Selected Reading (Core of Conviction), Charcoal and graphite on paper, 100 x 72 in., 2012 Combining deep technical skill with a healthy sense of humor Eric Yahnker's work relieves much of the seriousness that one usually associates with an A-list artist. His witty pairings of objects with detailed drawings challenges and exposes the deeply ingrained duality that hinders our culture. His series Selected Reading highlights his approach by providing iconic cultural imagery with some challenging reading material. As the press release for his solo show last summer at Ambach & Rice states, Yahnker: deploys an unflinching comedic analysis of the Western world's fixation...
Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning
Dorothea Lange in her Bay Area home studio, 1964. Photo: ©1964, 2014 Rondal Partridge Archives The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera – Dorothea Lange Next up for the groundbreaking PBS series American Masters is a profile of photographer Dorothea Lange. Titled Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning the documentary "explores the life, passions and uncompromising vision of the influential photographer," whose "enduring images document five turbulent decades of American history, including the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and World War II Japanese American internment camps." Her iconic photo "Migrant Mother" is one of...
A Five Book Birthday Salute to Man Ray
Self Portrait by May Ray Atlantic Little Brown, 1963. Buy: First Edition | Penguin Classic "To create is divine, to reproduce is human" - Man Ray Today is the birthday of the seminal photographer / artist Emmanuel Radnitszky who we all know and love as Man Ray. Though born in Philadelphia Man Ray spent most of his career in Paris. He was an integral part of both the Surrealist and DADA movements. In 1999, ARTnews magazine named Ray one of the 25 most influential artists of the 20th century. Here is our 5 book book birthday salute to Man Ray. Alphabet for Adults. Copley Galleries. Beverely Hills, 1948. One of...
Reading Room for One
For the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale artist Marta Wengorovius teamed with architect Francisco Aires Mateus to produce this little slice of paradise; a reading cabin for one. The simple wood structure is fit for one person, holds one bookshelf and has a raised seating area and that's it. It is light by a skylight. The artist populated the bookshelf by asking 20 guests to choose three books each for the library. "Sharing this itinerant project creates a community between people who read the books, the guests who chose the books and the people who will read the books wherever the cabin shall...
Protest Design: Disobedient Objects at the V&A
The act of protest has blossomed into also being an opportunity for tremendous creativity. In the first exhibit of its kind, the Victoria and Albert Museum has gathered a healthy sampling of items designed and produced by grassroots social movements since the mid-1970's. "From Suffragette teapots to protest robots" the Disobedient Objects exhibit "will demonstrate how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design." Inflatable cobblestones first used during the General Strike in Barcelona in February 2012 Everyday objects have become part and parcel of protest. From homemade gas masks...