Design & Architecture
Jun 9, 2009
Seeing "Six McKnight Artists" at the Northern Clay Center
Mason Riddle
Mason Riddle calls this show of 2008 McKnight fellows' new work in ceramics "one of the most compelling of its kind in recent memory." Read on to find out what she found so striking about the exhibition (on view at Northern Clay Center through July 5).
Jun 8, 2009
Saraceno's Floating Worlds
Camille LeFevre
Camille LeFevre reflects on the airy, utopian constructions of architect Tomás Saraceno, a number of whose creations are on view this summer at the Walker Art Center.
Jun 4, 2009
Otherworldly Realms in Your Own Backyard
Andy Sturdevant
Artist, raconteur, and gentleman scholar Andy Sturdevant offers a mini-history of one of Minnesota's most exciting and quietly revolutionary public art projects: Franconia Sculpture Park.
Apr 1, 2009
Farm Accident: A Secret History
Andy Sturdevant
Andy Sturdevant investigates the elusive history of Farm Accident, an ephemeral art gallery which lay at the center of the disco era's elite Minneapolis contemporary art scene, notorious for illicit, star-studded exhibitions in the IDS building downtown.
Feb 18, 2009
"The Green House"—Not Quite Mainstream (Yet)
Camille LeFevre
Camille LeFevre reflects on the reputedly "mainstream" trends toward eco-architecture and sustainable design--both issues at the center of a traveling exhibit at the U of M's Rapson Hall, "The Green House" (through March 8).
Feb 3, 2009
VISUAL ART: Out of the Gallery and Into Everyday Life
Article by Ann Klefstad
Artist and writer Ann Klefstad talks with Terrence Payne and John Alspach, the artists behind Broad Cast, a floating exhibition program using new, unoccupied properties as gallery spaces.
Jan 8, 2009
2008 YEAR IN REVIEW: The Lists
Compiled by Susannah Schouweiler
Local art luminaries Frank Gaard, Emma Berg, and Ruben Nusz offer a grab-bag of their picks for the high (and low) points and the love-'em/hate-'em memorable moments from the year just passed
Dec 1, 2008
VISUAL ART: A Marriage of Art and Scholarship
Article by Hannah Dentinger
Hannah Dentinger looks into the career of internationally acclaimed artist and educator, Ann Ledy. After a distinguished career teaching for NYC's Parsons School of Design, Ledy has returned to her native St. Paul to take the helm at CVA.
Oct 1, 2008
DESIGN: Letterpress Art, By Design
Profile by Britt Aamodt
Britt Aamodt offers an engaging profile of the up-and-comers behind Studio On Fire, which pairs the charm of old-world letterpress craftsmanship with new technology know-how and design savvy to come up with ingenious, gorgeous innovations in print design.
Sep 8, 2008
DESIGN: Xerox, Scotch Tape, Rubber Glue & Letraset
Essay by Andy Sturdevant
Our resident observational historian Andy Sturdevant looks into the forgotten world of handmade gallery flyers from the 1980s and '90s, investigating the surprisingly obscure design history of this remarkably practical, rough-hewn art.
Aug 25, 2008
CALL FOR ENTRIES: MNfashion FLASH: Fall Series
mnartists.org
FALL SERIES PHOTOGRAPH THEME: STREET FASHION
This fall, capture the sights and experiences of Fall Fashion Weekend, the quintessential Twin Cities look, or create impromptu photo shoots at different event locations over the weekend.
Jun 2, 2008
The Artist's Workshop
Christie Wells
After some revealing conversations with a few local artists, architecture and design writer Christie Wells explores the intimate connections between artists' creative work and the spaces which shelter them.
May 12, 2008
VISUAL ART: Thermodynamics, The Art of Kiln and Furnace
Review by Hannah Dentinger
Writer Hannah Dentinger offers an eloquent investigation into the stylish, deft craftsmanship on exhibit at the DAI's new show devoted to glass and ceramic art, "From Out of the Flames."
Mar 26, 2008
Thingdom Come
Essay by Glenn Gordon
Design critic and artist Glenn Gordon offers his eloquent, if ambivalent, reflections on everyday design and the masses of stuff that unremarkably, but thoroughly, fill the corners of our modern lives.
Mar 12, 2007
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Jan 11, 2007
Pragmatic Art: The Salvaged Resource
Aaron Lundstrom
Aaron Lundstrom describes fencebuilding and pond hockey as sculpture--he's looking at broadening notions of creativity.
Sep 19, 2006
How To: Make Your Own Vinyl Toy/Sculptures
Sol Nte
Sol Nte, a polymathic artist and thinker from Stoke-on-Trent in England, makes toys under his FIGUREPUNK label. Here he tells us how to do this yourself: read on and get your hands on some Sculpey and a Chinese dictionary.
Jul 3, 2006
Vol 1, No 1: The Art of the Natural
Britt Aamodt
Britt Aamodt speaks to Minnesota furniture maker Ross Peterson; he takes his cues from nature when he designs his one-of-a-kind functional artworks.
May 6, 2006
The Column: The Sacrificial Poet
Suzanne Szucs
Suz Szucs writes about how poems and design can get tangled up in the everyday, to everyone's benefit. She describes one night in Duluth this winter.
Jan 24, 2006
New Prefab: Fabulous or Fable?
Stephanie Xenos
Stephanie Xenos looks at "Some Assembly Required," a show of new prefab designs at the Walker Art Center. She notes that architecture for the (middle-class) masses has taken a sharp turn toward modernism.
Nov 6, 2005
Julie Snow Architects: High Modern Mediation
Camille LeFevre
Julie Snow is working on a surprising and innovative addition / transformation of the Soap Factory's venerable and mossy environs. Here's Camille LeFevre's review of the book recently published by Princeton Architectural Press on her work.
Oct 25, 2005
Reexamining the Rules: Tom Rose
Mason Riddle
Mason Riddle here writes a thoughtful essay on Tom Rose's work, exemplified by his recent show at Flanders Gallery, "Rules of the Game."