Art news

Inside the Studio: Gitte Backhausen

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 13:18:31 +0200

Get a glimpse Inside the Studios, a weekly IGTV series where our regional Fair Directors get taken on a personal Live tour around the workspaces and collections of The Other Art Fair exhibitors. Head to our IGTV to watch the interviews in full.

Danish-born Australian artist Gitte Backhausen impressively creates exploratory, nature-focused artwork across multiple mediums. Following an education in Psychology and Social Science, Gitte’s work reflects her fascination for the subconscious mind. Using found objects Gitte collects on her daily walks, she uniquely assembles and prints the natural forms resulting in a beautiful, dynamic artwork. We are delighted to offer our audience a sneak preview ‘Inside the Studio’ of Gitte…

Beauty in the Dark – Limited Edition of 1, Gitte Backhausen

Tell us a little about yourself; such as where are you from and how did your creative career evolve…

I live in Gerringong on the South Coast of NSW (about 1.5hr drive south of Sydney). It’s a beautiful little town, we moved here from Sydney about 4 1/2 years ago and we love it, we even have an award winning art gallery here. My art career started in Denmark where I grew up. After completing a degree in Graphic Design (2002) I was so eager to break free from strict guidelines and conventional design and re-connect with free expression. I rented myself an art studio in Copenhagen where my abstract painting practice really started to form and I have continued to create, exhibit and sell my art ever since. I grew up loving all things art and attended any art class I could, so it was great for me to finally have a dedicated space to practice my art.

Moving to Australia in 2005 was a great move for my art. Although I had some busy years studying Applied Social Science (2007-2010) and working part time in mental health, I still found time to go to my studio. Now I’m a full time artist and I have really enjoyed the past 4 years fully committed to my practice.

I’m a multidisciplinary artist. My practice has mainly evolved around abstract painting (which is what I’m mainly known for I’d say), but I also have a printmaking practise which over the last few years have evolved. I have also practiced assemblage art, but that has fallen into the background a bit for now.

When and where did your fascination for human psychology originate? How have you applied this knowledge to your practice?

I have always been interested in psychology, I have a natural curiosity about human behaviour and how we navigate this life. Perhaps it stems from being a deep thinker and feeler, I have just always questioned life, the world and what makes us tick as humans. In my artistic practice this is most often evident in the description and titles of my work. Although my creative process itself involves very little constructed or directed thinking (when I’m in my flow), my work always ties together in a series of work around a theme. Over the years it’s become more and more clear to me that they all ties into my interest and background in psychology and the human experience, as well as often having a link to nature in some way.

Where do you gather the objects that you use in your printmaking?

The objects I use in my printmaking I find on my walks. My morning walks have become an important part of my artistic practice actually. I just love all the visual gems along the way, and I always find something new to get excited about. I often take photos of things that inspire me – cracks in the pavement, peeling paint on a wall, shadows, fallen leaves or flowers. Anything that is deteriorated seems to excite me. I collect fallen branches, leaves and flowers I find, they present me with beautiful natural shapes and textures and I love how I can extend their life by creating an artwork from them.

Sunshine on the World – Limited Edition of 1, Gitte Backhausen

“The benefit of presenting the works on paper and board, rather than framed underneath glass, is the more intimate experience with each artwork” – Gitte Backhausen. Can you give us a further insight into the experience you aim to create for the viewer?

When I created the body of work “Presence of Nature 2019” the curator challenged me to present the work differently. It came as a natural extension of the theme of nature to leave the paper exposed. Tricky of course, but with a lot of research I found a way I felt would work, that was still archival.

My aim was to let the viewer into the work, let them fully experience the beautiful natural material that paper is. When works on paper are presented behind glass, you somewhat loose part of the connection with the details of the paper. I use cold-pressed 300gsm arches paper and it has such a stunning texture and feel to it. It felt right to expose it to give the viewer the full benefit of the natural materials, which ties well into the theme of “Presence of Nature”.

What have you been working on lately?

The last couple of weeks I have been working on a major studio clean-up and make-over. I can work in any surroundings, mess doesn’t bother me when I’m in my creative process. However, I am super excited about having upgraded my studio with fantastic storage, which gives me heaps more space to create. Space is important! I am also working on some new paintings at the moment and I’m looking forward to getting back into printmaking too. I love going back and forth between the two – it’s seems that one process and approach informs the other, which keeps my work ever evolving.

A Senegalese Dance School Reinterprets Pina Bausch

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 13:00:09 +0200

Dancing at Dusk — A Moment with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring (image courtesy polyphem Filmproduktion)

In mid-March, as the sun set on a beach in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal, 38 dancers gave a foreboding performance of a modern dance masterpiece: Pina Bausch’s rendition of The Rite of Spring.

The dance, based on Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet and concert, has been reinterpreted in many lights, with each version moving through primal rituals toward a climax, where a sacrificial maiden must dance herself to death for spring to begin.

Bausch’s rendition was known for being particularly expressive, demonstrating her ability to create visceral theatre productions that convey human emotion. She has since been referred to as the creator of dance-theatre and one of the greatest innovators in the last 50 years of dance. Shortly after Bausch died in 2009, her son Solomon Bausch created the Pina Bausch Foundation to continue her legacy.

“There is […] much fear in it,” Bausch said of The Rite of Spring to the New York Times in 1997. “I thought, how would it be to dance knowing you have to die? How would you feel, how would I feel? The Chosen One is special, but she dances knowing the end is death.”

Dancing at Dusk — A Moment with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring (image courtesy Florian Heinzen-Ziob)

The Rite of Spring, like most modern dance that we see in the West, has been typically performed by majority-white casts predominantly from Europe and North America. For this latest performance, the Pina Bausch Foundation decided to move away from more Eurocentric companies and collaborate with the École des Sables, a school founded by Germaine Acogny, who is known as “the mother of contemporary African dance.”

“It feels right when you are watching it,” Josephine Ann Endicott, one of the artistic directors of the École des Sables performance, told Hyperallergic. “You get into it — your body stands on edge when you see them coming out.”

Like many of the tales we call classics today, the original version of The Rite of Spring would probably seem egregiously racist without adaptation. Long before Bausch’s rendition, Igor Stravinsky’s original choreography depicted “foreigners” hopping oddly with hunched backs, turned-in feet, and faces painted white with exaggerated wrinkles. While certainly considered distasteful by today’s standards, it’s not far off from the offensive use of yellowface and fu manchus frequently used to depict “Chinese” in multiple versions of The Nutcracker or the Bolshoi Ballet’s use of blackface in La Bayadère.

Dancing at Dusk — A Moment with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring with dancers Gloria Biachi and Serge Arthur Dodo (image courtesy polyphem Filmproduktion)

But the École des Sables adaptation demonstrates one way that dance can evolve to match the times. The all-Black cast spent six weeks in Senegal before the pandemic began, immersing themselves in grueling rehearsals with Endicott, who was a dancer from the original cast of Pina Bausch’s 1976 rendition.

The dancer Gloria Ugwarelojo Biachi was selected to join the group after traveling to her audition from Nigeria with a grant from the Goethe-Institut.

“My most difficult time in this work was ﬁnding myself within it,” Biachi shared with Hyperallergic. “Trying to understand where I belong; why I am here; why I am doing it; why I have to move; what ﬁnding myself in a piece of 35 minutes is.”

But days before the show’s premiere was set to take place in Dakar, the Senegalese government initiated a statewide lockdown and closed the borders. Bracing for the impending uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was postponed, and the dancers were told to suit up and rehearse one last time for a film crew on a beach near the École des Sables. The resulting film, titled Dancing at Dusk, is now streaming online via the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London.

“Dance it now like it’s the first and the last time you will ever dance it,” Endicott remembered telling the dancers. “Because we never knew what was going to happen after.”

Dancing at Dusk — A Moment with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring featuring dancer Luciene Cabral (image courtesy polyphem Filmproduktion)

Though The Rite of Spring is usually performed on a stage covered in 1,000 pounds of dirt, the company’s order hadn’t arrived yet, so the sandy beach became a makeshift stage. The film shows a crew member still raking the sand as dancers are reminded over a speaker that every backstage moment is now completely visible to the camera. A rehearsal director is heard saying, “I lost my shoe.”

It was their first full run-through, and they hadn’t even had time to block the spacing of the dancers.

But with no resolution in sight and the news of a canceled tour sitting in their guts, the dancers performed one of the dance’s most evocative moments. Their beige dresses violently rippling in the wind blend into the endless backdrop of sand. It feels otherworldly. At times, dancers can be seen realigning and adjusting, but the film is not meant to show a perfect work. It captures a moment in progress.

“Before the end of the run, my eyes were ﬁlled with tears, as I felt everyone’s energy and commitment,” Biachi said. “We gave it our all.”

Although the dancers won’t be able to complete their five-city tour this year, the film captures the rendition of The Rite of Spring in a world on the verge of lockdown, demonstrating the ways that art must evolve and adapt to reflect the moments we are living in.

“It is dynamic in its simplicity,” Biachi said. “I have never seen a work that accepts you for who you are, as long as you move and believe.”

Contemporary Art Becomes Rug Design

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 13:00:02 +0200

by Carolyn Edlund

Painter Laura Parker moved beyond the canvas to envision her abstract work as handcrafted rugs. In a recent conversation, we spoke about her journey and the cause she has embraced.

Artist Laura Parker has her paintings created as area rugs.

AS: What is the vision you have for your abstract art as rug design?

LP: I have seen my modern art paintings as rugs for a very long time. I visited the Bauhaus in Berlin in 2011 and was quite drawn to the woven wall hangings throughout the museum. Four years later, I returned and found myself even more fascinated and in love with them.

I started my company Abstract Road in September of 2018. My vision for the pursuit of turning my original modern painting designs to rugs was primarily to honor this ancient art of weaving by hand, not by machine. I wanted people to know the true artistry required to create rugs by hand from beginning to end. The artist in me also wanted to see if my pieces would actually work as rugs, but that was secondary to my longing to preserve the true beauty of handmade work. I believe it is vital for us to use our hands. They are connected to our minds and our hearts!

In December of 2018, I traveled to Katmandu, Nepal to meet with software engineers at Alternative Technologies and then met with my rug maker, Mr. Puspa Ratna Maharjan, owner of Ujwal Carpets in Nepal.

He graciously took me to each factory where I was able to see each step of the long process that goes into making a rug. Never have I seen such an involved process of production, and each step done by hand!

Turning art into rug design takes many steps, reflected in these images of Parker’s trip to Nepal to visit wool and rug making factories.

AS: How did you get started in the rug design business?

LP: I would say by sheer drive and determination to take my painting designs to rugs.

I knew very little about the rug industry or the process. Obviously, I was a rug design beginner, but it was fine by me to be a “newbie.” I’ve always enjoyed learning from great teachers and was surrounded by just that!

I believe in following my artistic vision and always have. It is not necessarily an ongoing money maker when creating and designing this way. My painting teacher of 20 years, Chery Baird out of Atlanta, always taught me to push further and find my own style as an abstract painter. I was taught to be able to defend my work and process, which is very hard to do as a contemporary painter. I pushed myself to create my own interpretations with paint and mixed media, and this led to turning my work into rugs. The outcome was even more beautiful than I had imagined. What a gift for an artist to see a vision become reality!

Parker’s painting “Edge of the Word” recreated as a handwoven area rug.

AS: Who are your customers?

LP: I have called on many interior designers since starting the company. Hand knotted rugs are pricey compared to online representations ready to ship at low cost. The question “What is your price point?” was discouraging but did not stop me from looking for modern designers to consider selling my work.

I have some designers to thank, including:

Switch Modern out of Atlanta and New York, who allowed me to showcase and introduce the rugs in their Atlanta showroom. Donna McAlear of New Mood Designs out of Atlanta who was and remains super supportive of my venture. Brittany Odum of Chrysalis Designs out of Atlanta, who has always been supportive and open to my new work and ideas.

The Harrison Group out of Saint Simons Island and several other locations internationally. Sandra Dunham and Kathleen Brooks were very excited about the rugs, as they typically work with a client over a long period of time. Their enthusiasm and warm welcome is the way I like to do business. They say they are on the lookout for the right kind of client!

“Greens of July” area rug based on a painting by Laura Parker

AS: What do you hope to achieve from your work, and how does this support a vital cause?

LP: As you know, the world pandemic has changed business and slowed spending at this time.

Regardless, my vision remains the same for Abstract Road Rugs and Design, and that is to continue to be true to my art and craft and make sure my rug maker is paid well so he can continue to pay his weavers. That is his greatest wish, rather than profit or fame. When we come together from different cultures in the arts, we speak the language of the heart and the soul. We begin to listen and understand more from this exchange.

I would love to see both young and old tune in to making things by hand again. This means cleaning the threads, dying the threads, and learning to weave and make fabric. There are so many young people who really want to be productive, but don’t know how or where to begin. Gardening, writing, woodworking, sculpting, welding, and so many more skills could be taught. Most master artists I know are older. Voila! There is the program. Lives are improved and hope is restored. All of us need that, now more than ever.

Artist Laura Parker with weavers in Nepal who are transforming her designs into handmade rugs.

I am a GoodWeave importer, which is based out of Washington, DC, Nepal, India, and other countries. When I contribute a percentage to GoodWeave, it supports the mission to abolish the use and abuse of child labor. They also have developed numerous schools around the globe that support health, education, and safety for these young people who have known the realities of child labor.

Looking at the bottom line, I would like to sell my rugs. They are stunning and will last many lifetimes if taken care of properly. Each rug has a story from its original design. The stories remain a mystery to all, except to me of course. Many hands have worked these pieces, from Saint Simons Island in Georgia to Katmandu, Nepal. What a treat for an art lover and collector to have and to hold.

As they say in Nepal, Namaste!

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The post Contemporary Art Becomes Rug Design appeared first on Artsy Shark.

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Artist Review: Surface Book 3 (Intel i7 + NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650)

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 05:21:05 +0200

Surface Book 3 is the top-of-the-line 2-in-1 PC released by Microsoft in May 2020. This is the successor to the Surface Book 2 from November 2017. This review will let you know whether the SB3 is worth the wait and your money.

I'm in the art industry so my review will be from the perspective of a content creator, one who's into digital art, graphic design, photo and video editing.

This review unit I have was on loan from Microsoft Singapore. It comes with the following specifications:

13.5-inch
Intel Core i7-1065G7 (1.3 to 3.9 GHz)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
32GB RAM
512GB storage

Shown above is a table (sourced from Wikipedia) with the various configurations possible with prices in USD.

Prices in Singapore range from S$2,498 for the 13.5-inch with Intel Iris Plus to S$4,498 with the 15-inch with 32GB RAM, 1TB storage and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q.

The surface book is pricey. Many will no doubt say that you can get more power laptops with the same amount of money. But can those laptop screens be detached to be used as a tablet?

The main selling point of the Surface Book 3 is its ability to have the screen detach and use as a tablet. While the prices are on the higher side, it may not be a fair comparison to pit this against traditional laptops since laptop screens can't be detached.

The real questions are, who the Surface Book 3 is for, and is it worth the money?

RAM and storage
If you have the budget, definitely get at least 16GB of RAM. If you create visual content, edit photos and videos, I recommend 32GB. I loaded 5 minutes of 4K videos into Premiere Pro and almost 16GB of memory was used. If you're just into graphic design and digital art, 16GB is sufficient.

The actual storage space after formatting is as follows:
256GB = 238GB
512GB = 476GB
1TB = 0.9TB

A clean Windows 10 installation takes up 12GB, and apps maybe another 10GB. If you work with RAW photos and video, you can expect storage to fill up very quickly.

The SSD storage is fast. Booting Windows, launching apps and saving big files are fast.

The first Surface Book came out in 2015 so this design is almost five years old now. The design is dated but it still looks good. It's a clean, simple, elegant design. Build quality of the magnesium alloy body is excellent.

The palm rest has the matte textured surface that's really nice to touch. Trackpad is big, comfortable to use, and accurate.

The keyboard is excellent to type on. It's springy with good travel and feedback. This is one of the best laptop keyboards out there. There's no Control button on the right side so certain keyboard shortcuts on this side of the keyboard will be impossible to difficult to press with one hand, eg. Ctrl+O for open, Ctrl+I for import, Ctrl+0 for Fit-to-Screen, Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- for zoom.

I guess you could use some keyboard mapping software to map that button to the right side of Alt to Ctrl. The left and right arrow would work better as half height buttons.

13.5-inch model weighs 1.53kg and the 15-inch weighs 1.9kg. The thinner side is 1.5cm and goes to 2.3cm where the hinge is.

On the left are two USB 3 type A ports and a SD card reader (transfer speeds around 90MB/s).

On the right is the proprietary charging port which can be used with the Surface Dock if you need extra ports (Ethernet, USB-A, mini DisplayPort, Audio Out).

There's no Thunderbolt 3 but you get one USB-C which can be used to output video and audio when used with an adapter.

Whether TB 3 is essential will depend on whether you have existing TB3 devices, or planning on getting any TB3 devices in the future. USB-C has enough bandwidth for editing 4K videos. Note that TB3 devices are expensive so by not going the TB3 route, you can actually save significant money. Just look at your current workflow to see if you really need that TB3 speed.

Air vents point to the display and are hidden from view. Fans don't turn on with light usage, eg. surfing the web and writing documents.

When the hinge is pushed all the way back, it actually touches the table. The two long hard feet beneath aren't thick enough to prevent the hinge from touching the table. Don't slide the SB3 on the table or you'll heard the hinge against the table.

The tablet eject button is located near the top right. The tablet won't eject when you're using software that's using the graphics card. A dialogue box will appear to tell you to quit those software before you can eject.

After the eject button is pressed, it takes a quick second or two for the tablet to unlock.

This is the selling point of the Surface Book 3.

There is a battery in each part. When charging, the tablet will be giving priority for charging. During usage, battery for the base will be used first.

Battery life, unfortunately, is below expectations.

For general usage with auto-brightness, it's around 2 hours for the tablet, and 5 hours for tablet and keyboard combined. Battery life will of course depend on what you're doing. If you exporting videos, you can expect battery life to be even shorter.

What this means is the tablet is good for short period usage. If you're student who's going for lecture, then battery life could be enough to last until you rush back to charge. If you want to lay on the sofa and watch a movie, you may be able to finish a 2 hour movie, but if there are some processing going on in the background, then you may not.

What will be extremely cool is if Microsoft could add another USB-C to the tablet that allows charging. That way you could actually use an external battery.

In addition to charging with the included charger, you can also charge via the USB-C port, but you'll need a powerful enough USB-C charger to charge the SB3 at decent speed.

Microsoft could have remove their proprietary charging port and replace it with a USB-C which will make this device even more functional.

The tablet can be taken out, reversed and put back. This will allow you to get the longer battery life while drawing.

There's no locking mechanism for the hinge though. So to prop up the tablet, you'll need between the keyboard and tablet. Or just get some sort of laptop stand and make sure it's a sturdy one that has no chance of shake or wobble.

The SB3 tablet looks kinda similar to the Surface Pro except it's larger. This 13.5-inch display is of course larger than even the iPad Pro 12.9.

The resolution is 3000 by 2000 with a pixel density of 267PPI. The display is sharp. 15-inch model resolution is 3240 x 2160.

Aspect ratio is 3:2 which I find to be more conducive for work compared to 16:9 which is more suitable for watching videos since you won't get black bars at the top and bottom.

The front-facing stereo speakers are located at the top left and right. Audio quality is good. The audio really gets into your head space because they speakers are not just pointing at you, they are also higher above the table.

Power and volume buttons are located at the top left when the tablet is attached to the base.

Colours for the display look good out of the box. I did colour calibrate this to match my other monitors and measured 97% sRGB, 76% AdobeRGB, 73% NTSC and 77% P3. Colour accuracy is quite good.

The maximum brightness I measured was 302 nits.

Brightness can be adjusted in eight steps. These are the various brightness at different steps:

I'm only mentioning this because the drop from maximum brightness to the next steps are 60, 100 and 70 nits. It's easier to adjust for low than high brightness because increments are not as huge when display is dimmer.

You could use auto-brightness which works fine though. But sometimes the brightness can change quite significantly which gives the impression of a flicker.

The US$99 Surface Pen is not included. This is an essential buy if you are going to get the Surface Book 3.

There are many Surface Pen alternatives available but the Surface Pen still performs the best on Microsoft Surface products. The tip is this rubber-like material that provides some friction and control when drawing or writing on the glass.

There's a shortcut button on the back that also doubles as an eraser.

The display is laminated so there's no gap between the glass and LCD beneath. When drawing with the Surface Pen, it really looks like the lines are appearing directly beneath the pen tip.

Unfortunately when drawing slow diagonal lines, there's still slight wobble. The app I used above is Wacom Bamboo Paper.

How much wobble there is will also depend on the apps you use. Some apps will apply software correction to make lines smoother.

Drawing performance

Pressure and tilt works with Photoshop CC 2020.

The Surface Pen is said to support up to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. In reality, the implementation or application is less than ideal. More specifically, the pressure transition is not smooth or gradual. And that's due to the initial activation force, basically the least amount of force needed to produce a line.

You do need to press a bit to get a line, but that's not the problem. The problem is when you press a bit more, the line becomes thicker than expected. You can adjust the pressure curve to get a thin line easier but then it's difficult to produce thick lines unless you press real hard.

Because of how pressure sensitivity is implemented, it's difficult to get lines to taper gradually with Photoshop.

With a good pressure sensitive stylus, you can choose a huge brush and still be able to produce really thin lines that can transition to the maximum size. With the Surface Pen, it's difficult to get that wide variation. Thin lines will be thicker than usual unless you pick a small brush to begin with.

And the lines still suffer for wobble occasionally as you can see in the simple line sketch above.

This is Concepts, a digital drawing app designed for touchscreen devices. Pressure and tilt sensitivity works.

For tilt to work, it seems like I have to tilt the Surface Pen to the extent that the plastic side actually touches the glass. I'm apprehensive about that since I don't know if that will scratch the glass. Thankfully I don't use tilt often.

Clip Studio Paint works better than Photoshop for drawing. You can also adjust the pressure sensitivity curve inside CSP. I did not experience line wobble which was surprising to me.

I don't have tilt brushes so I can't tell if tilt is working.

Medibang Paint Pro has line wobble, but that doesn't seem to affect my drawing. Thinner lines are also easier to draw, relatively speaking.

Sketchable works great. But the pen is sensitive and it's easy to produce thin and thick lines with smooth transition. Tilt doesn't work though.

I wasn't able to get pressure and tilt working with Krita. I tried installed WinTab driver but that didn't work too. Krita worked fine with SB2 but for some reason doesn't work here.

I wasn't able to get pressure working with Adobe Illustrator either.

Pressure works with Affinity Photo.

Pressure works with Affinity Designer.

Note taking works great. It was able to capture my handwriting quite accurately.

So out of all the drawing apps I've tested, Concepts, Clip Studio Paint and Sketchable work best without line wobble and pressure sensitivity is more predictable.

Photo editing

The Surface Book 3 is definitely more than capable for editing photos. The display has good colour support and processor powerful enough to handle edits with out lag. However, it took longer than I expected to launch Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. That's strange because my 2013 Mac Pro can launch Lightroom faster. But once Lightroom is running, everything is smooth.

Here are the timings when exporting 100 RAW files from Lightroom:

Mac Pro 2013 Xeon quad core 3.7Ghz - 3 min 17s
Macbook Pro 2015 Quad 2.5Ghz - 3min 21s
Surface Book 2 Intel i7-8650U (Quad 1.9 to 4.2 GHz) - 3 min 49s
Surface Book 3 Intel i7-1065G7 (Quad 1.3 - 3.9Ghz) - 3 min 50s to 4min 41s
Lenovo Miix 520 Intel i5-8250U (Quad 1.6 - 3.4Ghz) - 4min 40s
Surface Laptop 2 Intel i5-8250U (quad 1.6 to 3.4Ghz) - 4min 12s
Surface Book 2 Intel i5-7300U (2.6 to 3.5 GHz) - 8min 57s
Surface Pro 6 (2018) Intel i5-8250U (Quad 1.6 - 3.4 Ghz) - 6min+ to 8min+

Photo export times are reasonably good. It takes less than 5 minutes to export 100 24MP RAWs into jpeg. Even though the SB3 Intel i7-1065G7 has lower clock speed than the SB2 Intel i7-8650U, export times are rather similar.

Export time varies depending on the processor throttling with heat.

Video editing

Video editing performance is better than I expected.

SB3 can edit and play 8-bit or 10-bit 60FPS H264 videos without dropped frames. My 2013 Mac Pro will drop frames 3 seconds into playing a 60FPS video.

It took around 1min 55s to 2min 40s to export a 5min 4K project with no effects using Adobe Premiere CC,

The processor speed boosted to over 3.2Ghz and was able to maintain that throughout for short (5min) exports.

When I exported a 10min video, it took 5min+ and the speed dropped from 3.2Ghz to around 2.2Ghz and remained there until the export completed.

Export times is almost half of the actual 4K video being exported. That is very good video editing performance considering it will take me several times longer to export the same video using Final Cut Pro with my old 2013 Mac Pro (quad 3.7GHz) which doesn't have Intel QuickSync.

This satisfying performance could be due to the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 and Cuda.

It goes without saying that working with 1080P will be a breeze.

Working with videos requires lots of storage. For the unit that I have, it cost US$200 to upgrade from 512GB to 1TB. You could spend the US$200 instead to get a Samsung T7 1TB external SSD or Sandisk 1TB external SSD. I've been editing 4K videos off external SSD via USB3.1 for years and it works fine.

Gaming

I don't really play games but I did try Two Point Hospital at maximum resolution with high textures and it was able to run without lag. Fans started turning almost instantly.

Heat

When doing processor intensive tasks, you can expect the SB3 to run hot.

The heat will come from the processor and graphics card. The base has fans so the keyboard and palm rests will still be cool.

The tablet has no fans and will be slightly warm with normal use, and warm when exporting photos and videos. If you want to draw comfortably, it's best to not use any other apps that uses processing power otherwise the tablet will get too warm.

Conclusion

I like the Surface Book line. It's a product that dares to be different. Many reviewers call this design dated but it still looks good to me. And the build quality is excellent. I like all the physical aspect of this product down to the port selection. Having the SD card slot is incredibly convenient.

Not having Thunderbolt 3 is not really a big deal unless you have lots of thunderbolt devices. USB-C is quite versatile too.

In terms of processing power, the Intel Core i7-1065G7 (1.3 to 3.9 GHz) may not be as fast or has as many cores compared to other laptops at the same price range, but it's definitely powerful enough for editing photos and 4K 60FPS. The video editing performance was better than I expected. Some of the art tutorial videos that I create are 30 minutes long and will take around 2-3 hours to export with my 2013 Mac Pro (quad 3.7Ghz). With the SB3, it takes less than 20 minutes. Wow.

Microsoft claims you can expect "powerhouse performance". Well, different people have different interpretation as to what powerhouse actually means. For me, when you can render a 4K video in less time than the length of the video, that's good enough for me. SB3 can do it in half the time.

And if SB3 can edit 4K videos, handling graphic design w

Reflections of a Graduate Paper Conservator

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 03:27:25 +0200

As the Graduate Paper Conservation Intern, I have had the privilege of being fully immersed within the dynamic and exciting environment of the Conservation Department, made up of four specialty teams; works on paper, paintings and sculpture, and conservation framing.

My day-to-day work is driven by exhibition preparation, documenting and housing newly acquired artworks. Working between the two gallery sites, the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), has exposed me to an extremely diverse collection of artworks – both historic and contemporary works on paper. This internship has provided opportunities to perform conservation treatments, conduct artwork condition assessments, install and de-install exhibitions, assist with ongoing research projects and prepare objects for loans, exhibition, handling and storage.

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Here are a few interesting projects I have been working on…

My favourite conservation treatment has been the consolidation of flaking paint on Six-fold screen with nobleman’s cart under a flowering cherry tree c.1650, a Japanese screen from the mid 17th century. This magnificent folding screen depicts a nobleman’s cart under a flowering cherry tree. Over time the paint layer of the white cherry blossoms had become extremely fragile and brittle, with areas of flaking and unfortunately, paint loss in several areas. Before being displayed as part of the Asian Art Collection, the folding screen came into the paper conservation lab for stabilisation treatment. After careful consideration a suitable adhesive was selected for its adhesion properties and matt finish. The flaking areas of white paint were carefully consolidated under magnification with an application of Jun Funori, a refined version of a traditional Japanese adhesive sourced from red algae. Jun Funori was carefully applied under the flaking white paint with the aid of an extremely fine and delicate paintbrush. Tiny micro weights were then used over the treated area while the consolidant dried to achieve a good bond. This consolidation treatment ensured the folding screen was stabilised for both exhibition and long term storage.

Conservation treatment / Six-fold screen with nobleman’s cart under a flowering cherry tree c.1650

Unknown, Japan / Six-fold screen with nobleman’s cart under a flowering cherry tree c.1650 / Gold leaf, ink and colour on paper on wooden framed screen / 167.5 x 392cm (overall); 167.5 x 64.6 (each panel) / Bequest of James Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2018 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Working at QAGOMA has exposed me to the world of large oversized works on paper, artworks that include gigantic framed photographs, digital prints, prints, drawings and scrolls. Careful planning is required which involves working collaboratively with a multi-disciplinary team of conservators, installation and registration staff. It takes conscientious and meticulous care in each aspect of handling, mounting and framing, exhibition, de-installation and storage of these huge works, in particular, the installation of three long Chitrakar scrolls from West Bengal. These works on paper required all hands-on deck during the installation process. The scrolls were mounted onto the wall using a discrete magnet mounting system, an aerial work platform was used whilst the works were supported to carefully elevate the scrolls.

Jaba Chitrakar, India b.1960s / 9/11 2012 / Natural colour on mill-made paper with fabric backing / 276 x 56cm / Purchased 2016 with funds from Professor Susan Street AO through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

The conservation department also assists an ongoing program of touring exhibitions to Queensland’s network of regional galleries, in particular the preparation of 200 drawings by Robert MacPherson. These drawings are only a fragment of some 2 400 individual sheets, which make up the impressive and extensive 1000 FROG POEMS: 1000 BOSS DROVERS (“YELLOW LEAF FALLING”) FOR H.S.’ 1996-2014. Each drawing depicts a portrait and name from the vast array of legendary Australian boss drovers.

For each of three rotations, 200 drawings were selected within 20 large frames. Mounting the artworks consists of attaching four Japanese tissue hinges to the back of each artwork with wheat starch paste (a reversible adhesive used in paper conservation). 800 individual hinges are therefore needed – with the attachment of each hinge requiring care and precision. As you could appreciate this job requires a lot of organisation. A ‘production line’ was set up, whereby 10 drawings were hinged around a large table. Once the hinges were dried those drawings were float-mounted onto a large museum quality mount board ready to be framed.

I have enjoyed working alongside the passionate and talented staff members who ensure with the utmost care that Queensland’s artworks are preserved and made accessible. Throughout my internship I anticipate learning more new skills and being challenged with an extremely diverse collection.

Laura Daenke is Graduate Paper Conservation Intern, QAGOMA

Robert MacPherson, Australia b.1937 / 1000 FROG POEMS: 1000 BOSS DROVERS (“YELLOW LEAF FALLING”) FOR H.S. (details) 1996-2014 / Graphite, ink and stain on paper / 2400 sheets: 30 x 42cm (each) / Purchased 2014. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Robert MacPherson

Know Brisbane through the Collection / Hear artists tell their stories / Read about your Australian Collection / Subscribe to QAGOMA YouTube to go behind-the-scenes

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Fair Director’s Pick: Bartosz Beda

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 02:20:09 +0200

As part of our ongoing series highlighting exceptional artists showing in The Other Art Fair Dallas, we asked Dallas Fair Director Nicole Garton to select the artists she is most excited for people to discover. This week, she shares her insights into her latest pick.

The Other Art Fair Dallas Online Studios

Fair Director’s Pick for the Week of July 6

Bartosz Beda

“Bartosz Beda is a Polish artist, based in Dallas, whose abstract-figurative paintings offer “two meaningful pictures” combined on a single canvas. This combination allows the viewer to perceive what might be called the surface narrative—that is, the concrete form—as well as a subnarrative which deals with the psychological plane. Early accolades include short-list selection for Saatchi Gallery’s prestigious New Sensations Prize, among others.” – Nicole Garton

Meta Color 08 by Bartosz Beda | $425

Click here to shop Bartosz’ Portolio

As Nicole forms her recommendations, she is considering key aspects of an artist’s work that demand special recognition—whether it be a fully articulated style that is unique and arresting, a mastery of technical skill that reveals an uncommon talent, or a strong underpinning of ideas that is fresh and provocative. It is our hope this this series will help you discover an artist whose works you really love.

Click here to discover more Fair Director’s Picks.

Visit The Other Art Fair Online Studios, a new online platform offering art lovers around the world access to over 800 Fair artists. The Online Studios is keeping our community feeling inspired, engaged, and is continuing to spread joy through art.

Fair Director’s Pick: Kristin Moore

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 02:02:36 +0200

As part of our ongoing series highlighting exceptional artists showing in The Other Art Fair Los Angeles, we asked Los Angeles Fair Director Nicole Garton to select the artists she is most excited for people to discover. This week, she shares her insights into her latest pick.

The Other Art Fair Los Angeles Online Studios

Fair Director’s Pick for the Week of July 6

Kristin Moore

“Kristin Moore is an American artist, based in Dallas, whose paintings explore the landscapes of California, Texas, and “the highways in between.” While her photorealistic style depicts natural features, skylines, and structural façades in minute detail, it is her uncanny ability to capture light that renders each work not so much a portrait of a place but rather of the atmospheric nuances unique to each city’s sky.” – Nicole Garton

Segovia, TX by Kristin Moore | Originally Listed for $2,670

Click here to shop Kristin’s Portolio

Click here to discover more Fair Director’s Picks.

Six Asian Women Artists Discuss Racism and Tokenism in the Art World

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 00:13:17 +0200

Christine Tien Wang, “Curate This Painting” (2012), Flashe-paint on board, 20 x 20 inches, to be featured and discussed in the “hyper(in)visibility” panel (image courtesy the artist and Night Gallery)

While the art world likes to present itself as inclusive and progressive, it is plagued by institutional racism, tokenism, and a general lack of diversity. Next Tuesday, July 14, six women artists of Southeast and East Asian descent will come together to frankly discuss their experiences and what they hope to push forward with their work. The artists, most of whom are based in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, are Pearl C Hsiung, Maia Ruth Lee, Astria Suparak, Stephanie Syjuco, Hồng-Ân Trương, and Christine Tien Wang. The host and main organizer of the event, stephanie mei huang, is also a Los Angeles-based artist.

“The yellow woman’s body, historically rendered either invisible or as ‘object,’ is now catapulted into hypervisibility amidst xenophobic questions of contagion, virility, and a history of scapegoatism,” reads the description of the event, which is aptly titled “hyper(in)visibility.”

In putting together this panel, huang hopes to create a “space of solidarity” for Asian women — something she says has “seldom been given.” Some of the questions she plans to pose include “How have COVID-19 and BLM affected your understanding of your racial, ethnic, and national identity?” and “How do we want to be seen? Is it possible to be seen the way we want to be seen?”

These six artists have a wide collective range of work, exploring the environment, food politics, race representation, immigrant histories, and much more. But huang sees some common ground, particularly a “sense of imposed discomfort.” She surmises that this may be because “as racialized and gendered bodies, we somehow are always experiencing that discomfort.” As an example, she cites Wang’s I just want to be a white girl paintings.

Hồng-Ân Trương, “We Are Beside Ourselves,” a reference to a historical photo of the women of Gidra (image courtesy the artist and Mike Murase)

The “hyper(in)visibility” panel was originally going to be held in late June in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG), but huang decided to withdraw after the museum appointed a white man as CEO and director. The appointment incited local controversy because “VAG has no Black representation on their board in addition to an overwhelmingly amount of white senior positions.” VAG’s response was “insufficient,” according to huang, and she “did not want to support an institution that was tone deaf to the urgent calls of the BLM uprising and BIPOC actions.”

She added, “I did not want myself or the panelists to yet again be forced into tokenized positions as women of color by an institution that reinforces the status quo of racism in the Americas or uses Asian people as a wedge between other people of color and whiteness.” As artists and art workers rally to inspire institutional change, the panel — now hosted by the Contemporary Calgary — has absorbed a whole new relevant layer of discussion.

When: Tuesday, July 14, 1:30 pm (PDT)
Where: Zoom

More info at Contemporary Calgary.

Seven Asian Women Artists Discuss Racism and Tokenism in the Art World

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 00:13:17 +0200

Hồng-Ân Trương, “We Are Beside Ourselves,” a reference to a historical photo of the women of Gidra (image courtesy the artist and Mike Murase)

When: Tuesday, July 14, 1:30 pm (PDT)
Where: Zoom

More info at Contemporary Calgary.

Sprawling Metal Forms Elegant, Sculptural Jewelry by Designer Laura Estrada

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 23:36:36 +0200

All images © Laura Estrada Jewelry, shared with permission

Los Angeles-based designer Laura Estrada handcrafts sustainable jewelry pieces that are conceptually driven, sculptural adornments for the body and face. She uses ancient metalsmithing techniques to create timeless, wearable heirlooms that merge fashion with art. “From a very young age, I have been building little objects with my hands, ” Estrada explains. “This obsession manifested itself when I took a metalsmithing class in college.”

Metal is the designer’s chosen medium, and she describes it as a fierce, unforgiving, stubborn, resilient, and enduring material. “It reminded me of myself,” she explains. After receiving her BFA, Estrada undertook an apprenticeship with a master jeweler, an experience that refined her skills before she launched Laura Estrada Jewelry in 2018.

The designer finds her inspiration from diverse influences—whether observing nature while out on a hike or the images she comes across in art history books. “My ideas also thrive in a collaborative environment, and my conceptual work often starts with conversations or projects with other creatives, that then evolve into a deeper, more experimental direction for the work,” Estrada explains.

When creating her body-spanning pieces, the designer’s artistic process is sometimes chaotic, and she initially starts working and modeling with metal. “I have found even if I sketch it out before, everything changes when it becomes three dimensional,” she explains. “The metal takes on shapes and forms that I piece together repeatedly until it feels right, then I solder it all together. I work very intuitively and do my best to trust the flow of my creative process.”

Estrada’s jewelry evokes a sense of resilience, empowerment, and confidence. The physical and conceptual construction of her pieces merges the innovation and integrity of ancient design practices with future technologies, and she finds unique methods to harmonize the two. As she explains, “With a focus on the intersection between art, technology, and identity, my recent exploration of masks and face pieces as ritual adornment aim to empower the wearer in their chosen form of identity and individuality.”

A selection of earrings are available in the Laura Estrada Jewelry shop, and to see future collections from the Latinx-owned brand, head to Instagram.

Opportunities in July 2020

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 23:00:32 +0200

Paul Cézanne, “The Fishermen (Fantastic Scene)” (ca. 1875) (courtesy the Metropolitan Museum/Open Access)

Hyperallergic’s monthly Opportunities Listings provide a resource to artists and creatives looking for grants and paid opportunities to further their work. These paid opportunities for independent artists and cultural organizations are more important now than ever, and as such our list primarily focuses on them.

Featured Opportunities

Green-Wood Cemetery
Artist-in-Residence 2021
Open to artists in New York City, this nine-month residency provides a $7,500 honorarium, studio space in the landmarked Fort Hamilton Gatehouse, and access to the Cemetery’s professional staff, archives, and historical collections.
Application Fee: $10 USD
Deadline: September 2, 2020 | green-wood.com/artistinresidence

Grants & Awards

Artadia Awards
2020 San Francisco Awards
Visual artists and collaboratives at any stage in their career who live and work within the Bay Area counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo can apply for unrestricted funds of $10,000.
Deadline: July 15, 2020 | artadia.org/awards

Artist Relief
Individual artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19 can still apply for $5,000 grants from Artist Relief. Cycle IV is open until July 22, 2020, and Cycle V is open until August 19, 2020.
Deadline: August 19, 2020 | artistrelief.org

Artly World
Artist Relief Project
Individual artists in any discipline who are experiencing serious financial strain caused by COVID-19 can apply for cash relief of $200, plus free access to the organization’s programs and resources.
Deadline: July 15, 2020 | artistreliefproject.org/needs-based-request

Augusta Cultural Arts Consortium
Artist Emergency Fund
Self-employed and contract artists of all disciplines who live in the Central Savannah River Area can request up to $500 to compensate for canceled work that was scheduled and lost due to COVID-19 shutdowns.
Deadline: Rolling | augustaarts.wufoo.com

AURORA
Artist Relief Fund
For as long as funds are available, working artists in North Texas who need financial support because of the pandemic can apply for $4,000 grants from Dallas-based public arts organization AURORA.
Deadline: July 12, 2020 | dallasaurora.com/Open-Call-Relief-Grant

City of Boston Arts and Culture
Radical Imagination for Racial Justice Grant
Boston-based artists of color ages 14+ can apply for $25,000 and $40,000 grants to put towards community-focused projects that imagine a racially just Boston and further racial justice in the present.
Deadline: July 8, 2020 | cityofbostonartsandculture.submittable.com

Denver Actors Fund
DEAR Fund Round 2
Colorado theatre actors who have lost income from canceled or postponed productions are eligible to request up to $500 for first-time qualified applicants and up to $250 for second-time qualified applicants.
Deadline: August 15, 2020 | denveractorsfund.org

Downtown Brooklyn Public Art and Placemaking Fund
Grants of up to $50,000 are available for public art and performance projects, and improvements to cultural spaces that connect neighborhoods, revitalize public spaces, and increase access to cultural programming.
Deadline: August 17, 2020 | downtownbrooklyn.com

NINE dot ARTS
Andrà Tutto Bene Artist Microgrant Program
Create a work of art that includes the phrase “Everything is going to be okay” (in any language) and post a photo or video of it on Instagram, tagging @andratuttobeneusa for the chance to win a $250 microgrant.
Deadline: July 15, 2020 | ninedotarts.com/andratuttobeneusa

ORA Singers
Emergency Composers’ Fund
Eight UK composers will each receive a £1,500 commission to write a new choral work reflecting on one of eight different works of art specifically chosen by Tate Modern from their own collection.
Deadline: Rolling through September 2020 | orasingers.co.uk

Wherewithal
Recovery and Research Grants
Washington, DC-area artists can apply for $1,000 Recovery Grants to help offset lost income resulting from the pandemic. Competitive $5,000 Research Grants are also available for research, presentation, or critical reflection.
Recovery Grant Deadline: July 10, 2020 | wherewithalgrants.org
Research Grant Deadline: August 23, 2020 | wherewithalgrants.org

Exhibition & Writing Opportunities

Adrienne Arsht Center
Heart of Art
30 Miami-based performing artists will each be awarded $1,000 to create “Art in the Time of Coronavirus” video works, which will be showcased on the Arsht Center’s website, newsletter, and social media.
Deadline: July 13, 2020 | arshtcenter.org

American Documentary
POV Call for Entries
POV seeks submissions for independent, nonfiction film programs to showcase in the 2021 season of its annual PBS series, accepting entries for three different categories: Standard, Early Introduction, and Short.
Deadline: July 31, 2020 | cfe.pov.org

Residencies, Workshops, & Fellowships

Brooklyn Public Library
2020 Poet-in-Residence
Brooklyn Public Library is accepting applications to be its first-ever Poet-in-Residence, teachers/curators dedicated to literary civic engagement strongly encouraged to apply. The Resident will receive a stipend of $5,000, among other benefits.
Deadline: July 31, 2020 | bklynlibrary.org/poet-in-residence

Job Opportunities

Allied Media
Critical Minded Executive Director
Critical Minded is hiring its first Executive Director — a full-time, fixed-term position for 18 months with the possibility of extension based on performance and contingent on additional funding. The role is remote and begins in Fall 2020.
Deadline: July 29, 2020 | drive.google.com

Check out even more opportunities at hyperallergic.com/tag/opportunities.

To feature an opportunity from your organization on Hyperallergic, get in touch at nectarads.com.

Meet the Others: Frances Sousa

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 22:45:15 +0200

The Game Changers. The Rule Breakers. The Innovators. Discover some of the fantastic emerging talent showcasing their work at The Other Art Fair.

Frances Sousa’s work focuses on the relationship between medium and form. Her practice explores combinations of paint, photography, collage and textiles. Her designs are colourful and avant-garde, disorderly and ethereal.

Q&A with the Artist

Tell us about who you are and what you do. What is your background?

I am a Toronto-based self-taught artist working primarily with abstract painting on vintage and used textiles, as well as other recycled materials. I think a lot about how I can reuse discarded materials to make something beautiful. Often the only new materials I’m using are paint, staples, or analog photos.I have been committed to my practice for nearly seven years. That time has been filled with so much experimentation, growing, learning, and a lot of trial and error. I grew up in a very strict environment where doing anything outside of corporate or medical careers was looked down on and heavily disapproved of. I would say for that reason I am self-taught. However, the path of being self-taught has resulted in work that is infinitely more meaningful to me than if I had gone to art or fashion school because it is so individualistic, without academic influence, and thrilling to me.

What are the major themes you pursue in your work?

The major themes I pursue in my work include the contrast of softness with harshness, florals and bright colours. I am specifically interested in the results of pairing these themes with each other and being happily surprised by the outcome.

How did you first get interested in your medium and what draws you to it specifically?

I first became interested in my medium by constantly altering and embellishing my clothing as a young teen. Because of that, my interest in textiles and materials from thrift stores came to the forefront. Later on, I became more interested in how that can be applied to contemporary art and decor for daily living.

How has your style and practice changed over the years?

Funnily enough, my style has not changed that much. I look back at the stuff I did as a beginner and feel the same thrill about it now as I did then. I would say my practice has definitely evolved, both in consciousness and expansion. My way of doing things has become more sophisticated as a result of much trial and error. Over the years and specifically more recently, my practice has evolved in terms of planning and organization. Furthermore, my practice has been extended to reach more people in terms of how I can apply my work to decor in daily living and wearable art.

Can you walk us through your process? How long do you spend on one work? How do you know when it’s finished?

My process generally happens in either one of two ways. The first one being that I have an idea that I want to execute (the idea is intuitive and pops into my head). Next I will learn how to achieve what I’m going for, practice, and then follow through with executing it. It may result in how I originally wanted it to be, or it may result in a completely different but better way that I have not previously even considered. The second way my process happens is that I don’t have an idea but am wanting to work with materials I have on my supply shelf. This is exciting to me because of the endless combinations that can be made with found materials. In which case, I will pair materials together until I find what feels right. In that way, there is a certain magic that takes place between the meeting of my efforts and what happens to be the end result.

How long it takes for one piece to be finished really fluctuates, especially if I am working on multiple pieces in a given time period. I would say in general, that one work can take anywhere from one day to two weeks. I know that the piece is finished on an instinctual level, it feels right and I’m happy about it.

What series or project are you working on next?

I’m currently considering how I can upcycle used plastic into collage and other art forms, decor and wearable art. I’m also wanting to make some hand painted catch all dishes and incense burners.

What is the best advice given to you as an artist?

The best advice was given to me by a favourite tarot reader that I love. She said something basically along the lines that the way for me to find success with my work was about finding meeting points while I continue to push my avant-garde desires. That doesn’t mean compromise, it means to also pursue ways that people can relate and have a relationship with my work that encompasses but also extends beyond strictly contemporary wall art.

Shop artwork by Frances and other trailblazing artists at The Other Art Fair’s Online Studios.

Introducing The Other Art Fair Online Studios, a new online platform offering art lovers around the world access to over 800 Fair artists. The Online Studios will keep our community feeling inspired, engaged, and continue to spread joy through art.

Defecting from Pace, Estate of Elizabeth Murray Heads to Gladstone Gallery

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 22:27:12 +0200

The latest addition to the roster of one of New York’s biggest galleries also marks a departure from a mega-enterprise. The estate of Elizabeth Murray will leave Pace Gallery, which has represented the artist for more than two decades, and join the roster of Gladstone Gallery, which has spaces in New York and Brussels.

The move is a major one that will see one of the estate of the most critically acclaimed American painters of the past half-century changing galleries, and it comes as the University at Buffalo Art Galleries in New York is preparing a Murray survey for 2021. Murray’s art will also be showcased alongside Jessi Reaves’s sculptures at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston this fall.

“We are beyond thrilled to collaborate with Elizabeth Murray’s Estate, and are eager to have this opportunity to continue demonstrating her lasting impact on the course of art history,” Barbara Gladstone, the founder of Gladstone Gallery, said in a statement. “Elizabeth’s work has been a major influence to many artists, throughout the art world and also at the gallery, so we are honored to take on this significant responsibility.”

[Read ARTnews’s profile of Elizabeth Murray from 1984.]

Murray, who died in 2007, was known for her fanciful abstractions that collapsed the boundaries between sculpture and painting. Her most famous works, many of them produced during the ’80s and ’90s, feature curlicues and looping forms that seem to pop out of the canvas. Murray considered them to be feminist subversions of similarly styled works by male Abstract Expressionists and Minimalists, and many such pieces figured in the artist’s 2005 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

See Artist Lola Flash’s Powerful Photographs of New York City’s Coronavirus Lockdown and Black Lives Matter Protests

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 21:44:45 +0200

Experts Cast Doubt on Spanish Dealer’s ‘Ridiculous’ Long-Lost Kahlo Painting

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 21:01:02 +0200

One of art history’s greatest mysteries remains the whereabouts of Frida Kahlo’s The Wounded Table, a 1940 painting created in the aftermath of the artist’s painful divorce from Diego Rivera. Considered the holy grail of Kahlo works, it is one of the only two known large-scale paintings created by the artist. The painting was last seen in an exhibit in Warsaw in 1955, and it disappeared en route to Moscow soon after.

In June, Cristian López Márquez, a Spanish art dealer, claimed to have discovered the long-lost work—which, according to him, is currently stored in a London warehouse, awaiting a buyer. The announcement prompted immediate skepticism from art historians, many of whom have now outright dismissed the work’s authenticity.

Experts interviewed by the Associated Press have claimed there are differences between the painting López claims is a Kahlo and photographs taken of the original. The latter was painted on wood, according to experts, while the painting on sale in London is listed on canvas. Additionally, the AP report said, certain visual discrepancies could indicate that the work is a forgery. Hans-Jérgen Gehrke, a collector who runs a museum dedicated to Kahlo in Germany, told the AP that the claim was “implausible, if not directly ridiculous.”

López, who represents the anonymous owner of the painting, has not offered any details on the painting’s provenance. “Whoever proves genuine interest and the ability to pay the figure of 40 million euros, can spend as much time as wanted with their experts analyzing the work,” he told the AP.

The Wounded Table was first displayed in the “International Exhibition of Surrealism,” alongside pieces by Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Joan Miró, and Man Ray. In the painting, Kahlo’s anguish is represented by a blood-stained dinner table mounted on gnarled human legs. Kahlo is seated at the center and flanked by a Nayarit sculpture, a papier-mâché Judas figure, and a skeleton whose arm is entwined in Kahlo’s dark hair. Her sister Cristina’s two children stand on her right.

Kahlo, who was an ardent Communist, wanted to donate the work to the Museum of Western Art in Moscow as a “gift of friendship.” Soviet officials refused to hang the Surrealist work, and it was placed in storage.

Demand for works by Frida Kahlo has been on the rise for several decades. As Kahlo produced only about 200 works during her lifetime, the market has become inundated with forgeries. “There are thousands of Frida Kahlo fakes,” Gehrke told the AP. “She is possibly the artist who has painted more dead than in life.”

Pathways to Creativity Episode 6: The Big Picture!

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:52:52 +0200

It’s Tuesday – that means a new episode of Pathways to Creativity is available!

This week’s episode is titled, “The Big Picture”. It’s all about large landscapes, large formats, and large ideas. I discuss how I ensure that the elements of design we’ve discussed until now don’t get lost in the vastness of an open landscape, or wide panoramic shot.

Enjoy – we are at the half way point of Season 1! Hopefully everyone who has purchased Pathways thus far has found the first 6 hours useful. Don’t forget to leave a comment below, on my on demand page, or contact my staff if you have any feedback on your experience with Pathways, and how to make Season 2 even better!

Tens of Millions of Dollars in PPP Loans Went to NYC Museums, Art Galleries, and Orgs

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:21:59 +0200

The boarded up entrance to the Whitney Museum of American Art (photo by Hakim Bishara for Hyperallergic)

At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress allocated $350 billion for small business loans to mitigate the financial havoc wreaked by the crisis. Known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the rescue package was meant to help small businesses of 500 employees or less retain their staff. Hyperallergic combed through public loan data from the Paycheck Protection Program made available by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and highlighted below notable instances of taxpayer dollars funneled to arts museums, commercial galleries, nonprofits, and publications.

Several arts organizations that received loans have implemented layoffs and furloughs, among them the Guggenheim and the Whitney Museums. The David Zwirner Gallery, which received loans, also announced the lay off of 40 employees last week.

PPP loans are distinct from the funds earmarked for the culture sector under the CARES Act, which provided a respective $75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH); $50 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and $25 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. The 19 museums that make up the Smithsonian Institution got a cumulative $7.5M (in New York City, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Cooper-Hewitt are part of the Smithsonian.)

It’s worth nothing that SBA has been sharply criticized for its uneven distribution of the aid to large corporations, such as Shake Shack, which notably returned its $10 million loan. Ultimately, the Treasury Department ruled that businesses with access to other sources of capital should not be eligible for the forgivable loans and asked public companies to return the funds. At least one of the arts organizations listed in this article appears to be a publicly traded company.

Finally, SBA provides only ranges, not specific loan amounts. This post will be continuously updated with exact numbers as we are able to confirm them.

—Valentina Di Liscia

(Full Disclosure: Hyperallergic secured a PPP loan but it is excluded from the data provided by SBA as it falls below the $150,000 threshold.)

Art Galleries

Workers boarding up the storefront of the Hauser & Wirth gallery on West 22nd Street (photo by Hrag Vartanian for Hyperallergic)

According to our count, 60 luxury art or design gallery spaces of various types in New York were recipients of PPP loans, though some of them, like Hauser & Wirth, not only received funds in New York state ($1–2M) but also in California ($350K–1M) under a similarly named entity (“HAUSER & WIRTH” vs. “HAUSER & WIRTH HOLDING AG, ZURICH”).

The data suggest four art gallery entities each received over $2M in PPP loans, including the David Zwirner Gallery (which received, according to public documents, two loans that total $3–7M), Gagosian ($2–5M), and Pace, which received at minimum $2.5M and perhaps as much as $6.35M. The amount for Pace doesn’t include Pace Editions, which also received a $350–1M loan, and Pace/Macgill, which received $150–350K.

While Hauser & Wirth and Levy Gorvy received at least $1M each, and over a dozen art galleries received between $350–1M, including 303 Gallery, Friendman Benda, Gavin Brown Enterprises, Gladstone Gallery, Jack Shainman, Michael Werner, Greene Naftali, Lehmann Maupin, Lisson Gallery, Luhring Augustine, Matthew Marks, Pace Editions, Paul Kasmin, and Skarstedt Gallery).

The largest group of galleries listed received $150–350K from the PPP program, including James Cohan Gallery, Aicon, Andrew Kreps, Anton Kern, Di Donna Galleries, Petzel, Hollis Taggart, Miguel Abreu, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Ronald Feldman, Salon 94, Van de Weghe, and many others.

A number of auction houses and art fairs also appear on the list. Bonhams Auction House received $2–5M, while Art Basel and TEFAF (Armory) both received $150–350K. —Hrag Vartanian

Museums

The Guggenheim Museum in NYC (photo by Dave Nakayama via Flickr)

More than 22 museums in NYC have received federal aid in PPP loans ranging from $150K to $10M. Topping the list are the Whitney Museum , which received a loan between $5-10M, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which received a loan of $5,938,000. (The Whitney Museum have not yet responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.)

The Jewish Museum, the Frick Collection, and the September 11 Memorial Museum received loans that range between $2-5M. Other institutions like the New Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Tenement Museum, the Rubin Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York have received loans of $1-2M. About eight other museums in the city received loans ranging from $350K-1M. Those include the Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio, the American Museum of the Moving Image, the Museum of Arts and Design, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, among others.

Small museums like the Bronx Museum, the Museum of Chinese in America, and the Leslie Lohman Museum have received between $150-350K in aid. —Hakim Bishara

Other Arts Nonprofits and Publications

A Dan Flavin installation at Dia:Beacon (photo by Chris Dignes via Flickr)

Several other nonprofit arts organizations in the city benefitted from PPP aid as well. These include major artists’ foundations, such as the Calder Foundation, which got a loan in the $150-350K range, and the Joan Mitchell and Judd foundations, which both got loans between $350K-1M. Meanwhile, the Dia Center for the Arts, which includes both Dia:Beacon upstate and Dia:Chelsea in New York City, got $1-2M in aid. Two organizations dedicated to commissioning public art projects, the Public Art Fund and Creative Time, secured loans of between $350K-1M and $150-350K, respectively.

Publications also got a piece of the pie: Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which appears to be the same as the publicly traded company, received between $1-2M, while Artforum and Bookforum, listed jointly, got a loan in the $350K-1M range.

A number of smaller arts nonprofits are on this list, too. The Drawing Center (which has 11-50 employees, according to its LinkedIn profile) got a $150-350K loan, while Aperture Foundation secured between $350K-1M.

The Calder Foundation, the Judd Foundation, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation have not responded to Hyperallergic’s immediate request for comment. —VD

Which Top U.S. Galleries, Museums, and Art Spaces Received Small Business Loans?

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:18:02 +0200

On Monday, after a period of secrecy, the Trump administration released complete data for the 4.9 million groups that will receive small business loans from the U.S. government as part of its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The program has begun to disburse $521 billion in loans, which are intended to help retain more than 50 million workers across the United States.

The list of receivers of PPP loans includes a number of major art galleries, museums, and organizations. Classed into five tiers, these businesses can receive up to $10 million in funding. Facing the prospect of layoffs and major financial losses, many institutions’ leaders have been transparent about needing the loan money to continue business amid the pandemic. “Cultural institutions are making difficult choices, and it is incredibly important for museums to receive funding to keep our futures viable,” Claudia Gould, the director of New York’s Jewish Museum, told ARTnews earlier this year.

Among those receiving loans are Jeff Koons’s studio; mega-galleries such as Hauser & Wirth, Pace, David Zwirner, and Gagosian; and some of the country’s biggest museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which received two loans, one under “Museum Associates” and the other under the institution’s name.

Below is a non-comprehensive look at which art businesses are receiving PPP loans. Complete data for the loan program can be found on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website.

$5 million–$10 million

Guggenheim Museum, New York
Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Garden, San Marino, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (listed as “Museum Associates”)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Whitney Museum, New York

$2 million–$5 million

Bonhams, New York
Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
Dallas Museum of Art, Texas
Detroit Institute of Arts
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, New York
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Frick Collection, New York
Gagosian, New York
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Newfields, Indianapolis
Jewish Museum, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Pace Gallery, New York
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts
Seattle Art Museum, Washington

$1 million–$2 million

Baltimore Museum of Art
Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio
David Zwirner, New York
Dia Art Foundation, New York
Frist Art Museum, Nashville
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Hauser & Wirth, New York
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Jeff Koons LLC, New York
Lévy Gorvy, New York
The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas
Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Newark Museum of Art, New Jersey
New Museum, New York
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
Pérez Art Museum Miami
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts

$350,000–$1 million

303 Gallery, New York
Akron Art Museum, Ohio
Artforum
Aspen Art Museum, Colorado
Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
CalArts, Santa Clarita, California
David Kordansky, Los Angeles
Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Frye Art Museum, Seattle
Gladstone Gallery, New York
Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York
Kasmin, New York
Lisson Gallery, New York
Long Beach Museum of Art, California
Luhring Augustine, New York
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Marlborough Gallery, New York
MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts
Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Ohio
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, California
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
New Orleans Museum of Art
Noguchi Museum, New York
Oklahoma Museum of Art
Palm Springs Museum of Art, California
Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York
Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Portland Art Museum, Maine
Portland Art Museum, Oregon
Queens Museum, New York
San Diego Museum of Art, California
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
Skarstedt, New York
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut

$150,000–$350,000

Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Anton Kern Gallery, New York
The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York
Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York
L.A. Louver
Metro Pictures, New York
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York
Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York
Petzel, New York
Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
Ryan Lee Gallery, New York

Tens of Millions of Dollars in PPP Loans Went to NYC Museums, Art Galleries, and Orgs

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:10:59 +0200

The boarded up entrance to the Whitney Museum of American Art (photo by Hakim Bishara for Hyperallergic)

Finally, SBA provides only ranges, not specific loan amounts. This post will be continuously updated with exact numbers as we are able to confirm them.

—Valentina Di Liscia

(Full Disclosure: Hyperallergic secured a PPP loan but it is excluded from the data provided by SBA as it falls below the $150,000 threshold.)

Art Galleries

Workers boarding up the storefront of the Hauser & Wirth gallery on West 22nd Street (photo by Hrag Vartanian for Hyperallergic)

A number of auction houses and art fairs also appear on the list. Bonhams Auction House received $2–5M, while Art Basel and TEFAF (Armory) both received $150–350K. —Hrag Vartanian

Museums

The Guggenheim Museum in NYC (photo by Dave Nakayama via Flickr)

Small museums like the Bronx Museum, the Museum of Chinese in America, and the Leslie Lohman Museum have received between $150-350K in aid. —Hakim Bishara

Other Arts Nonprofits and Publications

A Dan Flavin installation at Dia:Beacon (photo by Chris Dignes via Flickr)

The Calder Foundation, the Judd Foundation, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation have not responded to Hyperallergic’s immediate request for comment. —VD

Berlin Biennale Reveals Artist List for Postponed 2020 Edition

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:03:56 +0200

Earlier this year, the Berlin Biennale became one of premier biennials to get postponed because of the ongoing pandemic. With its new dates set for September 5–November 1, the biennial has named the participants in its 11th edition. The event will take place across four venues in the German capital: the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, daadgalerie, the Gropius Bau, and the Biennale’s temporary space ExRotaprint.

Curated by María Berríos, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, and Agustín Pérez Rubio, the exhibition will explore “modes of articulating solidarity, vulnerability, and resistance, the contributions rise up to materialize the complicated beauty of life amidst the turbulent times we inhabit,” according to a release. Among the participating artists are Cecilia Vicuña, Käthe Kollwitz, Mariela Scafati, Pacita Abad, Noor Abuarafeh, and Léo Corrêa.

The Berlin Biennale isn’t the only major art event in Europe to move ahead with an edition this fall despite the ongoing pandemic. The Art Newspaper reported on Tuesday that the FIAC art fair in Paris currently plans to stage its 2020 edition in October. And Manifesta, a roving biennial that this year will take place in Marseille, France, is due to open at the end of August.

The list of participants in the 2020 Berlin Biennale follows in full below.

Shuvinai Ashoona
Marwa Arsanios
Noor Abuarafeh
Pacita Abad
Deanna Bowen
Virginia Borges, Gil DuOdé, and Virginia de Medeiros
Aline Baiana
Paula Baeza Pailamilla
Felix Brüggemann
Francisco Copello
Colectivo de Serigrafía Instantánea
Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide)
Edgar Calel (in collaboration with Fernando Pereira dos Santos)
Cansu Çakar
Flávio de Carvalho
Léo Corrêa
Flávio de Carvalho (in collaboration with Raymond Frajmund)
Zehra Doğan
Cian Dayrit
Kiri Dalena
Die Remise
El Palomar
FCNN – Feminist Collective With No Name (Dina El Kaisy Friemuth/Anita Beikpour) with Neda Sanai
Brenda V. Fajardo
Feminist Health Care Research Group (Inga Zimprich/Julia Bonn)
Andrés Fernández
Pélagie Gbaguidi
Sandra Gamarra Heshiki
Galli
Grupo Experimental de Cine
Eiko Grimberg
Mauricio Gatti
Till Gathmann
Francisco Huichaqueo
Emma Howes and Justin Kennedy in collaboration with Balz Isler
Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe
Käthe Kollwitz
Âlut Kangermio
Delaine Le Bas
La rara troupe
Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente, Rio de Janeiro, BR
Museu de Arte Osório Cesar, Franco da Rocha, BR
Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (MSSA), CL
Carlos Motta
Óscar Morales Martínez
Pedro Moraleida Bernardes
Małgorzata Mirga-Tas
Dana Michel and Tracy Maurice
Meyer-Grohbrügge
Christine Meisner
Dorine Mokha
Marcelo Moreschi
Mapa Teatro – Laboratorio de Artistas
Virginia de Medeiros
Antonio Pichillá
Andrés Pereira Paz
Florencia Rodriguez Giles
Naomi Rincón Gallardo
Mirja Reuter and Florian Gass
Solvognen (The Sun Chariot) Theater Group
Mariela Scafati
Aykan Safoğlu
Elena Tejada-Herrera
The Black Mamba – Natasha Mendonca & Suman Sridhar
Teatro da Vertigem
Young-jun Tak
Teo
Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro
Azucena Vieites
Sinthujan Varatharajah
Cecilia Vicuña
Bartolina Xixa
Osías Yanov and Sirenes Errantes
Katarina Zdjelar

Japanese Aquariums Track Penguins’ Dramatic, Salacious Love Lives Through Complex Flowcharts

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 19:56:58 +0200

From Sumida Aquarium. All images © Kyoto Aquarium and Sumida Aquarium

Like most romances, penguins’ relationships aren’t black and white. The aquatic birds’ are known for their scandalous affairs, messy heartbreaks, and frequent kidnappings of each others’ chicks. To keep track of their complicated relationship statuses, caretakers at the Tokyo’s Sumida Aquarium and Kyoto Aquarium have created a complex network documenting 2020’s romances.

The two flowcharts are replete with color-coded lines and symbols: Red hearts denote couples. Purple lines with question marks signify more complicated relationships with the potential of romance. A blue, broken heart indicates an ended affair. Yellow lines mean friendship, while green marks an enemy. Each penguin’s name is written underneath its photo.

In an interview with CNN Travel, Shoko Okuda, a spokeswoman for the aquariums, said the caretakers have included the dramatic birds’ flirtatious tactics, too, which includes wing flapping and shaking their necks left to right. Heartbroken birds—one female in Kyoto (shown below) ended six relationships last year alone—often refuse to eat their rice as they cope with the loss. The caretakers included have formed strong bonds with the penguins, sometimes even coming between same-species connections.

And remember, these are just the charts for 2020. Be sure to check back in with the Kyoto and Sumida caretakers to see what unfolds for 2021’s edition. (via Spoon & Tamago)

From Sumida Aquarium

From Kyoto Aquarium

Blinding Lights

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 19:30:00 +0200

A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Tjhan Reno. Models are Arif Huang, Won Ok Kim, Fiona Nathaniel, Novia Ong, …

The Ethics of Examining the Swastika, the Energizer Bunny of Hate Symbols

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 19:09:29 +0200

A visual history of the swastika as a motif, excerpted from The Swastika and Symbols of Hate: Extremist Iconography Today (2019, Allworth Press) (all images courtesy Allworth Press)

Steven Heller opens his latest treatise, The Swastika and Symbols of Hate: Extremist Iconography Today (2019, Allworth Press) by establishing the symbol now associated with Nazis as a “visual obscenity.” This acknowledgement serves as a framework for understanding the over 200-page exploration that follows, but comes 10 pages into the book, by which time the reader has already encountered several photographs, political cartoons, and various representation of Nazi regalia and culture. “If you want to know what the logo for hate looks like,” writes Heller, “go no further.”

One rightly imagines this book to be a tough a read for anyone of good conscience, but for someone like me, whose family line and continued existence stands in direct defiance of the stated agenda of Nazism, I had to ask myself: what is the point of this exercise? The point, for me, is to examine the power of a symbol. One cannot be concerned with art without a belief in the power of symbolism, and — as Heller notes there are few symbols as potent as the swastika. Other symbols of hate — say, the Confederate flag, which is also (finally) experiencing a moment of being recognized as culturally destructive and irredeemable — were expressly designed to engender division and the oppression of certain groups, but as Heller writes, the swastika is an ancient symbol that was “hijacked and perverted, twisted into the graphic embodiment of intolerance.”

This history, and the swastika’s unfortunate modern-day resurgence under the aegis of the alt-right hate movement, for example, are all covered in Heller’s detailed examination of this, the Energizer Bunny of hate symbols. This is not Heller’s first pass at the swastika; it appears to be an ongoing professional obsession of the author, who has written a couple dozen books about graphic design, spent time as an art director at the New York Times and several decades with the New York Times Book Review, and who serves as co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author Department at SVA, and Special Consultant to the institution’s President for New Programs. Previous editions of this book seemed to question whether the swastika could somehow live down its association with Nazism and go on to represent better things, but in the introduction, Heller seems to have at last come around to the point of view that the swastika is ultimately beyond redemption.

“To focus an entire book on the swastika arguably intensifies its power and perpetuates its evil, but to ignore it is to allow its representation to go unchecked,” he writes, in the introduction, before continuing:

I no longer believe what I tacitly espoused in the two previous editions of this book: that in time the swastika can (and should) be returned to its benign state when it once represented, among other things, the sun — giver of light. I’m afraid that the swastika will forever be eclipsed by the darkest of shadows.

It seems that Heller’s change of heart has been affected by the continuing employment of the swastika in association with a disturbing public resurgence of white power groups in the US and elsewhere, though I would argue that is hardly a new development. Invoking the swastika’s history as an ‘ancient Indian symbol of peace or something’ is a classic argument of needless provocateurs.

The cover of The Swastika and Symbols of Hate: Extremist Iconography Today (2019, Allworth Press), by Steven Heller. In this most recent meditation on the swastika, Heller has dropped the subhead, “Symbol Beyond Redemption?” — though that remains the title of the first chapter.

“The swastika holds a special fascination for graphic designers, like myself, who work with trademarks and logos all the time,” writes Heller, in the first section, titled “Symbol Beyond Redemption?” in an echo of his previous editions on the subject. Despite his introduction, which goes out of its way to explicitly condemn the swastika, Heller’s ongoing obsession with its formal elements and power as a symbol reads to me as a low-key white power propaganda agenda masked in “history buff” clothing, or — at best — an attachment to provocative subject matter that grabs more attention, headlines, and book sales than, say, meditations on Art Deco lettering.

Are there really interesting factoids about the swastika’s long history, prior to its integration into Nazi party regalia via unfounded fringe German cult beliefs that it was a sign of an ancient Indo-European elite — an Aryan race — and by extension, a secret heraldry? Yes. These include swastika decorations discovered in 1874 during Henrich Schliemann’s archeological excavation of Homeric Troy, its inclusion as a decorative motif on Etruscan pottery, Cyprian vases, and Corinthian coins. Schliemann also drew a connection between the swastika and a description of the ancient Hebrew letter “tāw (ת)”, as described in Ezekiel 9:4 — the sign of life, “which was ritualistically written on the forehead of its believers (the reason given for why cult killer Charles Manson had a swastika carved into his forehead).”

The question is: who cares? Devoting 200 pages to understanding the swastika feels a bit like reading the biography of a murderous dictator — there are probably some interesting insights to be gained, but nothing really changes the bottom line about something so irrevocably intertwined with the genocide and suffering of millions of people. If you believe in art and the power of symbols, as I do, there is a sense that they gain power in repetition — that is the lifeblood of propaganda. No matter what Heller says about the swastika, if one were truly interested in divesting the swastika of its power to strike revulsion and terror in people’s hearts, would it not be better to let it fall into the dustbin of history? A symbol can only lose meaning through obscurity, not through scrutiny; it cannot be intellectualized away.

Full disclosure: I couldn’t make it through all 200+ pages of swastika history and Nazi imagery, but of what I did read, nothing made a strong enough case for continuing to propagate the symbol, only to come to the facile conclusion that [SPOILER ALERT] it is, indeed, beyond redemption. I honestly have to question the intentions of anyone who wants to think or read this much about swastikas. It might be time to find another hobby.

The Swastika and Symbols of Hate: Extremist Iconography Today (2019, Allworth Press) by Steven Heller is now available on Bookshop.

Updated ‘Anarchist’s Workbench’ PDF

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 18:32:48 +0200

Thank you to the many of you who have sent in corrections to “The Anarchist’s Workbench” (y’all are fast readers)!

I’ve updated the pdf (even “spit top bench,” though I found that one funny) – the new (and free) pdf can be downloaded here.

If you find any mistakes in this new version, please let me know (my nickname below is linked to my email)!

And if you’re interested in ordering the hardcover book, please click here.

Thanks,
Fitz

The Anarchist’s Workbench has the Bean seal of approval – so you know it’s good.

A 3D Mural by Artist Leon Keer Wraps a French Housing Complex Like a Gift

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 16:50:40 +0200

Dutch artist Leon Keer is known for his large-scale anamorphic and Trompe-l’œil projects, transforming the sides of buildings and sidewalks into illusory public art. His latest mural, titled “Safe House,” transforms the side of a housing complex in Morlaix, France, into a massive, wrapped gift. Despite its flat surface, the gold paper appears to crinkle and bulge under the bright, imperfectly cut tape. “It is not obvious for everybody to have a roof over their head. Your home is precious and gives you the comfort and protection, a gift for the necessary needs in life. In honor of the great Christo and Jeanne-Claude,” the artist writes in a statement.

“Safe House” was created as part of the MX29 Graffiti Tour, a festival organized by Les Ateliers du Graff. To follow Keer’s deceptive works, head to Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Guinea Pigs in Museums, FIAC Fair Plans Move Ahead, and More: Morning Links from July 7, 2020

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:07:21 +0200

To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.

News

Guardian art critic Adrian Searle paid an early press visit to the National Gallery in London—reopening this week with new rules and stipulations—and got “the feeling the few dozen of us wandering the galleries were guinea pigs for a system that needs to evolve in practice.” [The Guardian]

With uncertainty surrounding the prospects for market stability and cross-border travel in the months to come, the organizers of the FIAC art fair in Paris are moving ahead with plans to present the fair in Paris in late October. [The Art Newspaper]

Calls to remove a New Deal-era mural in Kentucky depicting slaves and vengeful Native Americans have met with resistance. “An alumnus has filed a suit to save a fresco at the University of Kentucky that depicts enslaved people; a Black artist whose work is shown with it also wants the mural to stay.” [The New York Times]

The new documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly focuses on the artist work on his recent “@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz” exhibition in San Francisco. [ARTnews]

Change

Yvette Mutumba, the Stedelijk Museum’s newly appointed curator-at-large, says that decolonizing institutions “has to hurt.” [Frieze]

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., acquired a painting by Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. “On the one hand, it’s joyful; we’ve broken that buckskin ceiling,” she said. “On the other, it’s stunning that this museum hasn’t purchased a piece of Native American art” before.” [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

An editorial issued by the Guardian finds much to like in the UK government’s crisis-management decision to pump £1.57 billion into the arts. “Not only has the government accepted that the arts are of vital importance to the economy,” the newspaper opines, “it has also recognized that their value is not purely instrumental.” Also: “The challenge now is to ensure that anxiety and pessimism do not stifle invention and courage.” [The Guardian]

Misc.

An early digital version of Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog is now archived online. [Archive.org]

From Architectural Digest: “This is One of the Best Shelving Units for Displaying Art We’ve Ever Seen.” (It was designed by Office of Tangible Space for the online gallery Uprise Art.) [Architectural Digest]

Lego is launching new “LEGO ART sets” that allow users to recreate images of icons, among them one of Marilyn Monroe as seen by Andy Warhol. [House Beautiful]

Me and the Cult Leader, an Unlikely Story of Forgiveness

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:00:12 +0200

From Me and the Cult Leader (2020), dir. Atsushi Sakahara (all images courtesy Exile PR)

Japan has long enjoyed one of the lowest crime rates in the world. In the midst of such peace, the terrorist attacks by the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo shocked the nation. On the morning of March 20, 1995, five members of Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway system, killing 13 people and injuring more than a thousand others. The incident has reverberated throughout Japanese pop culture; it was the subject of Tatsuya Mori’s acclaimed 1998 documentary A and its 2001 follow-up A2, as well as Haruki Murakami’s nonfiction book Underground. The new film Me and the Cult Leader takes a different perspective on the event. First-time director Atsushi Sakahara is a survivor of the subway attack, and he embarks on a journey ambivalently seeking answers and offering redemption. With him is Hiroshi Araki, Aum Shinrikyo’s chief spokesperson (he previously appeared in A as an interviewee).

Araki attended a lecture by Aum founder Shoko Asahara while he was a student at Kyoto University in the early ’90s, and decided to join the organization soon after. Aum Shinrikyo — today calling itself Aleph — has a syncretic doctrine, incorporating various aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism, urging people to renounce the material world and separate themselves from their families. In one revealing scene, Araki remembers coveting an aluminum pencil case as a kid, only to lose interest one week after purchasing it. That example of disillusionment with material possessions helps make the allure of the movement more understandable. But after Asahara and other members campaigned for seats in the Japanese Diet (parliament) and were soundly defeated, the group ramped up its rhetoric of Armageddon and eventually rejected society. This led to a series of chemical attacks throughout the country from 1993 through 1995, culminating in the Tokyo subway incident.

Not much of Aum Shinrikyo’s history is mentioned in Me and the Cult Leader. Opening on some archival photographs and recordings from the day of the Tokyo attack, it briefly looks at one of Aum’s quarters to demonstrate the devotees’ frugal lives. Sakahara is not interested in the cult’s tenets, or their images of Asahara pinned on every wall. Rather, he cares for the individuals, and wishes to hear their stories. Driven by a combination of objective curiosity and a personal desire to understand the motives behind the attack, he often presses Araki into moral corners, questioning his position and beliefs.

In a Q&A facilitated by Sheffield Doc/Fest, Sakahara likened the film’s structure to the three-part process of traditional Japanese pilgrimage to Buddhist temples. A pilgrim must leave proof of their visit at the site, perform a devotional act, and acquire evidence of their visit to take with them. Sakahara and Araki travel to the Kyoto area to visit their respective hometowns, developing a friendly rapport along the way. Sakahara talks about the suffering he endured after the attack (for years he battled fatigue, paralysis, and PTSD), while Araki opens up about the family he renounced, revealing himself to be more human and worldly than he pretends. (Sakahara even meets his parents.) Eventually, their trip takes them to Kasumigaseki Station, one of the sites of the attack, where Sakahara leaves flowers at an altar and signs a guest book.

From Me and the Cult Leader

Although history would prefer to pit these two men against one another, one as victim and the other as perpetrator, Sakahara and Araki occasionally find common ground. Still, such connection is fleeting. A simple question from Sakahara echoes throughout the film: “Do you hear me?” Araki is ultimately unable to shoulder his group’s sins. Me and the Cult Leader proves to be a study not just in the possibilities of interpersonal understanding over mass tragedies, but also its limits.

Me and the Cult Leader is available to stream via Sheffield Doc/Fest through July 10.

Rose of Buenos Aires

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:00:00 +0200

A KALTBLUT exclusive from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photography by Luz Ferrari. Model is Pielcitta. Styling by CenizoFellay. Make …

BmoreArt’s Picks: July 7-13

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:47:27 +0200

The post BmoreArt’s Picks: July 7-13 appeared first on BmoreArt.

Artist Spotlight: Lanise Howard

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:08:22 +0200

Lanise Howard

Lanise Howard’s Website

Lanise Howard on Instagram

Photographer Spotlight: Mark Elzey

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:06:10 +0200

Meet LA’s Art Community: Jaklin Romine Is Flagging LA’s Inaccessible Art Galleries

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:00:42 +0200

Portrait of Jaklin Romine (image courtesy the artist)

Welcome to the 23rd installment of the interview series Meet LA’s Art Community. Check out our past interviews here.

This week, I interviewed the artist Jaklin Romine, who has lived in Los Angeles her entire life. Romine’s work hovers between installation, sculpture, and photography; in particular, she’s interested in pushing “photography into the third dimension.” “I am in physical transition,” she writes on her website, “and thus, wanted to create art that hovers within multiple art practices.”

In 2019, Romine received the Rema Hort Foundation Emerging Artist Grant, which helped her complete two projects that were exhibited at PSLA that same year. For the first, Living With Sci, Romine documented the trauma her body has experienced due to paralysis, printing the images on large swaths of fabric and draping them over sculptures so that they became three-dimensional. She used the same technique for the second, ongoing series, in which she photographs the flowers she routinely buys for her grandmother, “mí abuela,” so that they “will last forever.”

Romine’s latest project is a performance series, titled ACCESS DENIED, in which she travels to inaccessible art spaces in Los Angeles and documents her “body sitting outside for an entire art opening or closing.” Lately, during quarantine, she has created banners to hang outside most inaccessible art galleries around Los Angeles. Read more about Romine’s projects in the interview below.

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Jaklin Romine, “Access Denied” (image courtesy the artist)

Where were you born?

I was born in Burbank and raised in East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.

How long have you been living in Los Angeles?

I have been living in Los Angeles my entire life but have moved around to different areas of the county and city. When I was first born, I lived in El Sereno on the east side of LA, then, when my parents got divorced, I moved to San Gabriel. Then, when I first moved out on my own, I lived in Echo Park, Alhambra, and Pasadena. Then I got in an accident and lived in Pomona, and the finally back to East LA.

What’s your first memory of seeing art?

When I was in kindergarten my teacher had Ed Emberley drawing books and they encouraged me to check them out so I could learn to draw different figures and forms with my fingerprint. The book asked you to dip your fingers in ink and press them on a paper to make a stamp, then to use the shapes to make characters. I thought it was so cool and I loved looking at all the different steps to create the final drawing. Even though I’m not an illustrator it was still my first connection to art and form.

Do you like to photograph the art you see? If so, what device do you use to photograph?

Well, yes, photography is my first and strongest form of expression. I use my phone, iPhone 8-11, and Sony A7 to shoot my photo series of protest art, ACCESS DENIED, LIVING WITH SCI, and Why bring me flowers when I’m dead? When you had the time to do it when I was alive.

THE POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHY IS REAL — and you don’t always need a fancy camera if you have the eye.

What was your favorite exhibition in Los Angeles this year?

John Ziqiang Wu: Art Making at the Armory Center for the Arts

We Are Here: Contemporary Art and Asian Voices in Los Angeles at the USC Pacific Asia Museum

Parallel Realities & Unpopular Truths, curated by Mylo Mu and Storm Ascher, at the Superposition Gallery.

Sister Gaze at Nous Tous

Rituals: Ezra Benus, Romily Alice Walden, Yo-Yo Lin at the Laurie M. Tisch Gallery

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

Louise Hayes‘s Heal Your Body and Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble.

Do you prefer to see art alone or with friends?

I prefer to see art with friends because you can have a dialogue and discussion about what you’re seeing and what you’re looking at and what you feel about it. But it’s also nice to take a really long look by yourself and formulate your own ideas.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on expanding my sculptural ideas to integrate with my fabric photography. Trying to push and pull the two mediums to their bending point. While also creating banners that stand as placeholders for able-bodied people to perform my performance protest art ACCESS DENIED during quarantine. I posted this banner outside most of the inaccessible art galleries and performance spaces around LA. It was also included in an outdoor exhibition put on by Durden and Ray, We Are Here / Here We Are, a Los Angeles County-wide exhibition of nearly 100 artists that explored our innate desire for connectivity through sensation. Due to the constraints of the COVID-19 lockdown, the artists in this exhibition chose public spaces to display their work — from Santa Monica to the East Side and from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach.

What is one accomplishment that you are particularly proud of?

When I first got accepted to the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), I thought it was really exciting, and everybody around me celebrated me even more and thought I was so much cooler because I was going there, which was bullshit. But being able to complete my masters at an institution that I was combating for a year and a half, while trying to get my education, only formed my resilience and the art practice that I have now. Not because of the school, but in spite of them. After I finished my Masters of Fine Art from a very “high-ranking” institution, I submitted the photography that I used to sue Cal Arts Campus for their inaccessibility and won the Rema Hort Foundation Emerging Artist Grant in 2019, and won $10,000 for making art about the inaccessibility at CalArts which everyone told me not to make.

Where do you turn to for inspiration for your projects?

There are two things I am trying to do with my art practice: one, to use the medium of photography with other elements to break the language that exists for the image and to be able to create a different medium. Then, I also use my personal experiences and the different intersections of my identity to make the art that I will create.

Featured Artist Enda Bardell

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:00:28 +0200

Artist Enda Bardell’s fluid, luminous plein air watercolors express the beauty of the Canadian landscape. Enjoy more of this accomplished artist’s work by visiting her website.

“Condensing” (Georgia Strait, Canada) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

My interest in art began at around age six after we fled Estonia, the country of my birth, to Sweden to avoid the Soviet occupation. My dad’s crime was defending his country.

“Balancing Act” (Haida Gwaii, Canada) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

At that time, some of the Swedish children, where we lived, were not allowed to play with Estonian children because we were refugees. Since my mom worked in a paper factory, I had easy access to paper and cardboard. I turned to art and began designing paper dolls with back to front wardrobes, which I gave away in order to win friends.

“Crepuscular” (Kluane, Yukon) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

My art career continued for a while after immigrating to Canada. My sixth grade teacher recognized my talent and suggested I send one of my drawings—of a family of dogs looking out of a red barn—to an interschool art competition. I won a book for the school library. From then on, I was an artist!

“Overhang” (Point Grey, Vancouver) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

As a young teenager, I attended Saturday morning art classes at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where I discovered Vincent Van Gogh and Emily Carr. Later influences were Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven. As an adult, I attended art school and various workshops given by local established artists.

“Approaching” (Richmond, Canada) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

My greatest influence in the medium of watercolour was the late Toni Onley, who became a friend and mentor for a short while before his tragic death.

“Near & Far” (Sea to Sky, Whistler) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

I have always been an explorer, venturing into numerous careers from banking to real estate. Most of my callings, however, were creative, such as a costume designer in the movie industry and as fabric artist and designer of simple ladies’ wear in natural fibres. This led me to open my own shop called Enda B. Fashion Limited in Vancouver.

“Grizzled” (Pitt Meadows, Canada) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

After having experienced many facets of work, I settled back into art in 2002. I had painted landscapes in oils and hard edge abstracts in acrylics and fabric art. Now it was time to explore watercolours which offered me a certain freedom. I am honoured to have two of my early abstract works in the permanent collection of Estonian Art in Exile at KUMU, the Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn.

“Permission Required” (English Bay, Vancouver) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

Now I enjoy painting the great outdoors, whether it is en plein air or from reference photos taken from my adventures. My paintings are devoid of any creatures or manmade objects except for freighters in English Bay, Vancouver, with whom I have a special relationship developed from swimming in the same ocean in which they are anchored.

“Tenderness” (English Bay, Vancouver) watercolour, 20” x 16” framed

I love watercolour for its fluidity, which allows me the liberty to dance with it. I am the leader and watercolour the follower, with a little direction by my brush. My work is mostly intuitive. It is not intended to document any special place.

Artist Enda Bardell painting on location

My source of inspiration is the feeling of being there whether it be a moody sky, tangled forest or a stately mountain. My goal is to captivate the viewer with the same sensory emotion.

Artist Enda Bardell invites you to follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Press Play: Baba Ali – All These Wires

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:00:00 +0200

The UK-via-NYC artist Baba Ali shares his new single “All These Wires” alongside a self-produced performance video. Following …

June 2020 Reviews Roundup

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 12:57:30 +0200

It looks like I've been featuring fewer books. Gone are the days where I could easily find and fit 20 book covers into that cover image. LOL.

Hopefully that will pick up. I'll be visiting my book selling sponsors soon. I did feature lots of art products, more than I expected anyway.

Meanwhile, stay safe everyone!

Books

Product reviews

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Islands by Quynh Nguyen

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 10:00:00 +0200

Quynh Nguyen is a Berlin-based photographer and designer. She is obsessed with minimalist architecture, wearable art, and surrealistic

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The Best Watercolor Pads for Artists’ Painting Projects

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 03:04:25 +0200

A good-quality pad of watercolor paper is just as important as the paint and brushes you use. Available in a range of fiber types, textures, and weights, these sheets can completely change the performance of your pigments. Watercolor paper really runs the gamut from cheap practice sheets to luxurious archival ones, and making a choice can often come down to price. But it’s important to remember that while an inferior product can save you money, it can also hold you back, preventing you from getting the results you’re capable of. Our picks below provide a good overview of the best pads to suit a range of needs.

The Best Sewing Clips for Keeping Your Fabrics In Order

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 03:03:18 +0200

Do you get frustrated when your fabric moves around while you’re trying to sew? Sewing clips are your answer. These little tools are a handy addition to any sewing kit. They hold fabric in place, but unlike pins, they won’t prick you as you work or leave holes in your fabric. And their flat backs allow you to feed fabric under the foot of a sewing machine without hindrance. Browse our selection of the best sewing clips below.

The Best Wool Pressing Mats for Getting Fabrics Wrinkle-Free

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 03:02:44 +0200

Wool pressing mats help make your quilting squares crisp, flat seamed, and wrinkle free. More efficient than a traditional ironing board, a wool pressing mat lets you smooth both sides of your fabric at the same time, thanks to wool’s thermodynamic properties. The wool surface holds your fabric in place so it won’t move, pucker, or stretch as you iron it, and you can easily pin fabric to the surface of the mat to further secure your swatch. In short, a wool pressing mat is a time-saving, must-have tool for serious and recreational quilters alike. Browse our selection of the best options below.

The Best Safety Pins for Holding It Together

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 03:02:06 +0200

Safety pins are ubiquitous these days, but where did they come from? The first clothing fasteners date back to the ancient Mycenaeans, who began using clips called fibulae during the 14th century BC. However, the modern safety pin in the form of a twisted wire with spring action and a clasp owes its origins to a 19th-century inventor named Walter Hunt, who came up with the idea to settle a $15 debt and received a patent in 1849. The pin was marketed as keeping fingers safe from injury, hence the name “safety pin.” Safety pins today are useful for everything from alteration to decoration, an essential item for every sewing kit and craft drawer. Browse our selection of the best options below.

Best Sponges for Art and Craft Applications

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 03:01:13 +0200

Sponges are like socks: We take them for granted until we discover the perfect set, and then we can’t imagine life without them. For painting, sponges create a wide range of effects, marks, and gestures. For drawing, they are excellent for smudging and blending chalk pastels and charcoal. Ceramic artists depend on them to control the amount of water in their clay and to smooth out rough areas. Sponges are also essential for cleanup. Whether you like the textural variety of natural sea sponges or the consistency and durability of synthetic ones, you should have a set of sponges in your studio. Here are our favorites.

The Best Bone Folders for Crisper Creases

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 02:58:48 +0200

Are you making a card, pamphlet, booklet, or origami piece that requires clean folds and crisp creases? A bone folder is the answer. Used originally for folding letters and traditionally made of wood, bamboo, or genuine bone, this tool reached commercial popularity when, in 1889, J. C. Forman of Cleveland, Ohio, patented an aluminum version that was sturdy and cheap to manufacture. Today these tools, although still called bone folders, are made of a variety of plastics, woods, and metals (and there are still some made of genuine bone). To achieve a precise line and a knife-sharp crease, peruse our roundup below to find the best product for your needs.

The Best Bookbinding and Bookmaking Kits for Creating Your Own Bound Volumes

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 02:57:50 +0200

The art of bookbinding is a slow and meditative process. It’s a wonderful skill to learn, giving you total control over the physical aspects of your books from covers to spines. And if you’re a sentimental person who likes to save paper ephemera, bookbinding is a great way to stitch together beautiful journals of all your treasures. The process requires several specialized tools that you can buy individually—like a bone folder for creasing papers—but it’s easier and more cost effective to buy them in a set. Our picks will help you decide on the best kit for your needs and budget.

ICE Announced International Students Must Leave the US if Their School Is Exclusively Online

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 00:30:21 +0200

Students on the Harvard University campus (photo by Stijn Debrouwere via Flickr)

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today new guidance that will have a devastating impact on international students across the country. A series of modifications to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students forbid anyone with an F-1 or M-1 visa who is enrolled in a school offering only-online courses to remain in the US through the fall semester.

Those students will be forced to depart the country or “take other measures,” according to ICE’s website, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction in order to retain their lawful status. Alternatively, they could continue take their full course load online from their home countries. But for many students, returning home may be physically impossible due to travel restrictions, safety risks, financial barriers, and other obstacles; enrolling in classes in a different time zone may also mean sacrificing performance, emotional health, and engagement.

At schools that are offering a hybrid model of face-to-face and digital learning, foreign students on visas will not be allowed to take all their courses online, a potentially safer option other students can choose.

ICE’s announcement comes as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in most states, prompting schools and universities to carefully weigh the risks of offering in-person instruction this fall. At Harvard and Princeton, for instance, courses will remain strictly digital through the end of the year (with the former offering no tuition refunds and the latter refunding 10% of the cost.)

The challenges and limitations faced by international students have raised concerns since the early days of the virus outbreak in the US. Faculty and students alike lamented that their international peers, many of whom depend on work-study jobs to retain their lawful status, would be adversely affected by campus shutdowns. And as consulates around the world began to shutter, many prospective foreign students were unable to schedule required in-person interviews for visas, while current students worried about renewing them.

Art schools in particular have been known to welcome high numbers of international students to their campuses. In 2016, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) led the Midwest in its representation of international students, who made up 31% of its student body; at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), they accounted for 37% of all students.

According to a US News ranking, 31% of New School’s student population is comprised of international students. Recognizing that they may not be able to travel due to visa restrictions this year, the New School is offering a Global Offsite Semester Option for first years, allowing foreign students to access resources provided by partner institutions in their home countries.

At the outset of the pandemic, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) of the Department of Homeland Security temporarily waived restrictions on international students engaging in online coursework, allowing them to take more digital classes than are normally permitted by federal regulations. The new guidance released today effectively rolls back those early flexibility measures.

Students who do not comply “may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings,” according to ICE’s website.