Posted June 30, 2021in Art News
The city would do well to christen this summer as the season of the Lauridsens. Summer used to mean aestivation for the arts. Music and gallery seasons began in September and ended in May. Everyone fled to the hills and beaches in between seasons. Resort-like places such as Santa Fe,
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Posted June 02, 2021in Art News
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
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
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
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
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
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
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” 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
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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