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New Voices on West Coast Art

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Category: The Why

  • The Why

John Baldessari and Bad Photography

  • by Natalie Krick
  • Posted on July 14, 2022July 14, 2022

Seattle-based photographer Natalie Krick on making her own rules about good photography.

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  • The Why

An Endless Pursuit to Describe the World in Watercolor

  • by Alexa Grambush
  • Posted on June 29, 2022June 29, 2022

Artist Alexa Grambush uses painting to understand the world and its complexities.

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an ellipse followed by an exclamation point in a bold black font.
  • The Why

Aaron Shurin’s Poetic Punctuation

  • by Douglas Weissman
  • Posted on May 10, 2022May 10, 2022

A writer discusses how an unlikely combination of punctuation changed his writing forever.

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A square blank piece of paper attached to a wall with small, thin metal pins.
  • The Why

Tom Friedman’s 1000 Hours of Staring

  • by Amelia Rina
  • Posted on January 18, 2022January 18, 2022

How a blank piece of paper inspired Variable West’s founder to be an art critic and writer.

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New voices on West Coast art: exhibition reviews, artist interviews, and more

  • See you in 2023
    by Variable West
    December 22, 2022
    A note from our founder about what Variable West has planned for 2023.
  • Exit interview with PICA’s Executive Director Victoria Frey
    by Variable West
    December 7, 2022
    We talked to the Portland-based trailblazing director about her time at PICA and what the institute is looking for in it's next Executive Director.
  • Deconstructive Acts—from Oregon to Connecticut
    by Laurel V. McLaughlin
    November 22, 2022
    Stelo + Variable West Art Writing Resident Laurel V. McLaughlin examines how artists deconstruct nationalist acts.
  • Leveraging Strengths, Moving Forward: Elena Gross and Kimberley Acebo Arteche Interviewed
    by Roula Seikaly
    November 17, 2022
    Roula Seikaly talks to the two co-directors of Berkeley Art Center about how they approach collaboration, creating meaningful life-work balance, and how BAC welcomes diverse audiences.
  • Q&A with Ellen Garvens
    by Variable West
    October 13, 2022
    Sponsored: We talked to the Seattle-based artist about her work in the exhibition Holding Unsteady at Koplin Del Rio in Seattle. 
  • Introducing our next Cliff Notes columnists
    by Variable West
    October 3, 2022
    We're thrilled to introduce you to our next four columnists! Meet Gabrielle Lawrence in Southern California, Christopher Alam in Northern California, Demian DinéYahzi' in Oregon, and Sharon Arnold in Washington.
  • Emily Yong Beck: Spoonful of Sugar at New Image Art, Los Angeles
    by Sharmin Rahman
    September 14, 2022
    In Spoonful of Sugar, Emily Yong Beck asks: What is beneath the veil of beauty that we buy into?
  • One Map Stapled Together
    by Calllum Angus
    September 7, 2022
    "One Map Stapled Together" is excerpted from Sex Weather Climate Death, a longer work of fragmented art and climate writing by Callum Angus.
  • SURVEY
    by Variable West
    August 29, 2022
  • Love Letter to Ben Cuevas
    by Jaelynn Walls
    August 11, 2022
    Fiber sculptures explore gendered constructs, feminist ideologies, and the restraints of the body.
  • VW Sticker Contest!
    by Variable West
    August 8, 2022
    We're making stickers and want your art!
  • The Casual Intimacy of Women Caring for Women: Anne Buckwalter at Friends Indeed and Rebecca Camacho Presents
    by Danica Sachs
    August 4, 2022
    In the two-venue exhibition, Buckwalter’s domestic scenes have a revolutionary proposition: what would a world of care and support for the needs of all women look like?
  • The Power of Discrete Things: Ricki Dwyer at Anglim/Trimble in San Francisco
    by Maddie Klett
    July 29, 2022
    Ricki Dwyer's vast textiles and small sculptures examine the gravity of human relationships.
  • An Invitation Into Intimacy 
    by Luiza Lukova
    July 26, 2022
    Stelo + Variable West Art Writing Resident Lusi Lukova considers the radical potential for care in text-based art.
  • Traveling West: Art and Cars in the 2022 Whitney Biennial
    by Brandon Sward
    July 19, 2022
    LA-based artists bring West Coast car culture to New York City.
  • John Baldessari and Bad Photography
    by Natalie Krick
    July 14, 2022
    Seattle-based photographer Natalie Krick on making her own rules about good photography.
  • Flirting With the Uncontrollable: Peter Gronquist at Winston Wächter Fine Art in Seattle
    by Sharon Arnold
    July 7, 2022
    Felted wool, steel, river rocks, and sound combine to illustrate the vulnerability of all life.
  • An Endless Pursuit to Describe the World in Watercolor
    by Alexa Grambush
    June 29, 2022
    Artist Alexa Grambush uses painting to understand the world and its complexities.
  • We Vessels of Existence: Jesse Mockrin at Night Gallery
    by Jaushua Rombaoa
    June 23, 2022
    Religious images question the multifaceted nature of human lives.
  • A person with long brown hair and markings all over their face, representing the plans of a plastic surgeon, lifts their cheeks with their hands. The words "Make Me Look Natural" are above their face in paint.
    Who Do I Think I Am? Lynn Hershman Leeson at Altman Siegel
    by Max Blue
    June 7, 2022
    A multi-media artist on the West Coast gets up close and personal with their viewers, unsettling the notion of a fixed identity.
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