Kehinde Wiley

Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee Art Museum

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, 2 comments
EMERGENCE – D

EMERGENCE – D

…its traditions, beauty, and our expectations of Democracy.

When, about a month after we had our second vaccination shot, and the country was beginning to see advances in defeating the pandemic, we ventured out, first, to La Conner, Wa. which was in the early stages of emerging from a year of isolation. We went north to see a show by Louise Kikuchi in nearby  Edison; in addition to her beautiful Sumi-e paintings she was showing a group of traditional Kokeshi dolls she painted to reflect events of January 6, 2021. The Kokeshi wore masks and the pedestals were arranged following social distancing guidelines.

In June we cautiously took a flight, masked, to visit family in Chicago. We arrived just Continue reading →

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, 1 comment
Kehinde Wiley – Rumors of War

Kehinde Wiley – Rumors of War

We were in NYC this past September; The Whitney Biennial was in its final days, Greta Thunberg spoke at the Global Climate Conference at the UN, and as expected, there was a wealth of exhibitions and cultural events to see and experience. There were several shows we had specifically planned to see, Amy Sherald, Vija Celmins, Sarah Sze, Richard Serra, the Biennial, as well as several visits to The Met. We stopped in to see a show at the Ford Foundation, as well as several shows in galleries in Chelsea, including the inaugural exhibitions at Pace Gallery’s new building, one of which was a survey of works by Alexander Calder.

This post features Kehinde Wiley’s Rumors of War on the day it was unveiled in Times Square. Much has been written about this artwork, its beauty and significance. I’m including links to articles, from among many, about this powerful artwork: Hyperallergic and My Modern Met

Rumors of War was on view in New York through early December and has just been installed at its permanent location at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. See Washington Post article.

 

Posted by Thomas Alix Johnston in Blog, Words, 1 comment