The Easel

10th October 2017

Gordon Parks: Collected Works Study Edition

Parks was one of America’s most celebrated photographers of the last century. Starting out as a self-employed society photographer in Chicago he then joined the Farm Security Administration where his images of social injustice carried a distinguishing lyrical aesthetic. A decades-long career at Life magazine showcased a vastly broad talent that included writing and, after Life, film directing. Multiple images are here.

Another Renoir show? But this one is worth it.

Some critics grind their teeth about Renoir feeling some of his works are akin to happy snaps. Luncheon of the Boating Party is not immune to criticism but is far from lightweight. Technical analysis reveals its careful and “masterful” construction. “Heroic striving on the painter’s part yielded exactly the superficiality he was aiming for, a bibulous moment of fun among a gathering of good looking, high-spirited young people.”

Treading on Euphemisms for Women

Mao said that ‘women hold up half the sky’. To Lin Tianmiao, an eminent Chinese contemporary artist, that’s not a feminist statement. She takes descriptors of women, such as ‘leftover women’ or ‘soccer mom’, embroiders them into rugs, and then invites viewers to walk on them. It is art that expresses her individual experience as a woman. Just don’t call it feminist. An interesting tug-of-war with an interviewer on this topic is here.

The Anger of the Guns

Has the story of art in the Great War been fully told? Vivid anti-war imagery by Otto Dix and others is well known but only part of this story. Other artists expressed a range of views, not all of which were opposed to the war. “The Met sees an arc from initial enthusiasm at war to horror and revulsion, but it was difficult to separate them even from the start.” Multiple images are here.

3rd October 2017

Why the Guggenheim’s Controversial Dog Video Is Even More Disturbing Than You Think

New York’s Guggenheim has run into ferocious criticism over disturbing videos of animals in a new show of Chinese art. Removing the most controversial items has only brought accusations of censorship. Claims of animal mistreatment are rejected by some as hypersensitivity Are there cross-cultural misunderstandings? Widespread mistreatment of animals on factory farms scarcely rates a mention.

‘Kinesthesia’ exhibit in Palm Springs spotlights kinetic art in breathtaking new dimensions

Kinetic art – art that moves – may boast Duchamp and Calder but has since been tainted by lesser talents. Is it just a “clever gimmick?” No, it’s the real deal, this writer concludes. “Seemingly out of left field. Kosice worked on his wild “Hydrospatial City” installation for 26 years, starting in 1946. Twenty suspended architectural constructions in clear acrylic are like topsy-turvy space stations hovering in fluid darkness.”

Face to Face

On the centenary of Rodin’s death New York’s Met has mounted a huge show. Rodin’s career was slow to get going but this didn’t dent his confidence. He was, as one critic puts it, “a man of nineteenth century amplitude and not twentieth century doubt”. His portrayal of skin, his choice of poses were so modern that he “wrenched figurative sculpture … and sent it tumbling into modernity … the greatest sculptor since Bernini.”