Art & Architecture | CultureVulture

Hans Hofmann: The Nature of Abstraction

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Emily S. Mendel March 17, 2019 Berkeley,

“Hans Hofmann: The Nature of Abstraction,” the exceptional and significant new retrospective by the world-renown and influential abstract artist, Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), presents a fresh ...

Mildred Howard

“TAP: Investigation of Memory”

Emily S. Mendel March 3, 2019 Oakland,

A powerful multimedia piece entitled newly installed at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is the creation of lauded artist and long-time Berkeley resident, Mildred Howard. I spoke with Mildred Howard about the origins of her mixed media work, ...

Monet: The Late Years

Emily S. Mendel February 17, 2019 San Francisco,

“Monet: The Late Years,” an exquisite and enlightening exhibition, presents the evolution of the fabulous French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) from 1913 to his death. After a lapse in painting brought on by the deaths ...

Kimono Refashioned

Emily S. Mendel February 11, 2019 San Francisco,

An exquisite experience awaits all who see the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s new exhibit, “Kimono Refashioned,” which examines the influence of the kimono on global fashion from the Victorian era to the 21st ...

Q & A w/ Masako Miki

Emily S. Mendel January 28, 2019 Berkeley,

Much-admired Berkeley-based artist and designer Masako Miki is the 273rd artist in the MATRIX Program for Contemporary Art at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. (BAMPFA). MATRIX is an ongoing series dedicated to presenting cutting-edge art and ...

Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Emily S. Mendel December 18, 2018 San Francisco,

“She is an artist’s artist, with a unique vision,” said Neal Benezra, director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) of Vija Celmins, the much-admired Latvian-American artist whose first full retrospective in more than 25 years ...

Gauguin: A Spiritual Journey

De Young Museum of San Francisco

Emily S. Mendel November 23, 2018 San Francisco,

The significant new show at the de Young Museum (one of the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums, “FAMSF”) explores the personal relationships and spirituality of famed artist Paul Gauguin (1848 –1903). Most of the sixty-plus Gauguin oil paintings, unusual ...

Dimensionism: Modern Art in the Age of Einstein

Emily S. Mendel November 21, 2018 Berkeley,

The interrelationship between art and science in the first half of the 20th century is fascinatingly explored in the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s new exhibition about the vital, but little known Dimensionism ...

Nawanagar ruby necklace, Cartier, London, 1937.

East Meets West:

Jewels of the Maharajas from The Al Thani Collection

Emily S. Mendel November 9, 2018 San Francisco,

Ever since His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani of Qatar visited in 2009 the “Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts” exhibition at London’s V & A Museum, the 30-something Sheikh wanted to collect bejeweled Indian treasures. During ...

The World of Charles and Ray Eames

The Oakland Museum of California

Emily S. Mendel October 29, 2018 Oakland,

When the names of husband and wife, Charles Eames (1907-78), and (Bernice) Ray Eames (1912-88) are mentioned, most think of the unique mid-century plywood and fiberglass chairs still sold commercially today. But as the captivating, comprehensive and stylish exhibit ...