Hide and Seek

by Michael J. Krainak

In 2007 mixed media artist Nolan Tredway had an anti-Cartesian moment in the Bemis Underground that resulted in a terrific collaborative exhibit featuring many current and former Lincolnites.

“Anti” because in response to Descartes’ familiar “cogito ergo sum” ("I think, therefore I am") Tredway countered with “I live, therefore I think,” as espoused by Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset, an admitted influence...

(Re) Vision Quest

by Michael J. Krainak

What does it say about a young college graduate who, rather than attemping to enter the corporate or professional world, pursues a career in the rather esoteric medium of ceramic art?

It must say that money, security and “settling down” hold little interest to said artist. What does it then say about this person who interrupts his study with an internationally known ceramicist for the sake of a float trip down...

From Vuillard to Vogel

by Sally Deskins

From classical busts of emperors and Renaissance paintings by van Eyck, Holbein and da Vinci, to Rembrandt’s Baroque portraiture, portraits were a significant element of art’s earliest history.

 Yet, thanks to modernists like van Gogh, Cezanne and Whistler,  painting one’s likeness continued to be a telling picture of not only individual personalities, but of art and the times.

 The history of portraiture...

Wheel of Fortune

by Sally Deskins

“I like the spectacle of it,” said artist Tim Jag, “I love how the circus comes into your town and does this big weekend, and then they pack up and they’re gone…quite the freedom.”

And that is what internationally recognized showmen Tim Jag and Gary Parkins have done for a week living in The New BLK Gallery, mattresses on the floor, bags unpacked, art supplies a sprawl, to create the site-specific installation...

Black and white…and read all over

by Sally Deskins

If it’s true that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” often attributed to such historical figures as Confucius, author Turgenev and even Napoleon, then it must also be so that a well-chosen phrase or two can inspire the imagination.

Such is the goal of Black and White and Read All Over, a new exhibit at Hot Shops Art Center with featured artists Nancy Lepo, Dorothy Tuma, Ron Manabat and John Prouty, which...

Wheel of Fortune

by Sally Deskins

“I like the spectacle of it,” said artist Tim Jag, “I love how the circus comes into your town and does this big weekend, and then they pack up and they’re gone…quite the freedom.”

And that is what internationally recognized showmen Tim Jag and Gary Parkins have done for a week living in The New BLK Gallery, mattresses on the floor, bags unpacked, art supplies a sprawl, to create the site-specific installation...