Critical Mass for the Visual Arts is a nonprofit, self-formed visual arts collaborative dedicated to promoting, enhancing and initiating contemporary visual art in the St. Louis region.
Latest:
5 Questions- Lizzy Martinez
Join Joe as he chats with Lizzy Martinez, artist, creator of unique tableaux, and hopefully future St. Louis mayoral candidate. Seriously, this woman has some excellent ideas for fleshing out art infrastructure in St. Louis, and we aren’t just saying that because she’s a figurative painter. Martinez marries the cultural outputs of the past to talk about her concerns of the present. Lizzy advocates for women’s and animal rights in works that have traditionally given the male advantage, and reflects on both the hardships and accomplishments women face. She channels traditional techniques while considering the human form with a pointed, feminist perspective through symbolism, humor, and tension. An alumni of Boston University and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and Brand Boeshaar awardee, Fellow of the VCCA, VSC, and two time RAC Artist Support grantee, Martinez has been reviewed in the Boston Globe and exhibited in Ireland and the United States including Suffolk University, UMSL, BU, as well as the Figge Art Museum, Danforth Museum of Art, and presently the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. You can check out her latest show Seeing Red at the Contemporary Art Museum’s Teen Curation program, September 7- December 30, and you can find a brief snipped of the soundscape from said show at the link above.
Margaret Keller’s Riverbend Opens September 22 at the Gateway Arch
Margaret Keller’s artwork Riverbend opens Saturday, September 22, from 2-5pm at the Gateway Arch. The silver, mirror-like, 105 foot-long representation of the navigable Missouri River as the Gateway to the West, references the Arch and activates the space. Opening events include a hands-on activity for all, The Sappington Creek Bluegrass Band, and food trucks. Rain date is Sunday, September 30, 2-5pm. RSVP to the opening here.
Margaret Keller’s Riverbend in Alive Magazine
Check out Rikki Byrd of Alive Magazine’s a feature on our latest Public Works Project recipient Margaret Keller and her Riverbend installation. Riverbend will open in September on Ely Smith Square.
Critical Conversations – A Matter of Taste- Video Now Available
Thanks to all who came out for our most recent Critical Conversation- A Matter of Taste. In particular, thanks to our panel James McAnally, Jessica Baran, and Elizabeth Wolfson! These three took on critical agency, taste, canon, and dug into their own critical and organizational presuppositions with regard to supporting artists and furthering and supporting creative practice. Critical Mass would also like to thank The Luminary, and all of you who engaged with our panel either digitally or otherwise.
