Nikhil Anand is a Graduate Student in NYC 🗽
Saw with wife. “Southern Noir”, a “ Totally Twisted Deep-Fried Texas Redneck Trailer Park Murder Story ” according to its poster. It was as advertized. Sad, unsettling, disturbing, funny, in that order. We griamced a lot but could not look away. Based on a 1993 play which I would now love to see. Had a scene that was so over the top and contrived, I could see nothing but a desperation to register…
Picked this up randomly at Barnes and Noble at the Jordan Creek Mall in Des Moines. The cover looked intriguing. Hadn’t read anything by the author . It’s engagingly and beautifully creepy. Would make for a great movie in the hands of an adept director. Or maybe we should all leave this beautiful work alone. Spoilers! Repressed homosexuality, possible asexuality, untreated mental issues,…
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This is the “ The Head of the Fasting Buddha ”, an absolutely spellbinding piece discovered in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from 2-3 CE. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. Here’s its entry . Since I cannot be arsed to seek Enlightenment (it sounds like too much work), I will have attended…
Boring, infuriating, awkward adaptation and a complete waste of talent. And setting: the story is set in Virginia but shooting took place in Louisiana. The shots of the large trees and sunlight streaming through them were just glorious . Colin Farrell’s brilliant as usual. Wife said that she saw the 1971 version which scarred her as a 5-year old. I won’t watch it any time soon but even a reading…
Des Moines Art Center Jeffrey Gibson, an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and convener celebrated for his work in painting, installation, video, and performance, drew upon Indigenous kinship philosophies to create nashoba holba / wayaha / coyote . A testament to the importance and intelligence of the animal kingdom, the sculpture invites viewers to consider what animals have endured, and the…
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Des Moines Art Center Permalink . Tagged art , des moines , des moines art center , iowa , sculpture and wangechi mutu . Reply by email .
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Charles Simonds American, born 1945 BRICK BLOSSOM (1981) Clay, sand, and sticks Des Moines Art Center Brick Blossom looks at first like an archeological or anthropological illustration. Although no humans are visible, the central structure looks abandoned during construction, or as if it has been rediscovered and excavated. Simonds has made many structures like this, imagining tiny, fictional…
Elias Sime Ethiopian, born 1968 TIGHTROPE: NOISELESS 12 (2019) Reclaimed electrical wires and components on panel Elias Sime Permalink . Tagged des moines art center , electronics , elias sime and sculpture . Reply by email .
Romuald Hazoumè Beninese, b.1962 TON PIED MON PIED (YOUR FOOT, MY FOOT) (2011) Mixed media Des Moines Art Center Ton pied mon pied is an example of what Hazoumè refers to as his bidons or "jerrican masks." Reminiscent of sculptures that follow in Yoruba and other West African mask traditions, these pieces are constructed from discarded plastic canisters like those used to smuggle gasoline from…
Helen Frankenthaler American, 1928-2011 SKY FARM (1972) Acrylic on canvas Des Moines Art Center Sky Farm emphasizes color relationships and the edges created where shapes meet. The forms and subtle color gradations of the work seem immense, as if the frame is allowing the viewer to see just a small section of the wave and cloud-like forms coming together. The title suggests that the painting is a…
John Currin American, born 1962 THREE FRIENDS (1998) Oil on linen Des Moines Art Center This style of this painting recreates European Mannerism of the 16th century, characterized by figures with elongated limbs and complex, even unnatural postures. It is also inspired by the voluptuous pinups of the 1940s-50s, most famously illustrated by Alberto Vargas. The women depict the three Graces of Greek…
Charles Joseph Biederman American, 1906 - 2004 STRUCTURIST RELIEF, RED WING #50 (1960-1966) Painted aluminum Des Moines Art Center Permalink . Tagged charles joseph biederman , des moines art center , favorite things and sculpture . Reply by email .
Alexei Jawlensky Russian, active Germany, 1864 - 1941 ABSTRAKTER KOPF: INNERES SCHAUEN-GRAU-BLAU-ROSA (ABSTRACT HEAD: INNER VISION-GREY-BLUE-PINK) (1927) Oil on board Des Moines Art Center Many artists of the early 20th-century experimented with abstracting the human face, using only basic lines and shapes. Jawlensky dedicated a large series to this, which would become his best-known style of…
Edward Weston American, 1886 - 1958 PEPPER NO. 30 (1930) Gelatin silver print Edward Weston Edward Weston was a major figure in American Modernism and photography, creating landscapes, still lifes, and figurative images that display technical mastery of the photographic medium while pushing simple compositions towards abstraction. Over four days in August of 1930, Weston photographed several green…
Julie Mehretu American, born Ethiopia, born 1970 UNCLOSED (2007) Color hard-ground etching with spit bite aquatint and drypoint on paper Des Moines Art Center Julie Mehretu's work is rooted in a process of mark making through which she both builds up and obscures meaning. In her etchings, Mehretu prints multiple plates onto a single page. "A mark could be a marker of some kind of behavior, a…
Bernd Becher, Hilla Becher German, 1931 - 2007, German, 1934-2015 HOCHOFEN (BLAST FURNACES) IMAGE V, FROM THE SERIES "TYPOLOGIES" (2007) Digital pigment print on photo paper Des Moines Art Center The Bechers are known for their "Typologies" —grids of black-and-white photographs showing varying examples of a single type of structure. The couple traveled to mines and steel mills across the United…
Mary Mattingly American, b.1978 BETWEEN BEARS EARS AND DANEROS MINE, FROM THE SERIES"...THERE IS STILL POETRY" (2018) Chromogenic dye coupler print Des Moines Art Center The background image of this scene, made in the artist's studio, is a panoramic view depicting Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, adjacent to the controversial Daneros Uranium Mine, which sits on public land. A plan that calls…
Andy Goldsworthy British, born 1956 PRAIRIE CAIRN/ FOR MY FATHER/ GRINNELL, IOWA (2001-2002) Suite of fifteen Cibachrome prints and one smaller framed title panel Des Moines Art Center A cairn is a mound of rough stone that serves as a landmark or memorial, a practice that can be traced to prehistoric times. Andy Goldsworthy has frequently used this form in his sculpture. The photographs seen here…
Sky Hopinka American, b.1984 Mnemonics of Shape and Reason (2021) HD video, stereo, color Des Moines Art Center Sky Hopinka interweaves landscapes filmed during his travels with layers of audio, poetry, and music. In this enigmatic piece, the artist refuses the ordering structure of a linear narrative, instead structuring the work around the idea of a mnemonic, a device meant to trigger memory. He…
Amy Putney Koenig American, b.1970 SPIRIT AT DEATH, BEFORE DEPARTURE (2026) null Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, Iowa Permalink . Tagged amy putney koenig , des moines , iowa and sculpture . Reply by email .
Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, Iowa Permalink . Tagged des moines , graphics design and iowa . Reply by email .
Lydia Nong American, b.2001 Oranges Smell Good (2025) Oil on linen Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, Iowa Lydia Nong received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio arts from Iowa State University in 2023. The following year, Iowa State University sponsored her artist residency at Mainframe Studios where she now has a permanent studio in room 244. Her work has been exhibited in multiple cities including…
Saw this at The Whitney and was transfixed and love it beyond words. Only 6 minutes long and perfect for a quick meditation 🧘 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx6ag2n5sjc In Samadhi Jordan Belson attempts to portray a visual phenomenon he perceived while in a meditative state. A follower of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Belson maintained a strict Yogic practice and lived a largely ascetic and…
Des Moines, Iowa If you ever find yourself in Des Moines, you owe it to yourself to enjoy a burrito at El Rey . The best in town and this is not a controversial claim. Permalink . Tagged burritos , des moines , iowa , mexican food and restaurants . Reply by email .
Rambling notes. Spoilers, maybe. See my friend GT’s frustrations with Odysseus’ crew . Absolutely commanding piece of filmmaking by Nolan et al. I wonder how many other directors can attempt things at this grand a scale (Villeneuve and Ridley Scott come to mind.) Was surprised to hear “Mom” and “Dad”. Considered the film by itself and didn’t care whether it was aligned with Homer’s vision and…
Suggested by wife’s client. Delightful little book by the creator of these comics (and the “Like” button on Facebook) that went viral many years ago. Sister was a fan and I remember her sending me a few. I was very surprised to see my main man Jack Kornfield’s blurb! A lot of lovely reminders to be kind to onerself and remember that one is not one’s thoughts 🧘♂️ 📿 Permalink . Tagged comics ,…
Got excited after I was told it was an alien movie. Great performances by Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Eve Hewson (Colin Firth is extra Firthy) and fantastic cinematography but absolute drivel. Fell asleep watching it. Classic John Williams score tho 🥰 Permalink . Tagged aliens , emily blunt , mystery , sci-fi and steven spielberg . Reply by email .
I felt nothing but a small sadness watching that insipid and unnecessary halftime show. Kind you feel when you see people embarrass themselves for completely avoidable reasons. I like to think they consulted an AI model to plan it all out, for I do not want to believe that a bunch of flesh and blood human creatives sat in a meeting room and went “Yes, this is it ” and high-fived each other over…
Her agent brought his granddaughter up to her NYC place one day, the girl was like 8 or 9. She asked her what she painted. Agnes had a rose in a small vase on her kitchen table & asked the girl “do you think this rose is beautiful?” & the girl said yes. Then Agnes put the rose in a cupboard & asked the girl “is the rose still beautiful?” & the girl said yes, & Agnes said “that’s what I paint”.…
Saw that it was revenge-themed and had to watch it. Now assume that all the fears about immigrants and their seemingly concerted project to pollute and raze Western Civilization are true. Assume that a small, imported minority are indeed responsible for over half of unspeakable crimes. Assume that Europe does need a long and hard look at the quality and quantity of the people it permits across its…
‘- you know, I’ve either had a family, a job, something has always been in the way but now I’ve sold my house, I’ve found this place, a large studio, you should see the space and the light. for the first time in my life I’m going to have a place and the time to create.’ no baby, if you’re going to create you’re going to create whether you work 16 hours a day in a coal mine or you’re going to…
Link: https://bambamramfan.github.io/ai-compass/ The answer choices gave me quite a lot to think about regarding this whole business and where it’s going. I’m somewhere between: The Worrier : It’s real, it’s powerful, and that’s exactly why it worries you — not in a doom way, in a ‘we should really be more careful than we’re being’ way. You take the capabilities seriously and the risks seriously,…
Thota Vaikuntam Indian, b. 1942 Assorted Paintings (1942 - 2020s) Pencil, oil on canvas Online Vaikuntam paints village scenes from the state of Telengana, India (I was born in its capital city.) This reminds me a lot of my mother’s art. I love these so much and hope to see his work in person soon. Permalink . Tagged favorite things , indian artists and thota vaikuntam . Reply by email .
Back in 2019 or so, my friend Mark asked me what I thought this image depicted. I was totally stumped and guessed fungal mycelia or birds. Drones? Terrible. Nope, they’re wolf packs ! 🐺 And the map shows how territorial wolves are. They created it “from 68,000+ GPS locations from 7 wolves in different packs during summer 2018.” The area here is the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem which is a giant…
Link: https://tomassettiart.it/indo-vedic-production/ A wonderfully fresh take. I especially love this one . Permalink . Tagged art , giampaolo tomassetti , hinduism , mahabharata and mythology . Reply by email .
Carol Bove b. 1971, New York City Various Sculptures (2018-2025) Stainless steel and urethane paint The Guggenheim, NYC These are just so lovely to look at in person. ‘Fuzzy metal.’ I resisted all attempts to touch one. Permalink . Tagged carol bove and guggenheim . Reply by email .
Arnaldo Pomodoro b. 1926, Morciano di Romagna, Italy d. 2025, Milan Sphere (Sfera) (1996) Bronze with gold patina The Guggenheim, NYC Thought I’d seen this before and remembered that there’s basically a giant-ass variant of this outside the UN Headquarters ! Permalink . Tagged arnaldo pomodoro and guggenheim . Reply by email .
Vasily Kandinsky b. 1866, Moscow; d. 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Study for “Landscape with Tower” (1908) Oil on board The Guggenheim, NYC In 1908 Vasily Kandinsky began visiting the market village of Murnau am Staffelsee, outside Munich, along with artists in his circle, including Alexei Jawlensky, Gabriele Münter, and Marianne Werefkin. Múnter soon purchased a house there, where she and…
Vasily Kandinsky b. 1866, Moscow; d. 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Landscape near Murnau with Locomotive (1909) Oil on board The Guggenheim, NYC In 1908 Vasily Kandinsky began visiting the market village of Murnau am Staffelsee, outside Munich, along with artists in his circle, including Alexei Jawlensky, Gabriele Münter, and Marianne Werefkin. Múnter soon purchased a house there, where she and…
Carol Bove b. 1971, New York City Untitled (The Middle Pillar) (2007) Peacock feathers The Guggenheim, NYC Here, thousands of peacock feathers are layered into a dazzling, floor-bound field of color and repeated form. Long associated with the act of display, the peacock feather has appeared across many artistic traditions that shape Bove's thinking-from late nineteenth-century Symbolism to 1920s…
Carol Bove b. 1971, New York City Second Cartesian Sculpture (2014) Steel and zinc-plated steel The Guggenheim, NYC For the 2012 Documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany, Bove installed a group of sculptures around a marble statue of the goddess Flora that presides over the city's Orangerie gardens. During the run of the project, the brass elements of several works were bent and broken by vandals.…
Carol Bove b. 1971, New York City Flora's Garden II (2012) Brass, concrete, steel, aluminum, and painted medium-density fiberboard The Guggenheim, NYC In Second Cartesian Sculpture , a suspended metal grid interrupts the architectural space, dividing it into two fields that the viewer must navigate. At the same time it acts as a "viewfinder" of sorts that frames the surroundings. An abstract…
Pablo Picasso b. 1881, Málaga, Spain; d. 1973, Mougins, France Fernande with a Black Mantilla (Paris, ca. 1905) Oil on canvas The Guggenheim, NYC Permalink . Tagged guggenheim and picasso . Reply by email .
Pablo Picasso b. 1881, Málaga, Spain; d. 1973, Mougins, France Le Moulin de la Galette (Paris, ca. November 1900) Oil on canvas The Guggenheim, NYC On the eve of his nineteenth birthday, Picasso arrived in Paris at the time of the Exposition Universelle in October 1900. The spectacles of the modern city captivated him, but it was the celebrated Montmartre dance hall that inspired Le Moulin de la…
Édouard Manet b. 1832, Paris; d. 1883, Paris Woman in Striped Dress (ca. 1877–80) Oil on canvas The Guggenheim, NYC This work, which was discovered in what was likely an unfinished state in the artist's studio upon his death, is in the grand tradition of portraits painted by Van Dyck and Velázquez. Though the sitter's identity is unknowable-as is the setting due to the blurring of boundaries…
Vincent van Gogh b. 1853, Zundert, Netherlands; d. 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France Mountains at Saint-Rémy (Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, July 1889) Oil on canvas The Guggenheim, NYC Permalink . Tagged guggenheim and vincent van gogh . Reply by email .
Henri Rousseau b. 1844, Laval, France; d. 1910, Paris The Football Players (1908) Oil on canvas The Guggenheim, NYC A toll clerk by profession, Rousseau only began to paint seriously in his forties. Critics lambasted the untrained artist's stylized images of faraway places (he had never traveled outside France), yet the Parisian avant-garde celebrated his innovative technique. In The Football…