In an era when organized religion is losing its hold on the industrialized world, it may seem strange that curators would want to reengage with spirituality when considering Western Modernism of the past one hundred years. Stranger still that a museum focused on exploring the contemporary shape of Jewish life would take an interest in exhibiting work by practicing Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and New Age[…..]

For the first time in 26 years, an overview of Kurt Schwitters’ work is touring the US, and the Berkeley Art Museum is the exhibition’s only west-coast venue.  Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage spans the artist’s output between 1918 and 1947, and includes collages, assemblages, sculpture, and the reconstruction of the architectural/sculptural installation Merzbau, which was destroyed when the Allies bombed Hannover in 1943.  Schwitters[…..]