http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski RSS Feed for Inq Col Edward J. Sozanski en-us Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20091108_Art__Cool__indeed__and_in_tune_with_his_times.html Barkley L. Hendricks has achieved something relatively rare among artists: He has created paintings that capture the essence of an American cultural transformation. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20091101_Art__An_elegant_little_show.html Among the various photography exhibitions in town, the show for Frederick Sommer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art may be the most elegant, the most concise in terms of defining a career, and the most memorable in terms of its creative invention. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20091025_Art__Arshile_Gorky_.html Make the strongest effort to see the spectacular Arshile Gorky exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Not only does it contain an abundance of powerful, lyrical abstract painting, it tells a poignant and ultimately tragic story of how a poor, proud immigrant methodically and diligently transformed himself into one of the most influential artists of the last century. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20091018_Art__Five__voices__in_a_song_of_diversity.html 'New American Voices" is the kind of exhibition we have come to expect from the Fabric Workshop and Museum, in that it features a relatively few large, sometimes complex, works. Three of the five featured artists represent minorities - two are American Indian and one is Latino - and consequently offer a less-familiar cultural bias. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20091011_Art__The_satisfactions_of__slow__material_art.html It's curious that none of the three finalists for the first Jack Wolgin international fine arts prize of $150,000, to be awarded Oct. 22, works in traditional art media. The prize was announced last year as intending to reward "new ways of working within the mediums of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, photography, ceramics, metals, glass and/or fibers." http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20091004_Art__Two_toasts_to_Phila__photography.html Photography is making waves in Philadelphia this fall, which is as it should be, given the city's contributions to the medium over the decades. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20090927_Art__Celebrating_art_made_possible_by_grants.html Grants and fellowships for artists have become so ubiquitous that for the younger generation, at least, it must seem as if they have always existed. But of course they haven't - otherwise, Picasso and his ilk wouldn't have had to scuffle to survive until they became commercially viable. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20090920_Art__Camera_alters__enhances_dance.html Dancing usually presumes an audience capable of responding to a performance in real time, perhaps even energizing the dancers with their enthusiasm. But what happens when the "audience" is a machine - specifically a still, film, or video camera? What kind of result does that circumstance produce? http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20090906_Art__Copycats_and_creative_borrowers.html Among writers, copying someone else's work is called plagiarism, and is considered dishonorable. In art, however, stealing ideas is called "appropriation," and is considered legitimate, even clever. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/edward_j_sozanski/20090823_Art__A_darker_shade_of_New_Hope.html Robert Alexander Darrah Miller, known as R.A.D., died a tragic figure. Three days before Christmas 1966, he stood on his wife's grave in Solebury Friends Burial Grounds near New Hope and shot himself in the heart. Apparently his life had spiraled into despondency after his beloved Celia died in 1953.