Peter Everett’s intellectually absorbing Hypnagogic exhibition at Material Gallery set for June 28 closing reception

The untethered mind is at the heart of Peter Everett’s intellectually absorbing exhibition, Hypnagogic, which will close tomorrow (June 28) at Material, which quickly has become one of Salt Lake City’s most important contemporary art galleries in its short history. In music, there is synesthesia where the composer seeks to conjure up shapes and colors … Read more

Late spring shows at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art: Out Loud: Growing Pains, Parable Bodies by Moses Williams, 2024 Gala Art Auction: La Dolce Vita

Late spring is always special at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA). The Utah Review looks at three of the latest exhibitions, including Out Loud: Growing Pains, Parable Bodies by Moses Williams and the works by Utah artists that are available in the 2024 Gala Art Auction: La Dolce Vita. OUT LOUD: GROWING PAINS: … Read more

Layer by Layer: An extraordinary look into the creation and conservation of Chiura Obata masterpiece at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Nearly three years ago, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ (UMFA) already widely respected Japanese art collection expanded with the acquisition of 35 works by Chiura Obata (1885-1975), one of the most significant Japanese American artists of the twentieth century, thanks to a generous gift from the Obata estate. Undoubtedly, the announcement acquisition thrilled the … Read more

Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Pictures of Belonging exhibition impressively commands viewers to think anew about American modernism

In a 2007 essay, art historian ShiPu Wang wrote that the works of Asian-American artists “are more than painterly creations that exude ‘transcendental beauty’ beyond cultural boundaries.” He added, “Their meaning and significance constantly shift and expand under different sociopolitical circumstances, and they do not remain incontrovertible objects or artifacts.” In her 1990 book, Mixed … Read more

For Earth Day, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art’s exhibitions about Great Salt Lake, public lands policy making, biocrust are outstanding examples of cross-disciplinary collaboration

With Earth Day approaching (April 22), an excellent representation of what is at stake in the Intermountain West’s natural surroundings is found in several exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA). The standout feature of these exhibitions is the extensive evidence of excellent cross-disciplinary approaches uniting science and the humanities. Among the areas … Read more

The vibrant gifts of Inheritance in Andrew Alba’s works at Material art gallery

Andrew Alba remembers the prints of paintings such as Emiliano Zapata, the leading figure of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century, and works by Mexican artist Diego Rivera that occupied a place of honor in his grandparents’ home. The grandson of Mexican migrant workers who came to the U.S., Alba says, in an … Read more

From Tucson, experimental quartet Compersion sets Utah Museum of Contemporary Art for March 19 stop on western U.S. tour

The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) will be one of the stops for the western U.S. tour of Compersion, a Tuscon-based experimental quartet which incorporates strings, wind instruments and percussion into instrumental electro-acoustic topographies. Abstract in its aesthetic conception. Compersion highlights improvisation and organic rhythmic expressions to emphasize the value of deep and immersive … Read more

Sundance 2024: Frida is sumptuous tribute to Kahlo, highlighting her durable status as a major cultural icon

Seventy years after her death at the age of 47, Frida Kahlo remains as popular as ever in contemporary culture, with a durability that matches or even surpasses that of prominent artists of her time such as Georgia O’Keeffe.  The recipient of the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2024 … Read more

Courage, creative fire, innovation, enterprise: The Utah Review’s Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2023

This year’s selections in The Utah Review of the top ten moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2023, the ninth annual edition, were the easiest to curate in the nine years of publishing this annual list. Likewise, selecting the top moment among the ten was just as easy. In Utah, there are creative producers in … Read more

Mesmerizing portrayals of auras, energies of individual, place in Chie Fueki’s Doctorow Prize show at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

In Chie Fueki’s portraits, the auras and energies emanating from the individuals are mesmerizing, a fantastic probe of a deeper understanding of one’s self as an aggregate of their environment, interests, identities and their interactions with a physical world. Personality tests, zodiac charts and quizzes about being introverted or extroverted might be revealing to some … Read more