Weekly US Arts Agenda: India's Comics, Museo del Barrio, Shepard Fairey, Arshile Gorky

(Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

From the West Coast's ‘Heroes and Villains' to the East Coast's ‘Hope' and ‘Obey poster art street artist, Shepard Fairey, this week finds a range of traditional art and modern imagery and a combination of both. Also, El Museo del Barrio and Armenian artist Arshile Gorky.

Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India's Comics
October 17, 2009-February 7, 2010
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Mythological superheroes and archenemies are depicted in traditional South Asian painting and sculpture. This show explores vintage comic books and today's graphic books to illustrate how computer design combines and contrasts with hand-drawn imagery to show the powerful pantheon of ancient gods, goddesses and demons reincarnated as action heroes and villains in troubled times.
http://www.lacma.org

El Museo del Barrio
Reopening October 17
New York City
After the renovation and expansion of gallery space and courtyard for the museum's 40th anniversary, highlights from the 6,500 pieces of the permanent collection spanning 800 years, "Voces y Visiones," are on display. The new exhibition, "Nexus: New York 1900-1945: Encounters in the Modern Metropolis," examines pioneering Caribbean and Latin American artists in New York City from 1900 to 1942. With the history of the museum connected to the politics and community of Puerto Rican immigrants in East Harlem, the artwork celebrates Latino cultural in the urban landscape.
http://www.elmuseo.org

Shepard Fairey Supply and Demand: 20 Year Retrospective
Oct 18, 2009-Jan 31, 2010
Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Street artist Shepard Fairey opens his retrospective at the Andy Warhol Museum with a talk and party. Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, the show features posters, prints, stencils, and illustrations covering 20 years of work by the LA-based graphic artist. Inspired by Warhol and Keith Haring, Fairey's work often includes "appropriated" imagery and propaganda-style design, including his renowned "Hope" poster for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, which was acquired by the National Gallery of Art, DC. His work is also in the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian, and London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
http://www.warhol.org/

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective
October 21, 2009-January 10, 2010
Philadelphia Museum of Art
This retrospective of 200 works examines the work of this Armenian-born artist, a seminal figure in modern art and considered the first abstract expressionist. An exploration of the interrupted career of Arshile Gorky (1904-1948), the show displays paintings, sculpture, prints, and drawings-some shown for the first time. A highlight includes a series of "creation chambers," based on the artist's description of his studio in Union Square, showing his powerful, best-known paintings next to preparatory drawings. It travels to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, June 6-Sept. 20, 2010.
http://www.philamuseum.org