Art should not be racist, classist, transient. That’s what I thought when I looked at the paintings of the American artist Henry Taylor. Some people say that black art is having its moment, finally; others insist that the rising presence of black artists began a decade ago. Whatever the case, artists should have their moments [...]
His work clearly calls attention, but more so it creates tension. Colombian artist Jose Olano uses everyday life spaces in the way a painter uses their canvas to make art with whatever objects he finds. He either sings to equilibrium or screams to instability. By Jairo Dueñas “Balance in Times of Crisis”. Video performance of [...]
Memories are fleeting, they change over time. Sometimes they are unreliable, often they form part of what we call history. The notion of memory as something ephemeral which can be constantly influenced, reshaped and redefined by circumstances is the subject of Nigerian artist Victor Ekpuk’s artwork titled “Meditation on Memory”. Born a few years [...]
Just by looking at her paintings, you’d know who Ana Maria Velasquez is… A woman who cannot help being sensitive and meticulous. According to her, three words define her: paper, scissors and receipts. Her hands work with the same materials that she uses and discards in her travels and at home in Colombia. By Jairo [...]
“History Keeps Me Awake at Night”, David Wojnarowicz’s large and impressive retrospective exhibition evokes strong feelings of injustice, rage and beauty. It also brings sadness, for it reminds us of a desperate time in American history when AIDS took the lives of friends, lovers, strangers. Wojnarowicz lived a short life. He had a difficult childhood [...]
by Christina Chow The other day a nice college art student approached me at a gym in Miami. He heard I was a professional artist so he shared with me his passion to draw on a computer. As a member of the X generation, he did not feel confident to draw with his hands. [...]
by Jairo Dueñas The Colombian artist Male Correa wadded into the dark God-forsaken recesses of the city of Medellin, determined to paint them. She opened the doors to the slums and surprised their seemingly spectral inhabitants, illuminated their run-down spaces, spelled out their messages, painted their objects, and showed the aura that exhaled from their [...]
Does size matter? Miniatures have a power of their own, they force us to pay attention, to look closely at the details, to find meaning in the way they are displayed, to take in the whole as well as its parts. Apart from telling a story, contemporary artist Liliana Porter addresses larger philosophical questions with [...]
We often like to discover artists and artworks that are beyond the ordinary. This time we found in New York a powerful all-female ensemble of art that breaks boundaries. “Attached” is an unusual exploration of paintings that challenges the expressive and conceptual possibilities of the medium of collage. The contemporary artists Melissa Meyer, Meghan Brady [...]
Painters who depict an epic moment in history are driven by the same impulse as history writers: to stop forgetfulness. Their names might not be well known outside their own country, their personal lives might not matter. However, what they leave behind, the realism in their paintings, can bring the viewer back to that precise instant [...]
