Stingel beckons viewers to take a closer look

By Jenny Fisher / February 2, 2007

“When you’re in this gallery, please be aware of the taped lines in front of these pieces,” says the guard as two visitors lean closer and closer to the surface of one of Rudolf Stingel’s giant oil and enamel paintings. It’s the kind of show that demands that viewers look closer. Sometimes, they’re even invited...

Concerned Photographer blurs the line between voyeurism and compassion

By Jenny Fisher / May 22, 2006

Somehow, I expected the photographs to be bigger. I imagined massive images of girls at looms, staring vacantly at the camera, alongside photographs of policemen with dogs straining against their leashes, jaws open. But although the photographs were small, they were just as powerful as I had imagined. The Concerned Photographer, an exhibit of photographs...

HPAC brings changes with neighborhood Takeover

By Jenny Fisher / May 9, 2006

Approximately 50 people were shimmying, arms outstretched, torsos shaking, as an instructor from Blue Lotus Tribe Belly Dancing called “You guys look tired!” I watched little children, young women, older women, and even some men dancing without self-consciousness as the rain poured down outside. From belly dancing to a pancake breakfast, “Creative Move,” the grand...

The real New Orleans isn’t the one on TV

By Jenny Fisher / April 11, 2006

Everyone had a story to tell. Garbage truck drivers stopped and rolled down their windows. Waiting for the bus, a woman talked about losing her job and the rising cost of living in the city. Neighbors driving by would stop and ask whom we were working for, then tell us how their houses had been...

Art and administration mix in final Hyde Park Art Society exhibit at del Prado

By Jenny Fisher / February 14, 2006

On opening day of the exhibit For Real, held by the Hyde Park Art Center, a leak sprung from the ceiling, gushing water onto an administrator’s desk and computer. Needless to say, the administrator wasn’t pleased. Yet one of the artists, Marie Krane Bergman, described it as “a beautiful moment.” Bergman is a member of...

Davidson’s stark photography challenges viewers to look at a nation divided

By Jenny Fisher / January 24, 2006

While documenting housing discrimination in East Harlem, photographer Bruce Davidson was struck by one man’s statement that, “what you call a ghetto, I call my home.” In the photographs on view at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, Davidson catalogs the unsettling dynamics of American society, from Freedom Riders and lunch counters during the civil rights movement,...

Innovators of advertising come out for 84th Annual Art Directors Awards

By Jenny Fisher / November 29, 2005

I hope I’m not the only one who falls for the public service announcement at the movie theater every time. I’ll be watching the previews, and think, “Oh wow! I really want to see that movie about Japanese warriors fighting over a beautiful pond.” In my defense, it is a gorgeous scene. Then I hear...

MCA’s Tropicália exhibit shows that the revolution will be installed

By Jenny Fisher / November 11, 2005

It gets dark before five. If you haven’t already broken out your winter coat, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that you’re going to have to give in soon. Worst of all, midterms are upon us. Wouldn’t it be nice to take off your shoes and go for a walk on warm sand? Look no further than...