John Singer Sargent and William-Adolphe Bouguereau are not normally considered together, yet their careers overlapped for several decades. In the ‘Undergrad’s Giant Book of Art History’ Sargent is counted among the progressives, while Bouguereau is thrown in with the anti-progressives–history’s losers (according to the Giant Book). Indeed, in many fables in the ‘Undergrad’s Giant Book of…
Category: Reviews
Bio, Reviews, Thumbs-Up-Down
Non Reviews
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I was going to title this post ‘negative reviews’ referring to non-reviews—shows I’ve visited that did not speak to me, and so no reviews were forthcoming. Silence as a review, so to speak. But, of course, readers have no way of knowing what exhibitions I attend and pass by without comment. Visiting an exhibition without…
Artists, Cleveland, Galleries, Paintings, Reviews, Thumbs-Up-Down, Uncategorized
The 42nd Student Show at The Galleries at CSU
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I enjoy student shows and attend them whenever I’ve a chance. While most student shows are filled with, well, student-grade work, I almost always find a gem or two. So I wasn’t disappointed when the bill of fare for this exhibition at the Galleries at Cleveland State U. proved to be bog-standard stuff, which is to say most pieces…
Artists, Cleveland, Galleries, Reviews, Thumbs-Up-Down, Uncategorized
Jason Milburn at William Busta Gallery
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Jason Milburn, who has maintained a studio in NE Ohio since graduating from the Cleveland Art Institute 10 years ago, is showing a passel of large drawings at the William Busta Gallery. The cartoon-inspired ink drawings are populated by vaguely familiar figures in suburban scenarios that are awash with anxiety and menace–‘High School Art Teacher in Hell,’ so to speak. The drawings…
Movies, Reviews, Thumbs-Up-Down, Uncategorized
Thumbs Down: Oz the Great and Powerful (sic)
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Oz the Great and Powerful, which is in theaters now, is a modern prequel to the original Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum. The original book, published in 1900, was the first of what turned out to be nearly 20 books Baum wrote about Oz. The events in this movie are modern inventions that attempt…
Art Museums, Artists, Cleveland, Paintings, Reviews, Uncategorized
Lawrence’s Annoying Paintings at the Cleveland Museum of Art
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I have nothing against Thomas Lawrence, indeed, I like his work, but—good grief!—he could make some annoying paintings. The Cleveland Museum of Art has two of the offending paintings hanging side-by-side. Lawrence (died 1830) had well-earned success throughout his life. A prodigy, he found success early and later became President of the Royal Academy. He…
Artists, Cleveland, Galleries, Reviews, Uncategorized
Julie Friedman at Busta Gallery
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In her show, Perennial Shift, at the William Busta Gallery, Julie Friedman exhibits a print maker’s love of process. Initially, the pieces (a useful generic term) reminded me of the silhouettes you can have made at Coney Island or Cedar Point. Like those silhouettes, these are cut-outs; most are black on white. On closer inspection, they are the product of a labor-intensive, and…
Books, Reviews, Uncategorized
David Hickey’s Air Guitar
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Do you like to read? Me, I’ve always been a voracious reader. Like other autodidacts, I let my interests take me where it will–I read what I damn well please. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of art theory (Foucault, Panofsky, Derrida, Johnson) and criticism, which brings me to Hickey. I recently finished two of…