Phantoms of Asia

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco recently opened a new exhibit that has the lofty goal of being both a feast for your eyes and your eternal soul. Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Opens the Past, presents historic and modern artworks from across Asia to help us all reflect on our own place in the universe. The stunning Breathing Flower (pictured above) by Choi Jeong Hwa launched the exhibit and set the stage for the many and diverse creations that make up the provocative curation.

The exhibit runs May 18th through September 2nd, 2012.

Found Materials, Fantastic Art: Nick Cave's Soundsuits at Seattle Art Museum

This week is your last chance to the Nick Cave exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum (ends June 5th). His soundsuits are wearable art pieces that are colorful and composed in large part of reclaimed and found materials. The bottom part of the soundsuit on the far right is a collection of crocheted pot holders stitched together and the top is made of tops.

The soundsuits were conceived by Nick Cave as a way to insulate one's self from prejudice while distinguishing one's self from the culture that sustains that prejudice. His meticulous arrangement of familiar elements into something fantastical is fascinating to see and the use of reclaimed materials is a central part of his ethos as an artist. 

Reusing cast-aside materials, Nick Cave's art combines them in ways that make us realize the volume and variety of those materials.  BP

Star Wars at PSC in Seattle

SciFi has long been an inspiration for our possible futures and the Star Wars universe created by George Lucas is certainly one of the shining starts in the genre for helping us imagine what things might be like in a galaxy far, far into the future. An exhibit featuring the technology that went into the making of Star Wars will open on March 19 at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, is sure to spark our imaginations once again with over 80 items from the films accompanied by modern technologies that show that far of future may not be so distant after all.

Exhibition | Richard Avedon

The New York Times has put together an outstanding digital exhibit featuring the images of famed fashion photographer, Richard Avedon called Through the Eyes of Richard Avedon. The digital collection is just a small sample of the larger exhibition Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 underway May 14 - September 6, 2009 at the International Center of Photography. Avedon was not only ahead of his time in his industry artistically, he also pushed the boundaries of fashion in other ways such as insisting that he be allowed to use diverse models in his work, including the photo of Donyale Luna above in 1966.

[Image credit: Richard Avedon. 2009. The Richard Avedon Foundation.]