I always knew that my paternal grandfather, who died before I was born, was an unusual person. Born in 1885, fifteen years before the end of the nineteenth century, he was an early Japanese immigrant[…]
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Category: Beauty
Wiley Reconsidered
A Response to the Toledo Art Museum Retrospective My first encounter with the work of artist Kehinde Wiley was in 2006, when the Columbus Museum of Art commissioned his first significant museum show. At the[…]
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Reconstructivist Art: Unstill Lives
The works of contemporary artist Jason Godeke as an example of Reconstructivist Art. Originally posted September 2007. Artist Jason Godeke has a distinctive and recognizable oeuvre centered around paintings of toys and figurines, posed in[…]
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Remembering Carol Herbin
I recently lost my good friend Carol Herbin to a tragic housefire. After starting as a participant, Carol was a longtime volunteer vocal coach at the Monday Night music program I run at the United[…]
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April Sunami, artist extraordinaire
As many of you know, my wife is Columbus artist April Sunami. Twelve years ago (when I first shared with her that memorable last name!) she wasn’t nearly so well known. It’s been a pleasure[…]
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Across the Universe
In honor of the film’s tenth anniversary, a repost from 2007. Julie Taymor is one of my artistic heroes, and the Beatles are the Beatles, so I had high hopes going into this film. Of[…]
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Exquisite Corps(e)
Exquisite Corpse was a game played by the surrealists, in which they collaborated on a story or artwork. Each person would contribute a piece, usually based on just a tiny fragment of what came before.[…]
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Gallery of Echoes
Shadowbox Live is a musical theater cabaret in Columbus that is best known for its seasonal shows combining original sketch comedy with live performances of well-known music, chiefly in the rock genre. A longtime institution[…]
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A Prince Among Men
As with so much of the art that has had the most impact on me, it took me a while to warm up to Prince. I was still a kid during the “Purple Rain” era,[…]
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Common Cosmology: Sunami and Rond
For fans of my wife, artist April Sunami: New Exhibition Brings Together Two Diverse Artists with Universal Theme Street artist Stephanie Rond and mixed media painter April Sunami will feature new work in the exhibition[…]
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