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Posted March 18, 2015in Art News

Celtic lore and much more

Irish folklore from the pre-Christian era of bards and heroes has never been well served. Most of its literature was handed down orally, so few written records endured. Because the [...]

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Posted February 18, 2015in Art News

Allusions to the horror

“Field, Road, Cloud: Art and Africa,” at the Des Moines Art Center through April 19, takes its title from the works of Alfredo Jaar, an artist from Chile, one of [...]

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Posted January 14, 2015in Art News

Art Never Loots

On a cold Friday night in mid January, some 150 people crowded into a warehouse garage on the east side. The attraction was a one-night art show by Jordan Weber [...]

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Posted December 17, 2014in Art News

A very good year with more to come

The close of 2014 happened with a flurry of architectural promise. Demolition began on a several Ingersoll area buildings to make way for Des Moines’ first Fresh Market, a Whole [...]

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Posted November 19, 2014in Art News

Abstraction isn’t what it used to be

A number of exhibitions in Des Moines this month investigate a subject that has been dividing generations and offending traditionalists for a century — abstract art. The Des Moines Art [...]

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Posted October 15, 2014in Art News

Same subject, different points of view

A pair of current shows demonstrates similar subjects from very different points of view. Tom Jackson and Priscilla Steele have both been drawing the human form since the late 1960s. [...]

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Posted September 17, 2014in Art News

Galas in perspective

The Des Moines Art Center’s (DMAC) new exhibition “Art Meets Fashion” will likely become the grandest undertaking in that museum’s history, at least in number of events, money raised, community [...]

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Posted August 20, 2014in Art News

In pursuit of a memory

T-shirt wit suggests that art is populist: “Art just happens.” “Everyone is an artist.” “Release your inner artist.” This makes me wary. I took art classes as a kid and [...]

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Posted July 16, 2014in Art News

Holy books and chewing gum vaginas

“From Speaker to Receiver,” the Des Moines Art Center’s big summer exhibition, takes its title from linguistic theorist Roman Jakobson’s writings on semiotics and language. Curator Gilbert Vicario explains its [...]

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Posted June 18, 2014in Art News

The good old days of the Great Depression

Last week’s Iowa Arts Summit was the biggest event of its kind in my memory. First Lady Chris Branstad presented awards and scholarships. Our daily paper covered it with multiple [...]

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