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Art & Design NPR explores the visual arts including design, photography, sculpture, and architecture. Interviews, commentary, and audio. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Art & Design

Saturday

There's Nothing To Do Here, And It's Perfect

Visitors explore Robert Irwin's Scrim Veil--Black Rectangle--Natural Light during its 2013 reprise at the Whitney Museum of American Art. ©Robert Irwin/Photography ©2013 Philipp Scholz Rittermann/Courtesy of the Whitney Museum hide caption

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©Robert Irwin/Photography ©2013 Philipp Scholz Rittermann/Courtesy of the Whitney Museum

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

There's Nothing To Do Here, And It's Perfect

Robert Irwin's current showing at the Whitney Museum of American Art is astonishing. But why? Alva Noë gives it a good look over and finds that the work is nothing and everything at once.

Saturday

Hacker-Artist's Mantra: 'Fun Makes The Politics Go Down'

Artwork from Roth's solo exhibition "Welcome to Detroit," on display at Eastern Michigan University in 2012. Evan Roth hide caption

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Evan Roth

All Tech Considered

Hacker-Artist's Mantra: 'Fun Makes The Politics Go Down'

Evan Roth knows how to get a rise out of the people and organizations he targets: Google, the Transportation Security Administration, and — most bravely of all — Justin Bieber's fans.

Hacker-Artist's Mantra: 'Fun Makes The Politics Go Down'

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Friday

Performing Arts

Experimenting on Consciousness, Through Art

Performance artist Marina Abramovic's piece Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze is both art installation and science experiment, in which volunteers sit facing one another while having their brain waves measured. Abramovic discusses these arts and science experiments with neuroscientist Christof Koch, an expert in consciousness.

Experimenting on Consciousness, Through Art

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Thursday

Monday

Haunting Images Chronicle 165 Years Of A World At War

An American soldier reads a letter from home, while taking a break from repairing a tank tread in Lang Vei, Vietnam, in March 1971. David Burnett/Contact Press Images hide caption

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David Burnett/Contact Press Images

Photography

Haunting Images Chronicle 165 Years Of A World At War

Images from conflicts in 28 countries are now on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. "The more you've seen of death and inhumanity, the more it turns you into someone who really can't stand the sight of war," says photojournalist David Burnett.

Haunting Images Chronicle 165 Years Of A World At War

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Sunday

These Dioramas Are To Die For

This "Die-O-Rama" features a picnic lunch of body parts. Marty Walsh/Courtesy of Trifecta Gallery hide caption

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Marty Walsh/Courtesy of Trifecta Gallery

These Dioramas Are To Die For

Using figures that were made for miniature train sets, a former Las Vegas crime reporter is finding big success creating and selling tiny imaginary crime scenes. Abigail Goldman's macabre, and sometimes funny, "Die-O-Ramas" are selling out before she's even completed them.

These Dioramas Are To Die For

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Wednesday

Amazon Enters Art World; Galleries Say They Aren't Worried

Amazon said its new art marketplace will provide access to more than 40,000 works of art from at least 150 galleries and dealers. Amazon.com hide caption

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Amazon.com

All Tech Considered

Amazon Enters Art World; Galleries Say They Aren't Worried

Will the local gallery go the way of the local bookstore or record store? In the past few years, there's been a growth in sites that sell fine art on the Internet. On Tuesday, Amazon joined that market.

Amazon Enters Art World; Galleries Say They Aren't Worried

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Tuesday

Art In Context: Venice Biennale Looks Past Pop Culture

The Angolan exhibit consists of tall stacks of large photographic posters by artist Edson Chagas. The country, which is exhibiting at Venice for the first time, won the Golden Lion award for best national pavilion. Courtesy of www.beyondentrophy.com hide caption

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Courtesy of www.beyondentrophy.com

Parallels

Art In Context: Venice Biennale Looks Past Pop Culture

Every two years, Venice hosts the largest and oldest noncommercial art exhibit in the world. It's a dizzying and eclectic array of sights by both celebrity artists and total unknowns. More than 150 artists from 88 countries will be on display through November.

Art In Context: Venice Biennale Looks Past Pop Culture

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Saturday

Bespoke Suits And Perfect Cravats At 'Dandy' Exhibit

Sartorial Anarchy #5, 2012. Ike Ude, photographer. In his Sartorial Anarchy self-portraits, New York-based Nigerian-born artist Ike Ude creates composite images of the dandy across geography and chronology. Ude photographs himself in disparate ensembles, pairing, for example, a copy of an 18th-century Macaroni wig with other carefully selected vintage garments and reproductions. Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery Ike Ude hide caption

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Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery Ike Ude

Culture

Bespoke Suits And Perfect Cravats At 'Dandy' Exhibit

Dandies are much more than just Yankee Doodle, and an exhibit this summer at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum celebrates these men at the cutting edge of fashion and design — from Beau Brummell to Mark Twain and beyond.

Bespoke Suits And Perfect Cravats At 'Dandy' Exhibit

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Wednesday

Tuesday

Sunday

Stories Of Race In America Captured On Quilt And Canvas

Artist Faith Ringgold is best known for her story quilts which depict scenes of African-American life. But a new exhibit highlights the provocative paintings she made 20 years earlier — documenting the racial and political tumult of the 1960s.

Stories Of Race In America Captured On Quilt And Canvas

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Sunday

For Judd Family, Home Is Where The (Rectilinear) Art Is

Donald Judd's daughter, Rainer, says her father's bedroom is her favorite space in the house. (101 Spring Street, New York, 5th Floor, 2013.) Josh White/Donald Judd Art (c) Judd Foundation. Licensed by VAGA, New York. Artwork (c) John Chamberlain. (c) Lucas Samaras. Dan Flavin (c) Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Donald Judd Furniture TM (c) Judd Foundation. hide caption

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Josh White/Donald Judd Art (c) Judd Foundation. Licensed by VAGA, New York. Artwork (c) John Chamberlain. (c) Lucas Samaras. Dan Flavin (c) Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Donald Judd Furniture TM (c) Judd Foundation.

Fine Art

For Judd Family, Home Is Where The (Rectilinear) Art Is

When minimalist artist Donald Judd died, his Manhattan house stayed in the family, with much of his stuff exactly where he left it. Now, after a renovation his son helped oversee, the general public can tour the building and see firsthand how Judd brought art and architecture together.

For Judd Family, Home Is Where The (Rectilinear) Art Is

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Thursday

Civil War's First African-American Infantry Remembered In Bronze

Boston's Shaw Memorial sits at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets. Andrea Shea/WBUR hide caption

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Andrea Shea/WBUR

Culture

Civil War's First African-American Infantry Remembered In Bronze

WBUR

Boston's Shaw Memorial depicts the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, which was crushed 150 years ago in South Carolina. It took American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens 14 years to complete the Boston Common landmark.

Civil War's First African-American Infantry Remembered In Bronze

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Wednesday

Naked Or Nude? Wesselmann's Models Are A Little Bit Of Both

Nearly 100 years after Edouard Manet painted his scandalous 1863 Olympia, Tom Wesselmann created The Great American Nude #26. Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY hide caption

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Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Fine Art

Naked Or Nude? Wesselmann's Models Are A Little Bit Of Both

Female bodies sprawl across canvases in a retrospective of work by pop artist Tom Wesselmann, now on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. If the images make you blush, that's just part of a long artistic tradition.

Naked Or Nude? Wesselmann's Models Are A Little Bit Of Both

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