American Art Collector July 2022

Welcome to the July issue of American Art Collector and welcome to summer! This issue is jam-packed with art fairs, shows, and sponsored events across the country. American Art Collector has always been a major media sponsor for contemporary realism shows. In fact, we are media sponsors for more than 80 shows and events annually. This ensures each event receives great coverage and is out there in front of our readers, enthusiasts, and serious collectors. This month, we showcase the sizzling summer schedule in rural, urban and seaside settings across the country. Let’s start with Sculpture in the Park in Loveland, Colorado. This event is always a beautiful expression of sculpture and a must-see for Colorado collectors who flock to the Rockies during summertime. Next up in July is the Seattle…

Aspen Ice Garden This summer, Intersect Art and Design presents the 2022 edition of Intersect Aspen, an art fair taking place in person at the Aspen Ice Garden from July 31 – August 4, 2022. Intersect Aspen brings together a dynamic mix of modern and contemporary art and design galleries, and is activated by timely and original programming.…

Through July 3 Shifting Perspectives: Landscape Photographs from the Collection Milwaukee Art Museum » Milwaukee, WI The exhibition explores how our society sees and understands the physical world through over 65 photographs pulled from the museum’s collection. www.mam.org July 2-January 2, 2023 We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy Crystal Bridges of Museum of American Art» Bentonville, AR Crystal Bridges will place a rare, original print of the U.S. Constitution in conversation with works by historical and contemporary artists that provide diverse perspectives on the nation’s founding principles. www.crystalbridges.org July 5-September 2 Festival of Arts Laguna Canyon Road » Laguna Beach, CA This highly acclaimed juried fine art show will feature the work of over 100 awardwinning Orange County artists working in a variety of mediums and styles. www.foapom.com July 7-September 2…

Through August 7 Carrie Mae Weems: The Usual Suspects Georgia Museum of Art » Athens, GA www.georgiamuseum.org Through August 14 Joan Mitchell Baltimore Museum of Art » Baltimore, MD www.artbma.org Through August 14 What Is Left Unspoken: Love High Museum of Art » Atlanta, GA www.high.org Through August 21 A Kind of Heaven Oceanside Museum of Art » Oceanside, CA www.oma-online.org Through August 22 Mel Bochner Drawings: A Retrospective Art Institute of Chicago » Chicago, IL www.artic.edu Through August 27 31st Annual National Exhibition & Convention Steamboat Art Museum » Steamboat Springs, CO www.oilpaintersofamerica.com Through August 28 Rural, Folk, and Self-Taught Art from the Collection Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art » Kansas City, MO www.nelson-atkins.org Through September 4 Beverly McIver: Full Circle Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art » Scottsdale, AZ www.smoca.org…

Alexandra Manukyan has worked with the flamboyant gestures of choreography for more than a decade, but her new works balance the sensuality and eroticism of the spectacular ballroom’s body language with a mysterious and intimate self-reflection. Although her new figures recall the exuberance of the dances of the Caucasus, with the extravagant gestures and formal movement of proud performers, and the costumes are flavored with the cheerful scent of floral headdresses worn during spring-time celebrations and in the harvest festivals of ancient Armenian custom, Manukyan says she is principally influenced by her work as a fashion designer. “I love my country,” she says, “but I’m more of an international artist. I make most of the jewelry and costumes…I love fashion, and it’s almost like doing a line of fashion design.…

Every year Painting the Figure Now presents a new body of figurative art created by some of the most esteemed artists working today. These pieces capture sentiments, themes and emotions as vast and complex as the human experience itself. But that singular concept of personhood is what each work of art has in common—portraying that ephemeral glimpse into what it means to be a person. “Beyond Painting the Figure, that additional word ‘Now’ quietly appended to the theme subtly ties everything together,” says guest curator Samuel Peralta. “The artworks all have a perspective that’s contemporary, compelling and current. It’s an immediacy of the moment, a present-day perspective, captured in every frame…I look for a strong narrative or symbolic undercurrent in the way the artist treats their subject matter—what [poet] T.S.…