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Posted June 02, 2021in Art News

From architect to artist

Latest show at DMAC is “Manos” (hands), a study of forearms and cupped hands made after José Clemente Orozco’s own left hand was amputated after an accident with fireworks. The latest show at the Des Moines Art Center is “Manos” (hands), which is also the name of a lithograph in the

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Posted May 05, 2021in Art News

A superstar, a design star and a populist star

Julian Schnabel is a big deal. When asked about his recent acquisitions of Julian Schnabel works, Steven Vail, of Steven Vail Fine Arts, responded, “These are somewhat unbelievable to be offered in Des Moines. We have been receiving inquiries nationally and internationally and have several pending sales. Each is unique

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Posted March 31, 2021in Art News

40 Years of Print Club gifts

Forty years ago, a few art lovers got together to create a Print Club. Modeled on similar clubs attached to major art museums in Cleveland and Philadelphia, the club would collect 481 prints and give 76 prints, photos and drawings to the Des Moines Art Center. In the year of

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Posted March 03, 2021in Art News

The Sacred and the Profane

If you love the circus, you should have a good time at “The Path to Paradise: Judith Schaechter’s Stained-Glass Art,” the first survey and major scholarly assessment of the artist’s 37-year career. Organized by the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, the exhibition includes some 45 of Schaechter’s

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Posted February 03, 2021in Art News

Jeremiah Elbel and the madness of crowds

This column used to present a “best and worst of the year” reckoning. Ten years ago, we declared a young Jeremiah Elbel the artist of the year. That honor was won by impressing us with bold paintings, often using tar as paint. The top painting in his repertoire, which was

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Posted January 06, 2021in Art News

The inauguration of Moberg’s new building

Moberg Gallery stayed busy during the pandemic by moving into its own building behind Noah’s on Grand Avenue. To open, they are showing off the new space and its tall ceilings with a large international show of big works. With Jason Woodside as curator, the exhibition “Sway” brings together art

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Posted December 02, 2020in Art News

Watercolor’s lightness and levity

In December of 1866, 11 painters gathered in New York City to form what would later become known as the American Watercolor Society. At that time, watercolor was considered a lesser form of painting, the domain of amateurs and commercial artists. The mission of the AWS was to change that

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Posted November 04, 2020in Art News

Black Stories matter at the Des Moines Art Center

“Black Stories” is the latest main galleries exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center. More than anything, it shows off the permanent collection of the museum. Secondly, it shows a new direction in the operational code of the institution. Two artists, Mitchell Squire and Jordan Weber, were co-curators. A group

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Posted September 30, 2020in Art News

Classics thrive when not much is new

The art world lags behind the sports world in reopening — except in the public schools of Des Moines where they are recalcitrant to offer activities to the students. So, with no new exhibitions, gallery openings, live concerts, live drama nor opera, nonprofit institutions are going virtual, or remote. The

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Posted September 02, 2020in Art News

Art in the year of the virus and violence

The Des Moines Art Center has re-opened with some cute posters of famous pieces of art with people wearing those familiar baby blue masks that Hanes, the men’s underwear company, sold $700 million dollars of in the second quarter. “Glad to have you back” is the theme. They do not

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