Structure and Imagery

  John Yau  |  Andrew Joron For the last program in The Poetry Center's  In Common Writers Series  for 2020, we are delighted to host renowned poet and art critic  John Yau,  appearing from New York City for two dates. He's joined Thursday, October 15 by poet, translator, and SF State faculty member  Andrew Joron,   each of them reading their poetry and talking with one another and in response to questions from the audience . Then, on Saturday evening October 17, Yau is reading and in conversation, focusing on his work as art critic and curator, with poet/performer and editor of  Open Space  at SFMOMA,  Claudia La Rocco , with emcee  Brandon Brown . Thursday night's emcee is  Carlos Quinteros III . This remote-access event starts promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific Time and is free and open to the public. Real-Time Captioning provided  here . F or other reasonable accommodations please contact  poetry@sfsu.edu. The...

Philip Guston’s “Head II,” 1969, one of the works in the postponed show. (National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Edward R. Broida) From the Washington Post's art critic, Sebastian Smee In postponing Guston exhibition, the National Gallery and three other museums have made a mistake From the article: "In the art world, the culture war is playing out as a question of how big a role art can and should play in bringing about certain kinds of social change. Many on the left want our idea of art to become so instrumentalist — so subservient to political imperatives — that they are willing to jettison large parts of what art means to people who love it and truly need it. I am referring to its ambiguities, its contradictions, its connection to the richness and freedom of our inner lives, to beauty and pain, and its ability to speak to confusions within and without. I’m talking about all the things you find in Toni Morrison, in Frank Ocean, in Anton Chekhov or Alice Munro, in Sho...

Clockwise: Genieve Figgis, Janet Maya, Peter Schlesinger, and Felipe Ariza Castro From the Press Release: Marquee Projects is pleased to present Strangers in Stranger Lands , a group exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Felipe Ariza Castro, Mary DeVincentis , Genieve Figgis, Philip Gerald, Carly Haffner, Brandon Lipchik, Janet Maya, Peggy Robinson, Carol Saft, Peter Schlesinger, and Emily Quinn. Mary DeVincentis, After the Gold Rush, 2020, acrylic on panel, 14 x 11 inches. There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else.  – Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land. 1961 In recent weeks we’ve all had the disorienting experience of witnessing massive, dramatic global events while still largely staying at home or slowly emerging from our homebound cocoons. Our mi...

Sigmar Polke, Zwei  Köpfe, 1971-73 Dispersion, latex, acrylic on canvas, 51 1/4 x 43 1/4 inches About the Human Figure June 25 - September 4, 2020 From the Press Release: Michael Werner Gallery, London is pleased to announce the reopening of our gallery and the opening of our new group exhibition titled   About the Human Figure , which will run in tandem with our summer online exhibition titled   The Human Figure .   On view at Michael Werner Gallery, London will be a selection of major paintings and sculpture by James Lee Byars, Enrico David, Peter Doig, Florian Krewer, Francis Picabia, A.R. Penck, Sigmar Polke, Raphaela Simon, and Don Van Vliet. From the beginning of time, humans have desired to see themselves reflected in art. The human figure was rendered on cave walls and carved into stones to be carried as totems or idols. Since antiquity, artists have expanded on these early impulses, and the portrayal of the human figure has a long traditio...

Kudditji Kgwarreye, 2004 Idris Murphy, Wash Away, acrylic on board, 60 x 60 cm Kudditji Kame Kngwarreye and Idris Murphy June 10 - July 18 Mitchell Fine Art 86 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley Brisbane QLD 4006 Australia

Jeanne Tremel, May 22, 2013, oil on yupo paper, 24 x 24 inches Jeanne Tremel: Slow Dive  [web] An online exclusive solo exhibition June 12 - July 24, 2020 From the Press Release: Court Tree Collective proudly presents Slow Dive by Jeanne Tremel. Whether Jeanne is gathering found objects, hand sewing new ones, or painting colorful abstractions her work moves to the same rhythm. In the discovery of her work, there is something incredibly fresh and organic. Jeanne Tremel (b. 1960) is a visual artist who has shown her works throughout the NYC area, the US, and abroad. Born in Minneapolis, her formal art education began at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota (BFA), and continued in Chicago at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA). Later, at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, she earned a Certificate in Art Therapy. She has exhibited her work most recently at Nancy Margolis Gallery, Pelham Art Center, David & Schweitzer Contem...

Nehal Devi, Video still from  Aham , 2020 Nehal Devi, Video still from Aham , 2020 Aham , Nehal Devi, 2020 I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not ever complete the last one, but I give myself to it. I circle around God, that primordial tower. I have been circling for thousands of years, and I still don’t know: am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song? Rainer Maria Rilke Nehal Devi, Video still from Aham , 2020 Nehal Devi   is a yogini and an artist, who expresses herself through varied forms: painting, performance, and moving/still images. She explores the seemingly paradoxical relationship between Nehal, the ‘self’ identified with her name and form (the relative ‘I’), and Devi, the unchanging unidentified ‘Self’ (the absolute ‘I’). Her work focuses on I-I. All Images & Content  © Nehal Devi 2020