Their Time to Shine

by Michael J. Krainak

When the 7^th annual OEAA showcase convenes Feb. 17 at the Hilton Omaha, winners in two categories will not only accept their awards, they will once again strut their stuff upon the stage.

It’s an advantage that theater and music nominees of an Omaha Entertainment and Arts award have always had. Performing before a live audience of family, fans and friends is what they do. They do it well enough to convince even...

Fall from Grace

by Mary Day

“Beauty is as Beauty Does”, and if the doing is using language as the basis from which to explore states of being, no one does it better than Nebraska-based, Chinese artist Ying Zhu. No Strings Attached, on view at the RNG Gallery in Council Bluffs has already started to come down. The threads attached to the pine needles, in Zhu’s current installation, suspended the branch in the center of the gallery space,...

Odds-on Favorites

by Michael J. Krainak

Well, the world didn’t end in 2012 despite such predictions by those who misinterpreted the Maya calendar. Fittingly, while many were preparing for doomsday or using it as an excuse to party and dance like a Mayan, it appears those of that descent simply celebrated Dec. 20^th as an end of a 5,125-year cycle and the beginning of a new one.

Meanwhile, those disappointed with the 2012 presidential election licked...

A-List Flirts with Absurd

by Michael J. Krainak

A year ago this reviewer prefaced the 2011 A-List: the most significant visual art events and exhibits in the Metro with “one thing can be certain, very little of it (art) was political or controversial…where were the arts events and exhibits that celebrated, satirized or expressed our national, regional or local concerns and conscience? Or are artists just saving it up for 2012 election year rise and fallout?”

‘Hugs & Kisses’

by Laura Vranes

Artists Jeff King and Anthony Brown’s group show XO at New BLK Gallery can be described as a titillating stimulation of your eyes and sensibilities.  King’s stark urban influences create an interesting juxtaposition to Brown’s more voluptuous female forms. 

This show is unique as it features both individual and collaborative paintings from both King and Brown.  Their styles may be different, but the...

‘Prime’ Time

by Mary Day

Go to New York City and wonder at the sight of the Statue of Liberty rising out of New York Harbor. On a tablet within the pedestal on which the statue stands is an engraved poem by Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”, containing the often quoted lines "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” The poem was written to commemorate the installation of Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi’s...