Art Archives - Page 19 of 36 - Interesting Ideas

Side-entrance-to-the-compound-St.-Eoms-Pasaquan-2016

November 22, 2016 Bill Swislow

Inside The Land of Pasaquan

Pasaquan, one of the world’s great art sites, lies tucked away in rural west central Georgia, near the little town of Buena Vista. Pasquan was the creation of Eddie Owens Martin, a local boy who went away to live the low life in New York City (by his own account), but came back and created a masterpiece. That Martin was a bit of a crackpot is hard to deny. A fortune-telling ex-street-hustler, he created a personal religion, enshrined himself as a saint and turned his family farm into a holy place. The strength of his vision is so great, though,

November 3, 2016 Bill Swislow

A World in Salt & Pepper Shakers

Salt and pepper shakers pack concentrated meanings into tiny packages — miniature appliances, little foods, dwarf monuments, pint-size people, tiny bits of abstraction. They can be elegant or kitschy, modern or backward looking, but at best they resonate in a myriad of ways. Visit the Gallery

October 23, 2016 Bill Swislow

Open House Chicago 2016

Some highlights from the October 16, 2016, Open House Chicago.

October 15, 2016 Bill Swislow

Prairie Style Masterpiece

Carl Schurz High School is one of Chicago’s most beautiful school buildings and was included on the 2016 Open House Chicago tour.

October 9, 2016 Bill Swislow

Llangollen’s Carved Wonderland

Wales’ Plas Newydd was the seat of the famous Ladies of Llangollen, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby. Inside is their collection of old wood carvings from the 18th century and earlier (but no photos allowed!). Outside the house is covered with carvings, some placed after the ladies lived there and coated with heavy black paint. It’s a spectacular home in a spectacular setting. Plus, the story of the ladies themselves is fascinating — Anglo-Irish gentry who eloped twice (they were caught both times but only forced apart the first) and settled together in the Welsh countryside, where they lived a

September 26, 2016 Bill Swislow

The Decorated Gyros

The painter of this sign for the Kebab Centre, Camden Passage, London, was not concerned with rendering a realistic gyros but rather embellishing it with grillwork-style details. Unique among the 500-plus images in The Gyros Project.

September 8, 2016 Bill Swislow

Bizarre Bazaars: Yet More Crazy Store Names

One more installment (for now) from my backlog of crazy store names. Find more than 500 other great names at the main Bizarre Bazaars hall of fame. Also: The Angry Chair hair salon, Newington, Connecticut Babies and Brats, Pawling, NY Bad Design, Switzerland Cafe Bong, Clark Street Card ‘N All, Closter, NJ Dead People’s Things, Denver, Colorado Heal N Cure, Northbrook, Illinois Here We Grow garden supplies, Hadley, Mass. Last Resort RV Park and Campground, Nashville, Indiana No Pork, Brooklyn, NY Stuff-It Storage, Hadley, Mass.

August 23, 2016 Bill Swislow

Out of the Way Folk Art Fence

This pique assiette folk-art fence in Chicago’s wonderful Bowmanville neighborhood appears to date to 1973. It fronts a nondescript house on a nondescript, low-traffic street. Very few people driving by on the nearest thoroughfare are likely to recognize that they just passed an important folk-art site.

August 18, 2016 Bill Swislow

Review: The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside

The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside by Ryann Ford My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a clever concept, with great photos and beautiful landscapes for a wonderful book. Highway rest areas are, for the later part of the 20th Century, what diners and motels were for the middle of it. They are (and were) easy to take for granted until they start disappearing — which is what Ryann Ford noticed and led her to this project. Getting nostalgic about rest areas takes some getting used to, but the ways she frames them in the

Crazy store names: OK-Restaurant-Archer-Avenue-near-Princeton

August 17, 2016 Bill Swislow

Bizarre Bazaars: More Crazy Store Names

A second installment from my backlog of interestingly named businesses. More bizarre bazaars to come soon. And 500 other greats names at the main Bizarre Bazaars hall of fame. Go to Bizarre Bazaars main page for 500-plus great names.