When it comes to contemporary painting, abstraction and the human body may come across as polar opposites. Conceived of as a radical departure from both Western tradition and quotidian reality alike, abstract painting may be seen to aim for raw subjectivity absent of ordinary human subjects.…
Existing somewhere between the bespoke, one-of-a-kind objects of painting and other traditional artforms and the disembodied nowhere lands of contemporary mass media, printmaking as a fine art offers an affordable, unpretentious — and yet distinctly tactile and present — form of artmaking. L…
Comics are a deep love of mine. So much so that I became a professional cartoonist – working in both comics and animation. Thus, I’ve always loved comic book conventions. And, astonishingly, Ithaca, N.Y. (a small city of 30,00 souls) hosts an annual comic book convention – the Ithacon. And I…
“Behind the Wall”, a traveling art exhibition that is made up of creative works by incarcerated people, will be showcased at the Tompkins County Public Library for the entire month of February.
For many years, Handwork has offered window displays to help promote community events, fundraisers, and visiting artists. Within the past two years, the co-op has designated a window specifically for artists that are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). The shop has featured the w…
Much of the best contemporary figurative painting strikes a balance—often precarious, filled with ambiguities—between a narrative, storytelling impulse and the physicality of paint and color arranged on canvas or other support. Painting and drawing may seem archaic in a visual culture domina…
The latest, characteristically ambitious group exhibition at Corners Gallery takes inspiration from Katharine Harmon’s 2009 book “The Map As Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography.” Out-of-print but well worth finding, the anthology presents work by a wide range of painters, sculptors…
A dynamic new installation will open in the Community Arts Partnership’s ArtSpace in January featuring the mental health stories of ten local youth.
The owners of 15 Steps craft and jewelry store on the Commons honored New Roots Charter School freshman Ayden Githinji by inviting her to be a featured artist in their store after seeing her jewelry on display at the Youth Entrepreneurship Market (YEM) during the recent Downtown Ithaca Allia…
Work in the so-called crafts media animates some of today’s most ambitious gallery art. Contemporary artists working in textiles, ceramics, glass—and beyond—navigate the tricky terrain between traditional decorative and functional forms and the more individualistic demands of today. Not ever…
The artistic work of Ithaca resident Brian Keeler spans over four decades and in his recent book titled Light on the Figure: Aspects of Painting People, it includes many oil paintings, as well as pastels, watercolors, drawings and etching. The book was released in late spring and features li…
Like the Community School of Music and Arts in Ithaca, the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts (TCFA) is a somewhat unusual venue for visual arts exhibitions. As a home for the various arts, gallery shows have to jostle for time and space with music and dance performances, as well as vario…
25 years after Jacob Hascup painted the “Where the Wild Things Are” mural on the side of 301 Taughannock Blvd, Cornell University student of Fine Arts Chloe Mako has given it new life.
The sad truth about art in Ithaca is that the most vital work often goes unseen by the broader gallery-going audience and, when it is seen, it goes unrecognized for what it is. Too many, working artists most egregiously, lack the imagination or the context or the patience to grasp something …
This fall, the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell is exhibiting a print portfolio entitled “Line of Ascent” in an exhibition of the same name. Featuring etchings—one each—by twenty veteran Bangladeshi artists, the set dates to 2011, when Studio Shunno, in the capital Dhaka, extended its invitation.
Anybody wishing to familiarize themselves with the local exhibitions scene would do well to attend downtown Ithaca’s monthly Gallery Night, held on the first Friday of every month (from 5 to 8 p.m.). For anybody with a different schedule or anybody looking for a less social setting, a self-g…
Featuring five teaching artists, the Community School of Music and Arts’ (CSMA) “Faculty Show 2022” presents estimable work in painting, drawing, cartooning, and textiles. Curated by painting and drawing instructor Jessica Warner, the art on view is intended to represent the range of visual …
As a contemporary artisanry goes, printmaking finds a natural kinship in the arts of bookmaking and papermaking. Although many fine art printmakers use commercial papers and create frameable pieces for the wall, others explore the physicality of the formed sheet or the possibilities of image…
As a contemporary artisanry goes, printmaking finds a natural kinship in the arts of bookmaking and papermaking. Although many fine art printmakers use commercial papers and create frameable pieces for the wall, others explore the physicality of the formed sheet or the possibilities of image…
Having grown up, gone to school, and worked in several countries, Monica Franciscus was exposed to various cultures, and art, architecture, and design were always pointed out. In anticipation of an exhibit of her work at The Cherry Gallery, opening September 9, she sat down with me to discus…
Opened last year along the culturally vibrant stretch of West State Street adjacent the Commons, The Rest has emerged as Ithaca’s most exciting new gallery. The brainchild of talented photographer Ben Bookout, the modest but nicely apportioned and thoughtfully furnished space hosts classes a…
Intimate, idiosyncratic approaches characterize a great deal of contemporary abstract painting and drawing. Freed from the heroic imperatives of historical abstraction, recent artists have felt free to cultivate aesthetic gardens on their own terms. Neither revolutionaries nor populists, the…
A kind of intelligent crudeness characterizes much of the best modern painting. This can lead to a point of confusion—especially in a culturally striving but sometimes naive arts community like Ithaca’s. To throw out traditional notions of polish and completion and still come up with somethi…
The ordinary can spur wonder. In her book The Ecstatic Quotidian: Phenomenological Sightings in Modern Art and Literature, critic Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei writes that much modern art and literature help us step outside the everyday and experience ecstasy. She writes that, “Unfamiliarit…
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