The pandemic is ongoing and confusion persists—and I’m not talking about the Omicron variant. You can’t discuss art in 2021 without mentioning N.F.T.s. Non-fungible tokens stormed the gates of the contemporary-art establishment in March, when Beeple, the nom de keyboard of the digital artist Mike Winkelmann, sold a crypto-art work at Christie’s for more than sixty-nine million dollars. As to the calibre of Beeple’s art, based on my admittedly cursory viewing, I’d say that it’s aptly described in his Instagram bio as…Read More
Editors’ Picks: 9 Events for Your Art Calendar, From a Talk About Chinatown’s Art and Activism to a Show of Surreal Cat Art Plus, stream in to the Migrant Festival, or see a show of “Fairy Organs.” Artnet News, August 17, 2021 Each week, we search for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events, both digitally and in-person in the New York area. See our picks from around the world below. (Times are all EST unless otherwise noted.) …Read More
A double pun centers this show: “fringe” might describe an element of fashion ubiquitous to western attire, or else describe something that occurs at the periphery, the edge of a movement. The material itself is indeed found in this group show at Denny Dimin Gallery—along with quilts, crystals, ribbon, cut paper, and more. But the alternate definition applies as well. With a dozen artists on view, “Fringe” documents the contemporary resurgence of interest in the 1970s Pattern and Decoration art…Read More
There’s been a resurgence in recent years of artists using materials like textiles and ceramics in siting domestic settings as creative spaces, a nod to the influence of the 1970s Pattern and Decoration (P & D) art movement. WRITTEN BY: EMILY GOSLING 3 AUGUST 2021 New York-based gallery Denny Dimin Gallery attributes much of this resurgence to the movement’s promotion of female artists and its interest; though it also likely chimes with contemporary practitioners thanks to its place on…Read More
August 2, 2021 By Osman Can Yerebakan Writing wall labels for an exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2016 led to curator Anna Katz’s discovery of an American art movement from 1970s. “After completing a Ph.D. in contemporary art, I was astonished to have never heard of Pattern and Decoration and some of its key artists, such as Kim MacConnel,” she tells Interior Design. The first thing Katz embarked on upon becoming the museum’s in-house curator…Read More
In the early nineteen-seventies, a group of American artists who shared an unironic love of craft, vivid color, and kitsch—rebels against the ornamentation-averse restraint of the Minimalists—became known as the Pattern and Decoration movement (a.k.a. P&D). By the mid-eighties, the initial enthusiasm, mostly in Europe, for the group’s paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and textiles had waned. Individual artists succeeded, but P&D was written off as a footnote that was slightly embarrassing. (And also threatening: it’s no coincidence that the group’s focus…Read More
Ruling families of the Renaissance, such as the Medici, exerted their influence through political intrigue, war and art, as can be seen in The Met’s presentation of The Medici: Portraits & Politics 1512-1570. American high culture, a construct of large institutions, mostly white, endowed by the wealth of corporate donors, also mostly white, is undergoing a radical shift, as consumers are beginning to exert their power to press for better representation of the publics that make up that body of consumers. Above:…Read More
By Katy Donoghue, July 7, 2021 Amanda Valdez’s “Gratitude” was recently on view at Denny Dimin Gallery in New York (April 2-May 15). The solo exhibition presented a body of new work, showcasing the artist’s recent introduction of weaving into her practice and the surface of the canvas. Integrating the language and histories of textile and painting, Valdez’s abstract works explore color, pattern, shape, and texture. The show’s title refers to the New York-based artist’s years-long practice of writing and sharing gratitude…Read More
