Category: Reviews

Review: RGH Oil Paint

RGH Oils is a small manufacturer that promotes its wide-range of lead-based whites. I think that is smart. There is an opportunity here for small suppliers to fill the gap left as the larger companies cut production–and raise prices to lurid heights. After using the paints from my first order (shipped instantly, by the way),…

Review: 43rd Student Show The Galleries at CSU

This is my second review of a Cleveland State U. student exhibition. Like last year’s show, the quality is student-grade but compares well with student shows at higher profile schools, like the Cleveland Institute of Art. The biggest difference between the two is that students at the latter produce more formal conceptional pieces. Also like last year’s show there…

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez died last Thursday. The great writer was 87. The Colombian writer won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. Marquez was a leading practitioner of magic realism, which is style that incorporates fantastic or magical elements into otherwise normal situations. That is a poor label because is assumes that reality is a known.…

Book Review: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (audio version)

“You mock, dude!” Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a lively philosopher and prodigious writer known for his biting wit. Russell was deeply involved with the social issues of his day and spent time in prison for his efforts–for his pacifists views during World War I, and again for his anti-nuke protests in his 80’s(!). He was stripped…

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Tom Hudson

I updated the Oil Paint Brand post with new information and a rating for Michael Harding paints.

Movie Review: Inspector Bellamy

The French language film Inspector Bellamy (2009) brings together two greats of French cinema: Gérard Depardieu, and Claude Chabrol. Inspector Bellamy was the 50th and final film directed by Chabrol. Inspector Bellamy is a stately-paced whodunit. The renowned inspector Bellamy (Depardieu) and his wife (played by the wonderful, Mary Steenburgen look alike Marie Bunel) are vacationing…

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Tom Hudson

Frequent readers might have noticed the dwindling number of reviews of Cleveland galleries. I’ve been exploring the Cleveland art scene–such as it is–for two years and my early sense of discovery has long since dissipated. The NE Ohio galleries, like most of those outside the major art markets, are dedicated (speaking broadly) to academic art. By that I mean art produced by university and college professors and administrators–the ‘academy.’ This is not the place to get into a discussion about the quality of art produced in that environment, except to say that the quality is uneven and somewhat predictable. The short version is that I’m starting to see repeat shows of artists I’ve already reviewed or chose not to review. I won’t say there will be no more Cleveland gallery reviews, just that I no longer make regular visits to the galleries (I still visit the museum every week).

Quick review: Brinsley Tyrrell at Busta Gallery

At first sight, I was underwhelmed by Brinsley Tyrrell’s show, Ohio Lands Forever, at Busta. The large-format pieces with their electric colors and ropey splatters struck me as gimmicky and shrill. Tyrrell’s enamel on steel technique threatened to skid out of control–obsession with process has shipwrecked many artists. But after a couple of processions around…