Rhode Island’s South Coast has been
building a growing reputation as both
a dream weekend escape destination
and a home to a burgeoning
community of artists ready to leave
their mark on the New England
region. Four of these artists are
featured in “QUARTET: Harmony and
Dissonance,” which runs through
August 12 at Gallery 4, 3848 Main
Road in Tiverton 4 Corners. Sarah
Benham’s bold paintings first seem
recognizable, then seem to change
forms the closer you get to them.
Jane Tuckerman’s multi-media works
channel the ghosts and spirits of
their subject matter, originating from
distant, rarely experienced locations
like the Killing Fields of Angkor or
the breathtaking Ganges River. Susan
Strauss’ impressionistic and abstract
works feature graceful brushwork
while Gayle Wells Mandle’s abstract,
mysterious — and sometimes
humorous — images are the end
result of four years spent in oil-rich
Qatar; they capture the stark disparity
between the haves and havenots
in a male-dominated society.
In nearby Bristol, Rhode Island,
Gallery 11 Fine Art at 11 State Street
will showcase its portfolio of artists,
including Jacklyn William, Marjorie
Jensen and Ellen Blomgren, in its
“Summertime Blues” exhibition,
which opens on July 7 and continues
through Labor Day Weekend, closing
September 2. If you want to get a
group sample of the area’s gallery
offerings, Bristol and Warren Art
Nights are held on the last Thursday
of each month through November,
with trolleys running between the
two towns’ galleries and studios
from 5-9 p.m. For full details,
visit artnightbristolwarren.org.
So many works comprise the “Joan
Backes: Home” exhibition that
it’s being held in two locations.
The larger show is on view through
September 3 at the Newport Art
Museum, 76 Bellevue Avenue in
Newport, Rhode Island. As the title
suggests, viewers are invited to
contemplate the meaning of home
through works both large — including
a life-size frame structure — and
small. Mini-scale plexi, stick, stilt
and shredded paper houses are joined
by a neon, wall-mounted home. A
second show opens on July 12 and
continues through August 12 at the
Dedee Shattuck Gallery, 865 Main
Road in Westport, Mass.; its works
include a wide variety of media, from
handmade chalkboard, linoleum and
neon to Stonehenge paper graphite
drawings and acrylic paintings.
A dozen contemporary artists whose
work celebrates the human figure in
gigantic proportions is featured in
“Big as Life,” which can be seen
through July 29 at the Lyme Art
Association, 90 Lyme Street in Old
Lyme, Conn. Harvey Dinnerstein,
Hollis Dunlap, Don Gale, Dan
Gheno, Deane G. Keller, Tom Loepp,
Mary Beth McKenzie, Tom Root,
Nomi Silverman, Robin Smith and
Brian Craig-Wankiiri are featured
in the show, as is Jerry Weiss, a
contributing editor for “The Artist’s
Magazine,” and curator of exhibition.
Many of the participants’ works have
rarely been seen in the New England
region; the gallery, in announcing
the show, stated that their pieces
“explore decorative, atmospheric,
lyrical, sensual, and socially
relevant aspects of the clothed
and nude figure. What is common
to all the works are excellence
of craftsmanship and an honest
exploration of the human subject.”
Susan Stoops, Worcester Art Museum
Interim Chief Curator and Curator of
Contemporary Art at the Worcester
Art Museum, Dana Salvo, Clark
Gallery Director (and photographer),
and Jamie Coyle, certified art
appraiser and president of Saighead
Incorporated, joined together to
curate the Fitchburg Art Museum’s
77th Regional Exhibition of Art
53
NOT READY TO MAKE NICE
GUERRILLA GIRLS
IN THE ART WORLD AND BEYOND
Montserrat Gallery
August 25 - December 15, 2012
Academic Symposium: October 26 + 27
Keynote by Guerrilla Girls
23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
www.montserrat.edu
M - F 10 - 5, Th 10 - 8, Sa 12 - 5
and Craft. “The show is dynamic,
eclectic, and power-packed with
artworks that range from the realistic
to abstraction, from the humorous to
the serious, from the experimental
to the conceptual,” said Fitchburg
Art Museum Director Peter Timms.
“There is something here that will
inspire everyone.” The 100-plus
artists show was first created to
encourage the region’s creative
talent, drawing from a 25-mile
radius of the museum, which is located
at 25 Merriam Parkway in Fitchburg,
Mass., a short drive off of Route 2. The
exhibition runs through September 2.
(For more Capsule Previews of exhibitions
taking place in July and August,
please visit the artscope magazine
blog at artscopemagazine.com)
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