eMusings

Your eyes and ears on the world of art and culture. We remind you that 18 years of back issues of eMusings can be found on our archives page.

As more of the world migrates to the online universe, we find wider choices to steer you to. Here are some of the best that we have culled from hours and hours of looking.

If abstraction is your passion, you might want to look at abstraction combined with seduction in the work of Loie Hollowell. Using oils, acrylics, and high density foam on linen, she combines the two with a masterful hand. Raised in Northern California and currently living in New York City, Hollowell has been compared to Georgia O'Keeffe, both arists offering sensuous engagements with the viewer.

In the same vein, take a look at the abstractions of Diane Novetsky. In speaking of her work, Novetsky mentions "a somatic vocabulary of biomorphic forms evocative of the female body. Bulbous, sensual, and whimsical." You can see more of her work at her shop and at a Kingston Gallery exhibition in Massachusetts.

Eunsuh Choi uses delicate flameworked borosilicate glass to produce elegant body ornaments. She uses the same process to create abstractions in glass that push the medium to new levels of expression. At Habatat you can read the artist's statement about her work in personal enrichment.

Trevon Latin admits that he once hid his work from his professors because fabric was not considered an "imporant" material for a serious artist. Here he shows us how his flamboyant and uninhibited use of not only fabric but wire, building materials, sequins and earrings can enrich the mind and delight the eye. Latin is also a performer, sometimes known as S. Relentless and other times shown as an avatar and alternate identity. Latin's work has been described as "physically extravagant and overtly femme." I would call it exuberant and fascinating.

A new book called Dads celbrates the lives of gay fathers and their children. Photographed by Belgian artist Bart Heynen, the images were taken as he traveled across the United States documenting the daily lives of his subjects. Heynen himself became the father, with his husband Harrison Thompson, of a baby girl named Genhi. The book is said to include a variety of experiences, all connected by the love of children.

I am not a big fan of speeches, either writing them or listening to them - my yawn meter is simply overactive - but this brief commencement speech has blown me away. I had to listen to it several times, and each time came away with an increased sense of awe about how much inspiration could be communicated in such a heartfelt way. One to cherish, and pass on. (Thanks to GS for this).

The Marianne Boesky Gallery is featuring independent rooms of artworks, some of which are shown here on You Tube. The presentations are crisp and elegant, varying in mediums and forms. You can get more information on each of the artists at another site, where you may well find additional artists worth perusing.

Almost 800 items of stolen archeological treasures have been found by the Italian Art Police. The artworks were in the possession of a Belgian collector, their discovery the result of an investigation that began in 2017. The found pieces, said to be worth roughly $13 million USD, have been dated back to the 6th to 3rd centuries BC.

Adelaide Labille-Guiard is described as one of the foremost women artists in 18th century Europe. (Will they never stop using the adjective, which tends to be pejorative?) Now the J. Paul Getty Museum has bought one of her pastels at a Christie's auction. In 1783, she was admitted to the Royal Academy of Paintings and Sculpture, at a time when motherhood was admired during the Enlightenment. The fact that this was a formal portrait of a breast-feeding woman (who was named) made it even more intriguing. The Getty curator comments, "In addition to its exquisite beauty, this new acquisition offers insight into social and intellectual changes unfolding at a key moment in European history".

It is almost too vast to imagine, but astronomers have found hundreds of galaxies that appear to be hundreds of millions light-years long and are also the largest spinning objects ever encountered. Previously it had been felt that massive clusters of galaxies can spin, albeit very slowly. This new study indicates that huge tubes of galaxies indeed spin and may well have begun their motions after the Big Bang. Those of you interested in astronomy and astrophysics will find additional fascinating material here to peruse.

In a further step into abstraction, artist Emily Mae Smith provides us with unusual (described as "spunky") surrealist paintings. The artist has commented that almost all symbolist paintings throughout art history were by men for the viewing pleasure of other men. Thus she decided to add a woman's perspective and life experiences into the genre, and to do it with a sense of humor. These images comes from an exhibition at Perrotin, Tokyo.

Some of you are familiar with the book "Once Upon a Didgeridoo", available at amazon (and written by me in 2018). Now the National Museum of Australia is featuring an exhibit called "Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia". They identify the Yoingu people as the custodian of the instrument and its cultural significance, including its importance as an instrument of healing and spiritual life.

Creative use of wool is the basis of sculptures by Nastassja Swift as she explores the experience of being black. Many of her figures are imaginative, rather than representations of actual persons she has met or seen. Swift comments that this process "allows my hands to make the face in any particular moment without my mind being aware of it." The artist uses felt and dyed wool, as well as wood, plaster, resin and satin to produce these compelling pieces.

Elaborate and delicious ceramic sculptures have been created by Anthony Sonnenberg in a style reminiscent of the Baroque and Rococo. Sonnenberg flirts with the reputation of Dionysus, the God of Wine, with suggestions of King Midas and Nietzsche. The artist uses platinum lusters and thick glazes to challenge the eye. These pieces form a counter-balance to the minimalist abstractions we have led you to earlier on this page.

Rather than using ceramics to describe the complexities of life, photographer Jorg Glascher recounts nature's ferocities with constructions of nine huge crests of deadwood which he collected outside of Hamburg. His wave-like layers of twigs and branches are first photographed and then destroyed so that the materials can be reused.

Jon Ching's oil paintings evoke an imaginary world of elaborate hybrid forms that somehow appear natural. Using a vivid imagination applied to real plants and animals, Ching evokes a highly detailed world of lush beings in a magical environment.

I was about to conclude eMusings, when this fine site came to my attention. Jan Lewin calls herself an Interactive Light Artist. Her work is mesmerizing, and large enough to cover an entire landscape. Using LED lights and sound, she creates installations that are a joy to see and participate with. Regardless of your cultural background or language, I think you will agree that this is extraordinary work.

c. Corinne Whitaker 2021