Christopher Pelham
Writing
Before encountering the artworks themselves, the moment I stepped into the venue, I felt as though I were descending into the deep sea.
A profound stillness emerged—the kind found when one sinks toward the ocean floor, where only one’s inner pulse can be heard. I noticed my breath slowing, and I simply watched it do so. From the space itself, I sensed a quiet invitation: you can go deeper. At the same time, I felt momentarily overwhelmed by the intensity of the energy. I sat down, closed my eyes, and listened to the presence lingering in the air.
After about thirty minutes, I found myself guided toward a single work.
It was New Birth by Bassim Al-Shaker (b. 1986, Baghdad), an artist currently based in New York.
https://onlylove.art
#bassimalshaker #aichitriennale #aichitriennale2025 #megumimiyamoto #exhibition #painting #artjournalism
The creations of Japanese artist Mariko Mori, a respected and well-known figure in the international art world since the 1990s, have never seemed more present, needed, and timely than now. Why? In an era saturated with stimuli, her work invites us to slow down, suspend our assumptions, and enter a quieter relationship with ourselves, one another, and the world. Her art calls us back to what she simply names Radiance, the light and interconnectedness that underlie everything. http://onlylove.art #seankelly #seankellygallery #marikomori #moriartmuseum #guggenheimmuseum #spiritualart #exhibition #artjournalism #japaneseart #radiance #japaneseartist
New on https://onlylove.art — writer Yasuko Kasaki explores the Aichi Triennale, which brought together a diverse group of non-Western artists/group with twenty-six from Japan to respond to the horrific carnage and environmental destruction rampant around the world. The Triennale reexamines the serious issues that lie between humans and the environment, not from the anthropocentric perspectives of nation, territory, or ethnicity, but from a geological timeline. Rather than focusing on the extreme dichotomy of ashes (apocalypticism) or roses (optimism), it attempts to unravel the world through nuanced thinking in the space between.
"Among the countless fragments of memory vying to become the most precious, the one that lingers deepest within me is of a morning by the sea. In that fragment, I see myself sitting in a small coracle, watching an old starfish struggling in its quiet encounter with death." — @hai_yen_ho https://onlylove.art/archives/1863 #travelwriting #bìnhthuận #haiyenho #onlyloveart #fishermen
We`re delighted to introduce a new series, Art of Life: Artists Who Create Their Own Lifestyles —
Conversations with Aine Fujioka. The first article in the series is a conversation with musician Todd Marston.
This series explores how artists forge unique paths in a world without set rules. Inspired by candid conversations with fellow creatives, the series delves into the choices, challenges, and freedoms of building a life in the arts. As our work landscape changes, these stories offer insight and inspiration for anyone seeking to create a meaningful, self-directed, and sustainable way of living. https://onlylove.art
#artistlifestyle #ainefujioka #toddmarston #musicianslife #musicianslifestyle
We have a new article out by @hai_yen_ho inspired by her recent first trip to New York. Check it out on https://onlylove.art/archives/1796 #travelwriting #newyorkcity #newyork #homelessness #refugees #homelesspeople #onlyloveart #haiyenho
Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart died on June 9th, 2025. There have been a lot of narratives about his life and death, but less about his music, particularly his under-appreciated 1973 album, Fresh. True to its title, Fresh is lighter, more relaxed, and much more personal than any music Sly had written to date. It`s also much funkier, as Sly had in turn embraced the deep grooves of the Bootsy Collins-era JBs of James Brown. Read the new article by Rob Clough at https://onlylove.art #slystone #slyandthefamilystone #musicjournalism #robclough
Rema Hasumi’s music rises to higher ground, but it navigates deep and turbulent waters to get there. That journey has taken on new dimensions in recent years, as her journey through motherhood has reshaped both her life and art, leading to the release of her new album, Mothers. https://onlylove.art #remahasumi #motherartist #womeninmusic #sythesizer #freejazz #pianomusic #motherhoodjourney #motherhood #mothers
We have a new article out by guest writer Hạnh Dương, who is currently a student at Hanoi University, on the works of celebrated Vietnamese painter Nguyễn Tuấn Cường and the traditional, yet evolving, art of lacquer painting.https://onlylove.art/archives/1703. #sơnmài #lacquerpainting #manziartspace #nguyentuancuong #artsjournalism #painting #artwriting
Today, we debut a beautiful new travel writing series by Vietnam-based writer Hai Yen Ho. An Inveterate explorer, she moves effortlessly between rural and urban, wealthy and poor, fearlessly following her intuition. Her journeys and resulting stories chart the conflict between traditional and modern ways of life, spotlighting marginalized voices and finding beauty in unexpected places.
#haiyenho #travelwriting #travelwriter #onlyloveart #vietnam #singapore
https://onlylove.art
https://onlylove.art
Composer and pianist Yukari Sekiya’s 関谷 友加里 first new album in years will be released in April. In our latest article, we spotlight how this mother of two, one with a disability, continues to grow, inspire, and make the world more beautiful.
#studiotbone #yukarisekiya #womeninmusic #womeninjazz #jazzjournalism #musicjournalism #musicphotography #関谷加里 #osaka #osakajazz
We’ve got a new article up today about our visit last April to Gotanjoji, a newish Sōtō Zen temple in Shoden-cho, Echizen City, known informally as a cat temple. People visit for the cats, but we were also intrigued by the temple’s history, such as it is.
While many temples in Japan are hundreds of years old, Gotanjoji was founded in 2002! Despite the temple’s young age, its history dates back to the late 13th century Zen monk Keizan Jōkin 瑩山紹瑾, who was born in Echizen and was, I discovered, instrumental in opening Zen to women. Gotanjoji took it one step — or four? — further, bringing cats into the spiritual practice.
We discovered that the essence of their spiritual practice is experiential and can be described as witnessing the Buddha mind in other sentient beings until one awakens to its presence in one’s own mind. This closely mirrors the teaching of A Course in Miracles:
“When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself. As you think of him, you will think of yourself.” (T-8.III.4:1-3)
“The light in one awakens it in all. And when you see it in your brother, you are remembering for everyone.” (T-21.I.10:6-7)
Artist Hiroki Otsuka, whose collection of sumi-e cat paintings CRS exhibited several years ago, was kind enough to create the cover illustration. Today happens to be Hiroki’s birthday so happy birthday, Hiroki!
#gotanjoji #cats #templecats #zen #sotozen #echizen #Japan #travelwriting #hirokiotsuka
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