1. Habitual Soothing Emily Ritz
The physical matter of body and earth underpin the spiritual and transformative paintings in Emiy Ritz’s newest body of work, Habitual Soothing. They are meditative explorations of a verdant and surreal universe of her own creation. She explores themes of identity, grief and sacrifice, often blurring the lines between strength and vulnerability, pain and beauty.
Ritz, who suffers from severe symptoms of Lyme as well as autoimmune disorders, finds parallels between her chronic physical pain and the metaphorical pain of a deteriorating Earth. It is a kinship built on shared vulnerability, brokenness and powerlessness. Emily lives and works in Los Angeles and is also an accomplished musician, songwriter and tattoo artist. This is her third solo show with D’Arcy/Simpson Gallery.
NEW
2. Statement Sleeves
What is a "statement sleeve"? The fashion media has regularly used the term for less than a decade, yet many of us can conjure images of what it describes: a sleeve style that is exaggerated, embellished, elaborately constructed, or otherwise eye catching to the extent that it defines a garment. Statement sleeves have been spotted on innumerable fashion runways in recent years, with no sign of waning. From puffed to ruffled, split to sheer, there is a style for everyone.
The exhibition showcases nearly 80 fashion pieces from The Museum at FIT's permanent collection - the majority of which are on display for the first time - and features the works of renowned designers such as Balenciaga, Tom Ford, Schiaparelli, and Vivienne Westwood. They are organized thematically or by complementary aesthetics rather than chronology. The exhibition highlights how sleeves serve as a vital mode of self-expression that reflects our gestures and movements, showcases their ability to indicate specific fashion eras and their related trends, and proclaims their role as signifiers of status, taste, and personality.
LAST CHANCE
3. COLOR OF BLUE IN KOGEI
Final day July 31!
Bringing colors in Kogei has been an exciting theme for Kogei artists as the materials they use are from nature and are already gifted with a variety of colors from the Earth. Invention plays a key role for some artists who strive to incorporate color in new ways while maintaining their works’ traditional values. On view at Onishi Gallery, this exhibition features two porcelain pieces in vivid blue by Tokuda Yasokichi III who was a Living National Treasure and the most well-known Kutani ware artist of his time. In these pieces the suffusion of colors is achieved by his inventive coloration of vivid Kutani color glaze. In another piece where a famed Kogei artist works with blue, the amost transparent and greenish blue on his signature Hakuji porcelain represents a signal departure for Inoue Manji. Manji’s introduction of colors in his work wasn’t until later in his career, after having spent decades working in stark white. Another attractive blue color is by Suzuki Miki in his famous Blue Bizen ware. Unlike traditional Bizen in brown, Suzuki creates a new impression in this traditional stoneware by shifting to blue.
4. Somewhere to Roost
Featuring over 60 works including paintings, textiles, photographs, and sculptures, Somewhere to Roost will explore the ways that artists evoke and construct ideas of “home.”
The exhibition’s title is drawn from an artwork by Thornton Dial, Sr. (1928–2016), “Birds Got to Have Somewhere to Roost,” which will be among the works on view. Reflecting on this statement, the exhibition will explore the importance of rest, comfort, and safety, while considering the poetic and unspecified nature of the word “somewhere.” Taken both literally and metaphorically, Somewhere to Roost represents spaces where artists live and work, as well as places remembered, imagined, or dreamed. The exhibition will highlight experiences of immigration, incarceration, and housing insecurity, as well as visions of home that are playful, inventive, and unexpected.
Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is delighted to present the group exhibition Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West which explores the artistic evolution of East Asian traditions as they spread to the Western art milieu, focusing on the exchange and interaction of visual language and conceptual frameworks between traditional ink art and modern American art.
Primarily focused on Chinese art, the show spans from the early 17th century through the 20th century and into contemporary times, highlighting the early modernity and abstract quality of traditional ink masters alongside the reinterpretation of literati painting by diasporic Chinese artists who engaged with American Abstract Expressionism and explored notions of abstraction. The exhibition will feature two rotations and include works by more than 15 artists. The first rotation opens on July 11th and the second rotation starts on August 13th.
