As the world political changes resemble a game of musical chairs, the exhibition sectors at Art Basel 2018 also similarly changed. Our allies are becoming our enemies and vice versa; Art Basel’s Parcours, Feature and Statements sectors became the least-interesting, with Galleries’ and Unlimited’s politically and environmentally relevant work the most compelling. Artists quietly and effectively protested while proposing change and solutions to world problems. The slow movements of tai chi teachers on the plaza outside the fair, sponsored by Creative Time, New York, was a perfect entre to this year’s Art Basel, providing time to think about where we’ve been during the past year while thoughtfully producing action. Galleries sold the most, followed by Unlimited. Unlike last year, there was little shiny, metallic work; this year’s work was subtler, and overall more intellectual. … [Read more...] about VOICES OF CHANGE: ART BASEL 2018 REVIEW
Jenny Holzer
Text in Contemporary Art at Jamestown Arts Center
By Elizabeth Michelman The intersection of language and visual form provides both the tools and the subject of conceptual art. “WORD: Text in Contemporary Art” at the Jamestown Arts Center offers over 55 images, objects and installations contrasting canonical works with recent forays in the art-form. While concentrating on artists in southern New England, curator Karen Conway has also tapped collectors, galleries and artist studios in New York and the Midwest. Voyages at an end as well as explorations underway complement each other in the spacious former boat repair shop through early August. The works of the earlier conceptualists, like words in Scrabble, attract clusters of new invention. We see Lesley Dill and May Stevens appropriating texts of Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf to explore forms of verbal symbolizing. Glen Ligon uses stenciled black-and-white surfaces to … [Read more...] about Text in Contemporary Art at Jamestown Arts Center