Arts
Chocolate: The Exhibit @ The Natural History Museum of Utah
Chocolate: The Exhibit seizes you the moment you enter. The heady scent of chocolate leads you through incarnations of the cacao bean in this exhibit developed by the Field Museum in Chicago. … read more
Killing the Grade: Reviving Art Education in Utah
“If you don’t understand the art, it’s because there is nothing to understand. If it’s illegible, it’s illegible; it’s unsuccessful as a story, as a narrative.” An artist’s inability to communicate through their work can be largely attributed to the conventional four-year programs. The curriculum at CAS stems from traditional curriculum, found in 19th Century Paris, when art education was at its prime. … read more
Clay Cavender: In A Room With Everywhere To Go
When I meet with Cavender, he talks about finishing college this semester from Utah State University with his BFA, how he hopes to take his art to Europe, possibly be the creative designer over a fashion label, conceivably dabble in producing music and eventually make a living out of creating, it’s obvious he has a plan. … read more
Two Arrows Through My Heart: Coleman Barks and David Darling
The pairing of the two friends was really interesting to watch again, as it seems they balance each other in their friendship much like Shams did with his student Rumi. Throughout the night, Barks kept emphasizing that the beloved is in everything. He talked about watching Allen Ginsberg read “Howl” in 1955 and that he’s “Seen the greatest minds prowling the street for a fix, and that’s the beloved, too.” On the plane over to Utah he watched Louis CK for the first time, and Louis CK is the beloved, too. … read more
Kingsbury Hall Presents Gallim’s BLUSH and a New Model for...
Whatever judgement one makes of Gallim’s 2009 work “BLUSH,” this is clearly an historic moment in the development of new models for presenting live performance in the state of Utah–– if Kingsbury keeps partnering with the College of Fine Arts departments in this way, their offerings might get a whole lot more interesting. … read more
SUITE: Women Defining Space 02.13
Four years in, SUITE continues to be one of a handful of places where emerging dance artists can get a foothold and start work in our city. … read more
Gallery Stroll: The Great, Great Salt Lake
For February’s Gallery Stroll, I recommend rekindling the romance with our own backyard by visiting three profound exhibits that act as love notes to the Great Salt Lake, all at the Utah Museum of Fine Art on the University of Utah campus. … read more
BADKIDS @ the UMFA
Look who is at the museum—The Bad Kids! As multi-media selfie-installations and gender integrated performance art, I think they’ll feel at home here. … read more
The Night Contains the Day: An Evening of Rumi’s Poetry...
For those who attended last year, don’t expect a rerun of the same pieces. According to Klerk, “They never do the same performance twice.” Barks chooses the poems spontaneously the day of, and Darling improvises in response. This reflects the essence of Rumi’s philosophy, which revels in the impulses that happen on the spur of the moment. By playing on their personal friendship, the duo makes manifest the love shared in every relationship, whether it be personal, professional, romantic, friendly or spiritual. … read more
Two to Watch: Gretchen and Paul Reynolds
They’re committed artists. Every room is clothed in images—landscapes of northern Utah, paintings for painting’s sake, personal photographs and points between. A leaved dining room table has been converted into a table tennis court, and that’s how our interview begins. Gretchen makes coffee for us and opens a beer for herself, while Paul beats me several times at ping-pong. Then we sit down to talk. … read more