Marilyn Minter, "Crystal Swallow"
Contemporary art may be most accessible when it explores aspects of human reality we all have in common. With its single-word title, DESIRE, currently ongoing at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, announces itself as a show with a theme that everyone can relate to.
That’s not to say the subject–and the art–may not elicit many different and sometimes conflicting interpretations. The realm of desire, after all, encompasses a broad psychological landscape replete with many different emotions–from longing to arousal to jealousy and regret.
DESIRE, which opened February 5 and runs through April 25, features over 50 works by an international contingent of contemporary visual artists working in a variety of media.
The works on display investigate and respond to notions of desire in all its many emotional and cultural configurations. In doing so they often transform and make public the ephemeral, interior and intimate nature desire, in sometimes startling ways.
Valeska Soares, "Duet", 2008. Hand-carved white marble
Most of the work is not new, but Desire brings together an impressive collection of artists. Included are figures such as Marilyn Minter and Tracey Emin, who have long explored themes of glamour, sexuality and desire in their work.
Other prominent names include Glenn Ligon, Bill Viola, Petah Coyne, Danica Phelps, Valeska Soares, Olaf Breuning, Kalup Linzy, Georganne Deen, Adam Pendleton and Rochelle Feinstein.
Works by these artists and over a dozen others provide a diverse and multi-generational sampling of the art of desire. Continue…
 |
 |
Over the next six months, visitors to the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon, will be able to observe the day-to-day studio practices of eight artists as they participate in a conceptually provocative and communally based art performance. Working sequentially over two-day to three-week periods, the artists, comprised of six individuals [...]
continue
Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco pleases both the crowds and the critics in his mid-career retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
continue
Contemporary artists and writers respond to climate change in “Earth: Art of a Changing World” at London’s Royal Academy of Art.
continue
The international environmental art exhibition “RETHINK: Contemporary Art and Climate Change” opens in Copenhagen October 31.
continue
The first major overview exhibition of contemporary art from Pakistan opened September 10 at the Asia Society Museum in New York.
continue
Artists from Japan and around the world are featured in the Echigo-Tsumart Art Triennial 2009.
continue
Australian artist Louisa Bufardeci is paired with Japanese contemporary artist Zon Ito at MCA Sydney. An “International Pairings” exhibition.
continue
The second annual India Art Summit in New Delhi brings an international spotlight to contemporary art in India.
continue
Below is ArtCulture's Barack Obama art gallery and showcase with works gathered from all around the world. You could say we created this to say "ArtCulture officially supports Barack Obama" =)
Whether or not Barack Obama would make a good president, it’s clear that he makes an excellent muse. It’s hard to think of a political candidate in recent memory who ... continue
[caption id="attachment_2017" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mariele Neudecker, "400 Thousand Generations". Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm. © the artist"][/caption]
The art of climate change is the focus of several high profile exhibitions this fall and winter. As previously reported, RETHINK: Contemporary Art and Climate Change opens in Copenhagen at the end of this month and runs through the UN Climate Change Conference there in December. Not to be outdone, London's Royal Academy of Arts presents Earth: Art of a Changing World opening December 3 and running through the end of January.
The Royal Academy exhibition presents recent and new work from a ... continue
In the age of Ikea, Walmart, and Super everything, quality has been relegated to the era of walking uphill both ways in the snow just to get to school. Most of the furniture that populates the living rooms of the western world has a shorter lifespan than our grandparents clothing. Things are meant to be used and then thrown out at the end of their meek life amongst the living. How depressing. Against this backdrop there is a small group of designers who have grown sick of this fast-food culture, and set out to buck the system and bring generational ... continue
ArtCulture is brought to you by a multitude of international writers and artists, sharing their expertise and insights into the world of art, culture, and design. Learn more.
Want to contribute? Contact us!