Edward J. Sozanski

Edward J. Sozanski, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and Columbia University, has been an art critic for 30 years, first at the Providence Journal-Bulletin and since 1982 at the Inquirer. He has also has written on cultural topics for The Economist newspaper of London.

Besides contemporary art, his particular interests are photography, American art of the 19th Century and crafted art of all periods and cultures. Before becoming a critic, he taught college-level writing and worked as a graphic designer.

Email Edward at esozanski@phillynews.com

Lee Friedlander´s 1969 photograph, "Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota," which is part of the "Spectacle" show, focuses on the viewers, not on the monumental attraction.

Art: Photo images large, multifaceted

One exhibition at the Art Museum focuses on 'Skyscrapers,' another on 'Spectacle.'

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Posted 06/26/2009

A museum collection that contains 100,000 prints and drawings and more than 30,000 photographs offers a potential cornucopia of exhibitions for visitors who otherwise would never get to see most of this material, and who might never realize that such a massive archive even existed.

"Nancy, Danville, 1969" by Emmet Gowin. Photography has been an important collecting area for the museum.

Art: The Michener marks its two decades

It has grown impressively in attendance and size. The collection and exhibitions are attuned to its region.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Posted 06/19/2009

The slumping economy has provoked retrenchment at some American art museums, but not in Doylestown. The James A. Michener Art Museum, founded in 1988 on the site of a former prison, continues to prosper.

Art: Del. show is a didactic sampler - 06/12/2009: Small exhibition of African American art is neither cross-section nor survey of masters.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

As an exhibition of untutored African American art, "Ancestry and Innovation" suffers from following too closely on the heels of the quilts of Gee's Bend, a spectacular display of vernacular creativity that was exhibited in the fall at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Art: Special effect: The craft of movie costuming - 06/05/2009: A handsome Allentown show deemphasizes authenticity, accentuates the craftsmanship.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Authenticity is the core of any museum's mission. We take it for granted that when we stroll through any reputable art museum we're being shown real Manets and Monets, not copies or fakes.
Art: - 05/29/2009: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

"Art" by Edward J. Sozanski does not appear this week.
Art: - 05/22/2009: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

As an art student in the mid-1950s, Mel Leipzig was pushed two ways. At the Cooper Union in the early to mid-1950s, he studied with representational painters such as Neil Welliver, Will Barnet, and Morris Kantor.
Art: Fabric Workshop features Philly artist - 05/15/2009: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Ryan Trecartin has junked the traditionally gentle paradigm of passive art for something audaciously combative. His art assaults the unwary, pummels with unrelenting visual percussion and aural raucousness until one either collapses in submission or flees the premises.
Art: Lending art to Darwin's science - 05/08/2009: It adds an almost-plausible if fictional dimension to the great man's observations.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

One hundred and fifty years ago, Charles Darwin propounded one of the most momentous ideas in human history - that living species evolve over time through natural selection. Despite mountains of subsequent evidence affirming his profound insight, many people still reject what today seems self-evident to many others.
Art: Abstract, mystical surrealism - 05/01/2009: A dual-venue show explores Phila. painter Leon Kelly, stylistically tricky to classify.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Leon Kelly was a talented Philadelphia painter who might have broken into the center ring as a major surrealist if his career trajectory hadn't been blunted by a shift in public taste and events beyond his control - World War II, for example.
Art: Coatesville, evocatively viewed - 04/24/2009: John Moore's landscapes profoundly, nostalgically capture "13 Miles From Paradise."

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

A painted landscape can speak in a variety of voices, the least interesting of which is unadulterated transcription of nature.
Art: The art of paper, from sculpture to clothes - 04/17/2009: Sixty artists show what can be created with this seemingly humble raw material.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

A punning exhibition title like "Pulp Function" is either going to make you groan with annoyance or pique your curiosity.
Art: Nauman in the spotlight - 04/10/2009: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Bruce Nauman is one of the most admired and influential artists in America, so it seems slightly incongruous that for three decades he has lived on a horse ranch in the middle of New Mexico.