The Easel

16th August 2022

The craft world Is undergoing a democratization

Shantay Robinson | Smithsonian Magazine | 6th June 2022

America’s pre-eminent craft museum is hosting a “massive” survey show. What does it say about the status of this collective art form? Some featured works – quilts, baskets, personal ornaments – have recognizable utility. But craft now goes much further, spanning a broader range of materials and creations. Says one critic, this show highlights that craft has “transcended its focus on technical mastery … and pushed to embrace contemporary concepts about identity and storytelling”.

Warrior and Attendants

James Singer | Daily Art Magazine | 15th August 2022

A London museum is the latest institution to restitute its Benin bronzes to Nigeria. Why are these artworks so highly acclaimed? Most were cast in brass or copper alloy, using complex metallurgical techniques. The refinement of the bronzes produced surpassed that of Renaissance works. Warrior and Attendants is regarded as a “masterpiece” and describes in intricate detail the social hierarchy of warrior society. It is held in New York where, it is claimed, it acts as “cultural ambassador”.

What if the ancient Greeks and Romans really had terrible taste?

Lauren Woodard | trends.crast.net | 11th August 2022

Ancient sculptures were originally brightly painted. Does this mean that modern painted replicas are preferable to the now bleached originals? This writer badly wants to avoid saying yes. Perhaps modern recreations don’t quite capture the original colours. Perhaps the ancients were “wrong” in their use of colour (!), or intended these works to be garish? Whatever your view on this debate, modern recreations certainly require us to “radically redefine our sense of the ancient world”.

9th August 2022

Black photographers founded Kamoinge Workshop in 1963. Now their biggest show hits the Getty

Christopher Knight | Yahoo news | 28th July 2022

Mass media images in 1960’s America reflected stereotypical – and often unfavourable – white views of Black lives. In response, a group of 14 Black photographers formed with the goal of highlighting the “positiveness and beauty” of their community. The group maintained their individual styles but collectively focused on neglected aspects of Black lives, to “speak of our lives as only we can”. Says one critic, this development is “crucial to understanding postwar American photography”.

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