Art, like people, often fragments mysteriously, like light into a prism. And that prism can be a little trickier to observe in a place like Iowa City, with its rich art scene that at times can feel equally rich in its inaccessibility to the general public. Where can definite lines of meaning be drawn, if […]
Iowa City art
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art City: Blind spot
Sometimes artwork can be difficult to see. There are times when I have looked at a work and been unable to understand why the artist has gone to so much trouble. Most of the time, when this happens, I am missing something. Certainly, I am looking at the work—I am noticing its physical properties, thinking […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art City: The story behind Jeff McNutt
If you really think about it, it takes generations of strong people to recognize, cultivate and promote that thing we call art. What have been cave drawings, daring derivatives, assorted doodles, Dadaist deconstructions and everything thereafter have been pushed forward by the powerful passions of true art bosses answering the calls of the mysterious heart’s […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art City: Takin’ text to the streets
In its 11th year, Poetry in Public continues to bring Iowa City voices to the public sphere–literally. In this UNESCO City of Literature, it’s a given that poetry talks the talk. But every April, just in time for National Poetry Month, it also walks the walk. Enter Poetry in Public (PiP); established in 2002 by […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art City: Exploring place at the Art Faculty Biennial
I find the opening question in David Dunlap’s Artist Statement to be the most promising guide for a consideration of what the faculty show shows us. He asks, “Who are we here?” The question makes a suggestive distinction, supposing, as it does, that there could be a difference between “who we are” and “who we are here.”
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A beginner’s guide to collecting art
For some, art collection is an economic game. For others, it’s a lifestyle veneer covering other lifestyles. Do you love art? Do you like art staring back at you? Do you like being watched sometimes? Consider being a collector.
Posted inCommunity/News
ARTicle: Interview with Public Space One Director John Engelbrecht
News of a potential lease termination for Public Space One (129 E. Washington), raised a lot of questions about the future of non-commercial art downtown. Here, we ask PS1 Director John Engelbrecht about the past, present and future of the space. The interview was conducted over email. Little Village: The news of the potential end […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
ARTicle: These things don’t do themselves
If you’re hanging art, measure. Measure for the eyes and head like every set of eyes is an enemy sniper. Save your troops. If you have sculptures or objects, pedestals are a must. Meticulous details—like how many brown M & M’s go in the dish, and even more realistically what kind of snacks you use at all and if people besides yourself like seltzer (spoiler alert: they do)—must be paid attention to.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
ARTicle: A take on Jeff Robinson and Michael Rutherford’s Water and Stone
It took buying a cup of coffee at The Times Club (the coffee shop in Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque St.), sitting down at a table to review the show and taking time to stare and reflect, for the artwork in Water and Stone to register in me. In Jeff Robinson’s “Green Totem,” a vertical […]
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Soul’d Out: Public Space One’s Annual Art Auction – Opening Reception Fri. Jan 25, 6-8 p.m.
It’ll be a cold night in Iowa City, buffeted by bumps of chilled thrills in the air, as students return to campus and continue their sloppy migrations to and from downtown bars. But just below the surface—literally, in Public Space One, downstairs in the Jefferson Building (129 E. Washington), Jan. 25—begins the third Annual After […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Arts Review: To Lead One Beyond All Paintings
Heidi Van Wieren’s paintings on view at the Englert’s second floor gallery space are magnificent objects. They are everything one wants an abstract painting to be: thick paint slides and wrinkles down the surface of the panel with fiendishly slow intensity. Materials congeal to create mesmerizing visual patterns. Compositions are engaging and surprising. They are […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Best Fries in Iowa City
The election is over and still we are the United States of America. Still we are united by our fundamental principles of blurting out whatever we want whenever and to whomever we want to, drinking oceans of flavored vodka and creating fake Twitter accounts of celebrities we like. Most of all, however, we are latticed […]
