In a recent Washington Post opinion essay, Rebecca Solnit addressed the defeated, Sturm und Drang tone that dominates conversations about planetary extinction. Most of us have been operating from the assumption that a healthy future means giving up things and conveniences we love, then living lives of austerity. But what if it meant giving up […]
Author: deborahbarlow
The Wife of Willesden
Zadie Smith in rehearsal for Wife of Willesden. Photo: Marc Brenner. . There are many reasons to make your way to Zadie’s Smith’s play, The Wife of Willesden. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, it draws on 600 years of admiration for Chaucer, the undisputed father of English poetry. And bringing this play to […]
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Let Form Speak
Detail, Ellen Gallagher (full image is below) . “We are living through a moment” has become a code phrase for encountering yet another art installation or exhibit that puts art in service to a credo or ideology. Social justice, political identity, equality—these are all vital causes that matter, and matter deeply. But a proclivity to […]
Fair Share Art Auctions: Earthquake Relief
Heads up! An art auction raising funds for earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey is happening February 20-25. You will be able to access all the available art work from a new page on Instagram: @fairshareartauctions. (The prior site was @fairshareartauction, so please note the new plural.) If you are someone who likes to discover […]
Luminous Elsewheres
Welcome to Luminous Elsewheres! Information about the exhibit is posted here. For an online guide to the exhibit, click here. . LUMINOUS ELSEWHERES March 31 – April 28, 2023 Westbeth Gallery 55 Bethune Street at Washington Street, New York, NY 10014 Exhibit hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 1-6pm (And by appointment) Opening reception: Friday March 31, […]
Pell Lucy: MORE SEEINGLY
Every six months the Pell Lucy artist collective comes together for an online exhibition. More Seeingly is our winter show, the 9th exhibit we have had on Artsy since Pell Lucy was created in early 2020. Three new members have joined Pell Lucy: Phoebe Adams, Leigh Anne Chambers and Kathryn Geismar. These wonderful artists are […]
Life of Pi: A Seismographic Ear to the Earth
Who knows where the art making impulse comes from? I certainly don’t. Considering all the people who, like me, are laboring daily to bring something new into existence even when it is thankless and difficult, this is a question best placed in the “no explanation” file. For a culture that is doggedly focused on what […]
Both a Wail and a Whelp of Joy
. In the ancient archetype of the spiritual quest, the focus is almost exclusively on the itinerary of a solitary journeyer. Eastern wisdom traditions have long advocated for a path of solitude, isolation, self sacrifice, meditation. Models from the Western literary canon take a different route but they also feature an essentially solo journeyer: Dante […]
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Waltham Open Studios
Studio of Deborah Barlow . . The landscapes of our towns and cities are still settling, disrupted as they were by the bob and weave of the last three years. Like me, I am guessing that some of your favorite neighborhood businesses were able to make it though while others did not. Slowly the shuttered […]
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Group Crit, Southern Vermont Arts Center
On November 9 I will be leading a group critique at Southern Vermont Arts Center. Information about participating in that event can be found here. While many approach art and art making through a particular lens—political, generational, media, subject matter—it is also possible to have a more personal, open and inclusive approach to the enchantments […]