Dorothea Rockburne, Scalar. 72-7/8 x 114-1/2 in. © 2016 Dorothea Rockburne / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
If a work of art makes an idea incarnate, what is the nature of the idea and what is the form of the manifestation? One approach to an answer begins with a ... Read More »
Neil Jenney, Ozarkia, 2014. 27.875 x 61 x 3.25 in.
Viewed from a distance, a painting with representational components seems to possess the clarity of a photograph. As a viewer walks closer, however, manifestations of the human hand begin to appear: A rough stone. A truncated branch. An unnatural hue. An ... Read More »
John Duff, Timeline. 95 x 53 x 33 in. Photo by Sally Ross.
What does a work of art mean? The question seems particularly challenging for a painting or sculpture lacking a suggestive representational anchor. It is one thing to posit, correctly or not, that “the Mona Lisa’s meaning is ... Read More »
Frank Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall. Downtown Los Angeles.
Civilization judges a work of art not by the quantity of its transportable propositions but by the glow of its ineffable illuminations. The skilled audience, for its part, champions an artifact less for what it signifies than for what it suggests. ... Read More »