I stopped by Public Space One the day after the opening of Gaia Nardie-Warner’s “Limelight,” and the gallery space had its fluorescent lights on. These had been turned off during the opening, so that track lighting provided the paintings’ only illumination. I therefore experienced them under both flattering and unflattering lights, and was struck by […]
Art City
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Arts Review: A Set of Lies Agreed Upon
The question of how emperors and imperial aspirants fashion their cult status through images is, given our place in the present election cycle, relevant. An exhibition that raises questions and provides insight into the ways that visual propaganda shapes the image of an actual or potential government leader would have been edifying in the current […]
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ARTicle: A visit to Walnut Farms: Institute of Art. Agriculture and Burning Shopping Carts
It’s another hot Iowa City summer night and in the woods, the trees hang tired and droopy. Black leaves gently shiver against a cascade of smoke rising from a 10-foot-high bonfire. Sparks of flame jaunt into the sky and crackle alongside an endless drone of mating insects. A huge hand-painted mural covered in dreamlike poetic […]
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Arts Review: Following the “Water” – on Josh Hoeks installation at UI Studio Arts
Josh Hoeks calls Water a “structural intervention” to his studio at The University of Iowa’s Studio Arts building. The Rube-Goldberg-esque contraption Hoeks designed serves to siphon water from another studio into his—and to successfully dispose of the wastewater thereby generated. His studio’s need for water is increased by the fact that the nearest sink, […]
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ARTicle: Art on Demand at the Iowa City Public Library
Where does art live? If you’re in the Iowa City area, can abide by some very generous checkout times and can offer it the promise of shelter for a month or so, art can live with you, thanks to the Iowa City Public Library’s Art-To-Go Collection. Also, if you’re a local artist, it might just […]
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ARTicle: A Little More Room for Art in Iowa
You don’t have to be a mathlete—or even a little mathletic—to know that there are multiple parts to an equation. You have the numbers of course, or parties involved. You have the function. Are they going to multiply? Divide? And what will the outcome be? For art’s sake, there’s no better illustration of this than […]
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The Deadwood Deadzone
What you need to know is that this was not what I expected. But haunted house stories almost never are. And in the wake of Public Space One’s exciting expansion into the Wesley Center early this month, where they’re creating a free workspace for artists, filled with materials and equipment, I wondered about PS1’s historical […]
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ARTicle: The Art of Hospitality: The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
Look just beyond Iowa City, a quick highway drive up 380, to The Hotel Kirkwood Center. The ambitious building is a multi-million-dollar endeavor, melding 5-star hotel swankiness with an upscale conference center, inspired restaurant, office complex and art collection. Three hundred pieces, to be exact, all procured by Arbe Bareis, Kirkwood’s Fine and Performing Arts […]
