artscope magazine: January/February 2010 Welcome Statement: Brian Goslow, managing editor Letters to the Editor roundtable - Three Professionals. One Question. cornered: a conversation with an art exhibition attendee FEATURED ARTIST GEORGE NICK - Reflections of an impermanent world Not Your Typical Photo Place - PHOTOPLACE GALLERY TARO SHINODA: LUNAR REFLECTIONS ODDLY PRETTY PAINTINGS - HANNAH COLE TANGIBLE EXPERIENCE: BRIAN KEITH STEPHENS Belonging and Longing - Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons: Works on Paper FIXED CHAOS at Montserrat SILENT CIRCLES: THE HEALING - Barbara Gagel FEATURE - Evolution: Five Decades of Printmaking by David Driskell FEATURE - Historic Japanese Kiri-E and Contemporary Tibetan Thangka GOLDEN LEGACY: Original Art From 65 Years Of Golden Books DECEIVINGLY SIMPLE - Charles Duback: Collages EMMA AMOS: HEROES AND FOLK GHOSTS OF THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE: ZUGUNRUHE wanderlust - The (Right) Brainpower Triangle: The Finest Free Art in Somerville and Cambridge community - THE KATE: A Little Gem With A Movie Star Name industry focus - BUY WHAT YOU LOVE education - SPACE TO DISCOVER: MASSART/FAWC LOW RESIDENCY MFA Capsule Previews

TANGIBLE EXPERIENCE: BRIAN KEITH STEPHENS George Gerard Axelle Fine Arts Galerie 91 Newbury Street Boston Through January 31 BRIAN KEITH STEPHENS PAINTS PEOPLE, LANDSCAPES, ANIMALS AND OTHER COMMON OBJECTS THAT ARE IN HIS LIFE. HIS PAINTINGS AIM TO CONVEY EXPERIENCE - TO SHOW, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A COW CAN STILL HAVE AN INHERENT VISUAL AND EXPERIENTIAL DEPTH, AND SHOULD THEREFORE BE REEVALUATED. Originally studying at Western Connecticut State University, Stephens completed his undergraduate education at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 1998. Afterward, he studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumier in Paris, and received a Masters of Fine Art in Painting from City College of New York. His knowledge of color and how it can interact with subject matter is finely tuned, and is a major component of what evokes differing interpretations of his work by viewers. Mitch Plotkin, Axelle’s gallery director in Boston, said of Stephens: “His use of color is as sophisticated as that of any artist out there.” A good example of this sophistication is in ‘Tonight I watch through my window,’ where Stephens has weaved purples and violets through the horse, the horse’s shadow and the background. The purples and violets serve to unify the whole image, as well as give a distinctive mood to the horse. When looked at closely, these colors can isolate themselves into abstract groups, which give the painting a sense of dual purpose. Does the abstraction serve as a gateway into the depth of experience that Stephens aims to express? Read the entire article in our magazine pages...