Caturday- Dorothy Simmons Skelton at Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, California Art Shows, Painting / Painters, Sacramento
May 092026
 

Cats, painted in the 1930s, is by artist and educator Dorothy Geneva Simmons Skelton. It is currently on view at Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento as part of their permanent collection.

From the museum about the artist-

Dorothy Simmons was born in Woodland, California, and grew up in Oakland. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she completed a B.A. and M.A. in art and education. During World War II, after marrying U.S. Army Air Corps officer John Skelton, she moved to Arlington, Virginia, and worked at the Pentagon in military intelligence. In 1948, she became a civilian member of Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section Unit (aka the Monuments Men), which protected cultural monuments during the war and subsequently restituted art and other objects confiscated by Nazis.

Delaware Art Shows- Kira Krell at the Mezzanine Gallery in Wilmington

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Delaware, Fiber Arts, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Sculptors / Sculpture, Wilmington
May 062026
 

Detail from the center work in the image above

In Stone Formations, Kira Krell‘s exhibition at the Mezzanine Gallery in Wilmington, her large multilayered paintings and smaller delicate sculptures find a cohesive balance, much like the natural formations that inspired them.

From Mezzanine Gallery and Delaware Division of the Arts-

Stone Formations is a solo exhibition by Kira Krell that guides viewers from volcanic deserts to beautiful coastlines. Through diverse geological imagery, and weathered forms, the work traces place and time, evoking memory, endurance, and the lasting presence of landscapes once called home.

Krell’s process begins by layering sand, plaster and earth pigments to create relief-like texture paintings. Adding, subtracting, and distressing these elements is necessary to achieve surfaces that appear weathered and time-worn, in pursuit of capturing geological structures: Stone Formations. Intricate details are revealed through dry brushing and mark making techniques, using acrylic and pencils. Fascinated by natural forms and their portrayal of permanence and strength, the artist offers an impression of steadiness and belonging. This acts as a counterpoint to our fast-paced, ever-changing world. Krell invites viewers to take a moment to pause, breathe and reflect on our beautiful world.

The exhibition will be on view until 5/29/26.

Philadelphia Murals- Meg Saligman’s “Philadelphia Muses”

 Art, Artists, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Public Art, Street Art
May 052026
 

Artist Meg Saligman has created several murals for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program including Philadelphia Muses, pictured above, which was painted in 1999.

From the Mural Arts website about this mural-

Intended as a contemporary interpretation of the classical muses, Saligman has created an arts landscape filled with figures and elements symbolizing today’s art and creativity.

In the center of the composition is an arts machine spinning out spheres, symbols of the perfect art form. Each of the nine muses in the composition is associated with a sphere, and there are circular references throughout the composition, such as the compass.

Through portraits of local performing artists and references to works of art by local artists, Saligman honors the following forms of creative expression.

The entire mural was created by the artist in her studio using large squares of a polyester fabric called non-woven media (or parachute cloth). These were then adhered to the wall with an acrylic gel, much like a giant decoupage. Saligman’s style is very painterly yet also very realistic and makes frequent allusions to classical themes and figures like the muses in this composition.

April 2026 Spotify Playlist

 Los Angeles Music, Music, Musicians / Bands, Spotify Playlist
May 042026
 

Tyler Ballgame- I Believe in Love

Every month I listen to the majority of bands and musicians who are playing in Los Angeles and select some for a monthly playlist. It includes a variety of genres and usually newer work by the artists.

This month’s playlist includes songs by The Thing, Labrinth, Telescreens, Gladie, Hand Habits, and fakemink.

The song above is from LA-based musician Tyler Ballgame‘s 2026 album, For the First Time, Again.

Flashback- Los Angeles Murals- Hueman’s “Bloom” in DTLA

 Art, Artists, California Street Art, Los Angeles Street Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, Street Art
May 012026
 

Today’s flashback is to Allison Hueman‘s 2017 mural Bloom, spotted in 2019 in downtown LA’s Arts District.  The mural pays tribute to local community activist Joel Bloom, who passed away in 2007.

For more work by Hueman, also check out her Instagram.

Song of the Day- Band Aparte- “(What a) Drag”

 Los Angeles Music, Music, Musicians / Bands, Spotify Playlist
Apr 272026
 

Band Aparte- (What a) Drag

This song is from LA band Band Aparte‘s 2026 self-titled album.

The band is playing at Non Plus Ultra in Los Angeles on Friday, 5/1/26, with Gus Baldwin And The Sketch, Sex Faces, and Will & The Won’ts.

Pennsylvania Art Shows- Cy Twombly’s “Fifty Days at Iliam” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Books, Conceptual Art, Drawing, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania Art Shows, Philadelphia, Writers
Apr 252026
 

Cy Twombly “Fifty Days at Iliam: Shield of Achilles”, 1978

Cy Twombly “Fifty Days at Iliam”, 1978, oil, oil crayon, and graphite on canvas

“Fifty Days at Iliam: Achaeans in Battle”, 1978

“Fifty Days at Iliam: The Fire that Consumes All before It”, 1978

“Fifty Days at Iliam: Shades of Achilles, Patroclus and Hector”, 1978

“Fifty Days at Iliam: Shades of Eternal Night”, 1978

Cy Twombly was born today, April 25th, in 1928. One of his most famous works is Fifty Days at Iliam, his visual interpretation of Homer’s poem the Iliad. This “painting in ten parts” is currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and images of each of the individual works can be found on the museum’s website.

About Fifty Days at lliam from the museum-

The pinnacle of Twombly’s lifelong preoccupation with Greek and Roman mythology, Fifty Days at lliam is the artist’s rendition of the last fifty days of the Trojan War. The monumental series fuses elements of Homer’s epic poem The lliad, probably written before 700 BCE, and Alexander Pope’s translation of that poem from the 1700s.

The artist purposefully misspells the name of the besieged Trojan city as lliam, instead of the Latin llium or the Greek Ilion. The letter “a” stands as a symbol for the Greek warrior Achilles, whose rage sparked by the death of his friend Patroclus propels the end of the decade-long conflict.

Partaking in a long artistic tradition of depicting war, Twombly addresses themes of heroism and aggression, comradeship and revenge, jubilant victory and the mourning of the dead. The ten canvases can be encountered sequentially or experienced as an all-encompassing panorama that gives the sensation of witnessing the battle firsthand.

Twombly’s signature style combines the poignant gestures of abstraction with poetic allusions to classicism. Relocating from the United States to Italy in the 1950s proved decisive for Twombly’s art, which uses raw mark-making to allude to the myths of antiquity.

For a look at Twombly’s life and career, the 2018 documentary Cy Dear, is well worth a watch. The film begins with a discussion of Fifty Days at lliam, which was on view as part of a 2017 retrospective at Centre Pompidou in Paris. It also includes interviews with several of his friends and colleagues– including former assistants, his son Alessandro, art dealer Larry Gagosian, and photographer Sally Mann.

Throwback- NYC Art Shows- Nicole James at Harsh Collective in 2024

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, New York Art Shows, Painting / Painters
Apr 232026
 

The painting above, [12:02 AM] by Nicole James, was part of Harsh Collective‘s 2024 exhibition Entropy in NYC. She is currently part of the group exhibition March Madness at Room57 Gallery, on view until 5/1/26. Loft Projects will also be showing some of her smaller paintings and mini-paintings at Future Fair in Chelsea, May 13-16th.

A little bit about the artist from Harsh Collective-

Nicole James (b. 1987, Los Angeles, CA) embraces chaos in her figurative compositions, even amidst the quest for aesthetic perfection. Using a systematic painting approach, James seamlessly integrates elements from modern photography, pop culture, and self-documentation. Her compositions, born from this fusion, offer viewers a glimpse into the beauty inherent in life’s chaos, inviting them to immerse themselves in the captivating allure of disorder while imagining themselves as the subject of the composition.

Also check out her Instagram, where James often shares videos and still shots of the process behind creating her work.

 

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