...
Aesthetics and Action
Richard Speer reflects on the broader impact of artistic discourse. Progressive as it is, does it have any measurable impact on the furtherance of Western democracy? As with so many, the Women's Marches of January 21st revived his faith in banding together to reassert shared values. More...
Grand-daddy of Op
Francis Celentano began as a scholar of Abstract Expressionism, but evolved into one of our top hard edge true believers. More...
The Real Inauguration Day
The January 21st Women’s Marches in the U.S. and abroad demonstrated our capacity for a mass democratic uprising. The many visual and other cultural components made clear the important role the creative community must play. More...
View of a Royal Family
Asks DeWitt Cheng, how do we foster both an informed electorate and an art audience immune to hucksterism? The recent passing of culture critic John Berger reminds us the importance of uncloaking the hidden ideologies lurking within visual images. This is revealing of both truth and propaganda. More...
A Lesson on Interconnectivity, Part 2
Al Held began as an abstract expressionist, but later turned to mural sized paintings of complex, boldly colored geometric spaces that define a cosmos that is a joy to explore. More...
Critique Week!
James Yood takes us inside the single most intense experience that any would-be artist is likely to experience: the crit. Yood muses over the evolving emphasis on professionalism that has displaced the process of aesthetic vetting to a troubling degree. More...
It Has Happened Here
The incoming President and Congress will pose significant challenges to our creative communities freedom of expression. In their media art has on occasion been used to misrepresent serious aesthetic activity into misleading fearmongering among a public already hostile to its exercise. More...
“American Painting Today”
An abandoned thrift shop serves as home to "American Painting Today," a mixed but exhilarating self-selection of over 90 artists. Painting is the point, and as the title hints, the act of painting is today as relevant as it's ever been. More...
“Creator, Composer, Conductor”
Visual art and music certainly differ by virtue of the latter being generative, even revolutionary, while the latter is more interpretive. Richard Speer observes that this was not always so, but more recently he sees a trend towards the artist not as composer but conductor. More...
It’s All True
Bruce Conner's retrospective in timely fashion reminds us what an uncompromising, socially critical avant-garde career looks like. More...
A Commitment to Social Justice
Many who knew Arnold Mesches are feeling loss over his recent passing at age 93. Always a painters' painter, his series that drew on his clash with McCarthism. Years later he used the contents of his FBI files to inspire "The FBI Files," which are now even more relevant than when he first created them. More...
Remembering Edward Albee
The late playwright Edward Albee is remembered here for his very real struggle for critical acceptance and the good work of his foundation. More...
The Democratic Lens
Richard Speer is both delighted and exasperated by the now ubiquitous presence and use of the smartphone camera. If it has democratized the making and distribution of images, it also obscures and discourages any real sense of standards. More...
VAS Endorses Hillary Clinton
Only one candidate in the upcoming Presidential election begins to meet that principle of positive and capable national leadership. More...
A Lesson on Interconnectivity
David S. Rubin's encounters with Gordon Onslow Ford sparked and then deepened his understanding of interconnectivity. More...
Home Land Security
"Home Land Security" at San Francisco's Presidio is the latest production of the FOR-SITE foundation. It's a compelling setting for an international selection of 18 artists who address the digital-age conflict between security and freedom. More...
Cemeteries and Churches
James Yood takes us through more of his favorite kinds of places that feed his aesthetic hunger. More...
