How do you become an icon? Marisol was able to navigate popular culture with more than the usual canniness. Not only an iconic artist within the Pop art movement, she turned media to her advantage and circumvented the traps set out for women artists at the time. But how do you influence people’s perceptions of you? How do you use presentation to tell a story? Costume professional Cassie Elsaesser takes us through the making of an icon from the outside in.  

The following text is included in the catalogue for the special exhibition Electric Op, on view through January 26, 2025. Ruth Leavitt studied painting before turning to mainframe computers in 1967, making her one of the first women to make computer art (along with Vera Molnar, whose writing is included below). In 1976, she published Artist and Computer, an anthology of artists’ statements that she gathered from her fellow pioneers and an invaluable resource on the early history of computer art. 

The following text is included in the catalogue for the special exhibition Electric Op, on view through January 26, 2025. Dr. Gerald Oster was a biophysicist whose interest in moiré effects led him to becoming one of the major practitioners and proponents of “Optical art.” 

The following text is included in the catalogue for the special exhibition Electric Op, on view through January 26, 2025. The abstract painters Eduardo Mac Entyre and  Miguel Ángel Vidal inaugurated the Arte Generativo  (Generative Art) movement with this manifesto in 1960. 

Guest author Stephen Fredman discusses poet Robert Creeley’s Presences: A Text for Marisol and how the making of the book promotes immersion in Marisol’s art and in Creeley’s language. 

Guest author and artist Casey Reas discusses his research of Op art and his inspirations from the movement, defining approaches to generative art, and the process behind his work METASOTO, 2022. 

Tenet is a short story written by guest author Forest Lovullo. 

From the serene and idealized depictions of the Madonna and Child in early Christian iconography to the raw and provocative representations in contemporary works, the portrayal of motherhood throughout art history has undergone a gradual shift—a shift that illuminates societal attitudes towards women and their ever-evolving roles. 

Narsiso Martinez: From These Hands/De Estas Manos sparks dialogue about food systems in the art museum. While sauntering through the gallery, visitors must contend with specific people who underpin America’s food supply. By bringing our distant and opaque food system into startling relief, the exhibition forces the viewer to wonder who grew their oranges, where, and under what conditions. 

Guest author Meagan Wilson explores the techniques of Clyfford Still and details her experiences interpreting the artist's abstract work.

Narsiso Martinez’s artwork honors the work done by immigrant labor to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the homes of millions of Americans. Alongside that artwork, we are sharing a series of poems from the farmworker community. 

Narsiso Martinez’s artwork honors the work done by immigrant laborers to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the homes of millions of Americans. Alongside that artwork, we are sharing a series of poems from the farmworker community. 

Narsiso Martinez’s artwork honors the work done by immigrant labor to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the homes of millions of Americans. Alongside that artwork, we are sharing a series of poems from the farmworker community. 

"Cameras don't make things beautiful; they don't make things at all. They're simply extensions of our fixations, magnifiers of our desires, pointed at things we find beautiful. The result: a photograph."

Phyllis Thompson is one of the leading matriarchs of artmaking in the region, earning wide respect in our community among colleagues, educators, makers, and appreciators alike. Thompson is soft-spoken and not a self-promoter by nature, preferring the studio environment to the bustle of art-world events. Luckily, the Buffalo AKG has no qualms about championing the work of incredible artists. Public Art Curator Aaron Ott discusses recent works of Thompson's that have been acquired by the museum.

Dr. Barbara Seals Nevergold is an educator, historian, and community and political activist who founded the Uncrowned Queens Institute in 1999 to promote the collection, preservation, and dissemination of the individual histories of women, women's organizations, and women's collective history; and to teach and educate women on the use of technology to preserve and disseminate their histories. We asked her what role art can play to combat racism. This was her response.