VCU’s Third “Genius” in 5 Years

When sculptor Tara Donovan was awarded a MacArthur “Genius Grant” just a couple of weeks ago, she became the third Virginia Commonwealth University grad to receive the prestigious award in 5 years. Go Rams! Donovan has made a name for herself by transforming everyday, man-made materials into natural entities. Her secret weapon: repetition. In her hands, straws become glaciers, toothpicks become haystacks, tape turns into bubbles. This spring she had an installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she turned Mylar tape into round bubbles, climbing the walls like an infestation.

Donovan received an MFA in sculpture in ‘99 from VCU. Since then, the program has been ranked no. 1 by U.S. News. Donovan follows in the footsteps of fellow VCU alumni Teresita Fernandez and Daisy Youngblood, who received MacArthur Fellowships in 2005 and 2003, respectively, both sculptors. Fernandez received her M.F.A. from VCU in 1992, and Youngblood studied at VCU in the 1960s. The first major survey of Donovan’s work opens at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston this month. Locally, gallery director Bev Reynolds, was the first to notice and show her work at Reynolds Gallery. Below is a detail of Untitled, 2006, a work made of paper plates and glue.

For More:

See my short  review of “Tara Donovan at The Met “in Richmond Magazine.

For more on VCU’s sculpture program, read “Inside the Studio,” a cover story I wrote for Style Weekly.

W magazine’s September feature on Tara and the home she built in Brooklyn.

The New York Times Sept. 23, Arts section story on Tara: “The Genius of Little Things.”

Death Becomes Him

Richmond artist Noah Scalin just released this amazing book, Skulls. It might sound strange but it’s actually quite beautiful. It all began when he decided to create a skull each day for a year and record them on his blog www.skulladay.com. I ran into him at Richmond’s First Friday Artwalk last week and he said he’s always had a fascination with skulls (he showed me a skull ring and his skull chest tattoo to prove it). The images in the book are fun and surprising - skulls made of soap, police caution tape, petroleum jelly, cotton balls, feathers, hair, coco puffs for gods sake! Pictured above are the vegetable and Vegemite skulls. (A fan from Australia sent him a jar.)  A testament to creativity and finding art in the everyday. There’s something about art made from everyday things that grabs me. Now it’s your turn, the next phase of his project is getting people to submit their own.