Category Archives: REVIEWS

George Bellows at the Royal Academy of Art, Art Practical

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Larissa Archer

The American painter George Bellows is widely remembered for his early masterpiece, Stag at Sharkey’s (1909), a painting that represents a particularly American moment in art (one cannot imagine a French movement calling itself the “Ashcan School” ). Its depiction of a casual, … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, London, painting, REVIEWS, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“We have not loved life.” Garry Winogrand at SFMOMA, Huffington Post

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Larissa Archer

The first several hours I spent in SFMOMA’s Garry Winogrand retrospective, I thought writing about it would be easy: it seemed like each of the 300 images offered such imaginative fodder that the only problem would be to avoid long-windedness. … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, photography, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Terracotta Warriors at the Asian Art Museum, Huffington Post

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Larissa Archer

It’s hard not to give oneself over entirely to awe when regarding any of the great man-made wonders of the world. One wants to stare moist-eyed at these masterpieces and ponder the soaring ambition, ingenuity and perseverance of man, but … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’m Complaining about Mark Morris’s “Beaux” at San Francisco Ballet again.

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Larissa Archer

While San Francisco Ballet’s premiere of resident choreographer Yuri Possokhov’s new Rite of Spring was the big draw in Program Three, the evening started with two of last year’s premieres: Ashley Page’s Guide to Strange Places and Mark Morris’s Beaux. … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, ballet, dance, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“Nijinsky” with Hamburg Ballet, for Zyzzyva

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Larissa Archer

A few people straggled almost unnoticed onto the stage of the War Memorial Opera House before the house lights had dimmed, and they began to talk. Even before the dancing had begun, their presence was an announcement that one had … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, ballet, dance, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

South Africa in Apartheid and After at SFMOMA, Art Practical

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Larissa Archer

“More and more he is convinced that English is an unfit medium for the truth of South Africa.”—J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace. South Africa in Apartheid and After, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, is a photographic investigation of the troubled … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, photography, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance” at the De Young, Art Practical

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Larissa Archer

A museum may not be the ideal venue to showcase a performative art such as dance, which only exists in the living bodies of its practitioners. So it makes sense that the de Young Museum, in collaboration with France’s Centre … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, ballet, dance, REVIEWS, San Francisco, theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Desert Jewels” and “Anima and Tuareg” at the Museum of the African Diaspora

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Larissa Archer

The Museum of the African Diaspora is hosting two small but excellent shows this month. “Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection” features tribal jewelry and nineteenth-century photographs from an era when  advancements in photographic … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, jewelry, photography, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My “Best of 2012” arts round-up, Art Practical

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Larissa Archer

As futile as it is to try to sum up the best arts events a cosmopolitan city like San Francisco offered in a year, especially with a mere 1200 word-count, I gave it a try for Art Practical. I settled … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, ballet, burlesque, damn good, dance, photography, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Feedback as Music, “Tron” as prophesy. Southern Machine Exposure Project. Art Practical

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Larissa Archer

On Saturday, June 30, Wobbly’s aural installation complemented Jason Brown’s witty lecture by juxtaposing visceral and intellectual responses to our increasing comfort with technology’s escalating presence in our lives. Wobbly (a.k.a. Jon Leidecker), focusing on feedback as the “intrinsic voice … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, Music, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment