This week was the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and it felt like the right time to try something new- in this case adding a newsletter to the website.
Below is a recap of some of what I posted over the past two weeks, as well as some digressions.
Last Monday I posted Moses Soyer’s painting Young Girl- on view as part of Canton Museum of Art’s exhibition, A New Deal: Artists of the WPA from the CMA Collection. You can see all the work in the show and their entire collection online.
According to Wiki some 10,000 artists were commissioned to work for the Federal Art Project. It’s incredible to think of how many great artists we know today due in part to the funding of this program.
For this past Music Monday I posted the video for No Time Lost by Seattle band Telehealth, from their 2023 debut album Content Oscillator. For the week before it was Portland’s The Fourth Wall and their song Never A Part, from the album RETURN FOREVER, which released on 3/15.
I covered all of the Winter Shows (also here) at Summit Artspace in Akron, Ohio. I was really impressed with this space. In addition to all of the exhibitions, it has smaller galleries and artist studios spread throughout the building.
David Kruk’s exhibition at the gallery, Nobody Here, had me doing a little refresher on Vaporwave. It’s an aesthetic I never really paid much attention to, but it was worth a revisit- and a bit of a rethink in terms of its use as cultural commentary that goes beyond memes.
Wandering around the video game Kruk created was reminiscent of going to several shopping malls over the past few years and made me think of Dan Bell’s Dead Mall Series.
Kruk’s artist statement also mentioned writer Mark Fisher. It was the second time his name was referenced in an art show I’d seen. In February I had read Aria Dean’s Notes on Blacceleration, because it was referenced in Jenson Leonard’s statement for Workflow- his recent exhibition at Wood Street Galleries in Pittsburgh. In the essay Dean references Nihilism without Negativity, from Fisher’s k-punk blog. I had read his essay Exiting the Vampire Castle awhile back, but all these references led me to start his book Ghosts of my Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures.
While looking over the list of Vaporwave music artists, George Clanton’s name came up. I’ve listened to his work over the years, including more recently his 2023 album, Ooh I Rap Ya. Looking over his discography, I remembered he released an album with Nick Hexum, from ‘90s band 311, in the summer of 2020 (and a deluxe version in 2022). King for A Day was even on my Best Songs of 2019 playlist. This reminder came at the same time 311 was all over social media because they played NPR’s Tiny Desk (posted on 3/11, of course). Strange when things like that happen.
The solar eclipse of 2024 is coming and there are a lot of things happening in the parts of the country in the path of totality. Akron is one of these places and local artist and musician Matt Kurtz has planned a live performance for the event. His exhibition at Akron Soul Train gallery included a preview of that, plus some of his other work, including his photography.
In their other gallery space was work by another local artist, Thomas Smith, whose overgrown terrariums act as a comment on American suburban development.
While wandering around Cleveland I spotted a mural reproduction of Edgewater Park no.2, Cleveland, OH, by photographer Masumi Hayashi. The mural is one of the many public art projects organized by LAND Studio.
Last Thursday for a throwback I posted some of Jane Freilicher’s abstract work from her exhibition at Kasmin in NYC last year. I love the way the paintings retain hints of the landscape she’s capturing.
Finally, on Friday I posted Jacob Hashimoto’s current installation,This Particle of Dust, on view at Tampa Museum of Art until 2025. For this work, inspired by the night sky, differences in light and vantage point alter the appearance of the individual kites.
It was great to see his work again. His 2014 immersive installation Gas Giant at the former MOCA Los Angeles space at the Pacific Design Center (it is now the PDC Design Gallery) was one of my favorites that year.
That’s all for now. Until next time, here’s Biz Markie’s “Spring Again” (and check out what he sampled here).