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Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: Christine Tien Wang’s History Meme

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christine tien wang history meme photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

What happens when something designed to disappear into the endless scroll of the Internet is turned into a large, meticulously painted work of art? That’s one of the questions behind Christine Tien Wang’s History Meme (2022 ) an acrylic painting that manages to be funny, unsettling, and surprisingly thoughtful all at once.

Measuring 86 by 72 inches, History Meme is part of Wang’s ongoing practice of translating Internet memes into paintings. The work was first exhibited in her 2022 show fake stupid, queen of cringe at Galerie Nagel Draxler in Berlin, and was later included in the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Los Angeles exhibition Ordinary People: Photorealism and the Work of Art since 1968, which is where this photo was taken. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Christine Tien Wang’s History Meme →

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: The Candy Store By Richard Estes

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candy store richard estes photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

At first glance, The Candy Store (1969) by Richard Estes looks like a photograph. But spend a moment with it, and the illusion begins to unfold into something far more complex.

Painted at the height of the emerging Photorealism movement, The Candy Store captures a New York City storefront window filled with jars of sweets, signage, and fluorescent lighting. Yet what makes the painting so compelling isn’t just the meticulous detail — it’s the layered reflections that transform a simple shop window into a study of perception. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: The Candy Store By Richard Estes →

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: Chanel Lipsticks By Nur Koçak

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chanel lipsticks by nur koçak photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

There’s a certain kind of image that doesn’t just sell a product—it sells a fantasy. In her 1988 painting Chanel Lipsticks, Turkish photorealist Nur Koçak captures that phenomenon with striking precision — and then quietly dismantles it.

At first glance, the work looks like a page torn from a glossy magazine. A lineup of pristine lipsticks, unmistakably tied to Chanel, gleams under perfect lighting. The surfaces are immaculate, the colors rich, the composition seductive. Everything about it signals luxury, control, and desire. It’s the kind of image designed to make you want — not just the lipstick, but the life it promises.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Chanel Lipsticks By Nur Koçak →

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: Happiness by Victor Estrada

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happiness by victor estrada photo by gail worley
Photos By Gail

At first glance, Happiness (1994–95) by Victor Estrada seems to promise exactly what its title suggests: something bright, buoyant, and easy to love. The sculpture greets viewers with a riot of color and a playful, almost cartoonish presence. But as is often the case with Estrada’s work, things get more complicated the longer you look. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Happiness by Victor Estrada →

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: Kelly Akashi, Monument (Regeneration)

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kelly akashi monument regeneration photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

Kelly Akashi’s work often explores the impermanence of the natural world. In 2024‘s Monument (Regeneration), the artist draws inspiration from nature’s regenerative resilience. A delicately latticed borosilicate-glass sphere – balanced between fragility and strength – rests a top a weathered, steel plinth reminiscent of a tree trunk.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Kelly Akashi, Monument (Regeneration) →