Geometry as Image opened in January at Russell Bowman Art Advisory in Chicago and runs through the end of March (March 21st).  If you love modern geometric abstraction, and want to see 20+ world class artists work, Geometry as Image is for you.  These works on paper by such known artists have an intimacy that allows a wonderful insight into the artists known larger works.  These are incredible works and wonderful lineup of artitsts.

JANUARY 16 – MARCH 21, 2009 (more…)

Jay Ryan is a friend of Culture Clod just for the sake of disclosure, however, if we’d never met him, he’d still be gracing our pages.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jay, you can find out the usual basic info on his website, The Bird Machine.   Jay has been a staple in the independent music scene for years making posters for such seminal bands as Hum, Wilco, Andrew Bird, supersuckers, sebadoh, low, sterolab, jon spencer, seam, shellac, fugazi, the jesus lizard, neko case, sonic youth, interpol, queens of the stoneage and many many more.  If you’ve played in a band in the mid-west and haven’t seen one of Jay’s posters, then you haven’t been looking.  His client list of bands is impressive, as is the unique art work he produces for each of them. (more…)

Barbara Kendrick and Sam Ainsley: Atlas of Encounters

This exhibition features works on paper by Barbara Kendrick, paintings Sam Ainsley and a collaborative installation by both artists. The exhibition catalogue contains essays by John Calcutt and Lisa Wainwright

Barbara Kendrick is Professor Emeritus in the School of Art and Design, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Barbara Kendrick, Nursery, watercolor, gouache, pencil, pastel, 2008

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Well, its no lie that we’re suckers for a good modern art and design auction, and one of the best here in the Midwest, and for that matter in the country, is hosted by Chicago’s very own Treadway-Toomey Gallery. You can see a nice preview of the auction lots here.  We see several pieces we’d like to take home, but given our paycheck-away-from-poverty status, we’ll just admire from afar. (more…)

New works by Eric Fischl  always get my attention. He’s  an amazing artist, and it’s been fun to watch his  style develop over the years. He’s a painters’ painter, and these new works are no exception.  His oil paintings are wonderful constructions that use a painterly method to deliver a sense of psychological realism that pervades his work.  He is at once painterly and  precise – a hard combination to master, yet one with which Fischl seems completely at home. (more…)

smARThistory.org is a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker began smARThistory in 2005 by creating a blog featuring free audio guides in the form of podcasts for use in the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Soon after, we embedded the audio files in our online survey courses. The response from our students was so positive that we decided to create a multi-media survey of art history web-book. We created audios and videos about works of art found in standard art history survey texts, organized the files stylistically and chronologically, and added text and still images.”

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We’re just getting up and running here at Culture Clod, and so we thought it would be nice to profile some great artists and share some of our personal favorites.

Gladstone Gallery March 2007 Exhibition (more…)

An eco-friendly alternative to disposable cups, this double-walled porcelain version with a pliable silicone lid keeps beverages hot and doesn’t burn your hand. Dishwasher-safe. Cup is microwave-safe. (James Burgess, 2007 )

We recently purchased two of these for the offices of Culture Clod and I have to say, they are as advertised.  They are not paper cups.  We especially like that they are dishwasher and microwave safe.

You can find these everywhere these days; the word is out.

Amazon ($16.49)

MoMa Store ($18.00 members)

Hello,

If you’re reading this, you are probably lost.  You’re probably wondering, why am I here?  What is this site all about?  Well, those are good questions.  We are hard at work developing new content and posts every day, so check back frequently and let us know how you think progress is coming along.

Culture Clod is a blog that aims to bring the art world and the regular world a little closer together.  We hope to illuminate why some things are art and others are not.  We hope to add a little levity to the conversation, and along the way, maybe some greater understanding of and appreciation for art.  And sometimes, we’ll just want to ridicule those we feel are deserving.  None of us here at Culture Clod were raised with silver spoons or the accoutrements of finer living.  We are the products of public schools in small towns throughout the Midwest – with humble beginings and a desire to learn more about our world and culture around us.  However, sometimes we can’t escape the clod-ness that is so much a part of us.  So while we may discuss the virtues of modern art, the conversation might be colored by our beer swilling, redneck minds.  We hope you enjoy.