http://www.artscopemagazine.com/rss/sepoct2006.xml The September/October, 2006 issue of Artscope Magazine <p>Gurari Collections<br>91 Charles Street, #1<br>Boston</p><p>William W. Swan: Phenomenal Transparency: Beeswax, Rice Paper&hellip;Graphite<br>September 14 through October 8</p><p>Vico Fabbris: Botanicals Imagined<br>October 12 through November 5</p><p>Its modest fa&ccedil;ade scarcely hints at its interior holdings. As you enter the Gurari Collections, the passionate obsession of Russ Gerard, you are greeted by an array of images and objects that tantalize the imagination and intellect. The objects are unencumbered by the traditional explanatory wall texts, a conscious deletion by Gerard who invites the visitor to explore meaning on their own terms without inhibitions. If you are looking for the history and the context of the culture in which each print or object was created, you need merely to give an interested glance to Gerard who will indulge every question and captivate you with his breadth of knowledgee</p> Britt Beedenbender <p>Scargo Pottery &amp; Art Gallery<br> 30 Dr. Lord's Road<br> South Dennis, Massachusetts</p> <p>As you drive east along the winding and canopied passages of Route 6A on Cape Cod, there is a hairpin curve soon after the village of Dennis. As you hit it you must turn right with a leap of faith, for if you don&rsquo;t you will miss the small dirt road that leads you into the woods. Almost immediately the forest opens up to reveal Scargo Pottery &amp; Art Gallery, located atop a hill overlooking Scargo Lake. Here seven potters work seven days a week at the studio, display their efforts of their labor in the gallery, offer items for sale in the shop and invite visitors to explore the outdoor sculpture garden.</p> Britt Beedenbender <p>&ldquo;Photography Now&rdquo;<br> South Shore Art Center<br> 119 Ripley Road<br> Cohasset, Massachusetts<br> September 8 through October 20</p> <p>Committed to the belief &ldquo;that everyone deserves a chance at the arts,&rdquo; the South Shore Art Center has journeyed quite a distance from its &ldquo;art on a clothesline&rdquo; beginnings. Located in the picturesque town of Cohasset, the SSAC, which was founded in 1954, has billowed into a vibrant facility that boasts two spacious galleries, as well as two teaching studios for painting, ceramics, printmaking, and photography. In addition to an active exhibition schedule, the SSAC offers outreach programs and visiting artist workshops, such as a plein air workshop this October with artist Ken Auster.</p> Britt Beedenbender <p>MASS MoCA<br> 1040 MASS MoCA Way<br> North Adams, MA</p> <p>Carsten Hoeller: Amusement Park<br> Through October 30</p> <p>House of Oracles: Huang Yong Ping Retrospective<br> Through February 25, 2007</p> <p>Ahistoric Occasion: Artists Making History<br> Through April 22, 2007</p> <p>Each time I visit MASS MoCA, I leave feeling renewed and refreshed. There is a seductive unlikely charm about the vast acres of vaulted industrial brick that now serve contemporary art.&nbsp;Its many buildings and cavernous rooms have transformed themselves from factory floors into a vibrant hive of aesthetic vitality, a place where perspectives become inverted and the ordinary becomes outrageous.</p> Greg Morell <p>Chesterwood Estate and Museum<br> Williamsville Road<br> Stockbridge, MA</p> <p>Through October 15</p> <p>Creating the colossal seated Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial, the temple of American democracy at the base of Washington DC’s Capital Mall, must have been a task similar to that of Phidias when commissioned to execute the famed Statue of Zeus. The extravagance and expense of Phidias was rewarded with a 10-year exile from his beloved Greece. </p> Greg Morell <p>1776<br> The Lyric Stage Company of Boston<br> 140 Clarendon Street<br> Boston</p> <p>Through October 14</p> <p>Whether you are a tourist, a newcomer like myself, or a Boston native, it seems appropriate to experience “1776” in the Cradle Of Liberty. While based in Philadelphia, the main character in this most American of all dramas - John Adams, our first vice president under George Washington and our second president hails from Braintree.</p> Nancy L. Foster <p>American Repertory Theatre (in association with the SITI Company)<br> Loeb Drama Center<br> 64 Brattle Street<br> Cambridge, MA</p> <p>September 9 through October 7</p> <p>In this Anne Bogart directed production, Charles L. Mee has created an innovative piece of performance art like a 3-D pastiche or a Robert Rauschenberg Pop Art painting come to life. Elements of Americana and icons that have resonance for Americans play as important a role in this theatrical play as any of the characters. The audience is warmed by the depiction of good clean fun, American pastimes like eating chicken picnic lunches and roller-skating with a child’s carefree demeanor. One can almost taste the fresh squeezed lemonade in a Small Town, USA summertime, dozing on the porch swing, with the stars and stripes waving in the breeze.</p> Nancy L. Foster <p>Lanoue Fine Art<br> 160 Newbury Street<br> Boston</p> <p>September 9 through October 8</p> <p>June Stratton stages her premiere Boston exhibition this fall with “Nocturnes”, a tribute to evening escapades swathed in racy glamour. The bulk of her work is divided between barflies sprawling about swank lounges and 20-somethings drifting in shadowy pools. Both scenes are developed from a montage of photographs strung together using an open shutter on a digital camera. This method creates movement and endows each piece with a sense of being mid-plot in a sybaritic storyline.</p> Catherine Laferriere <p>October 21 and 22</p> <p>Led by the board of the Dorchester Arts Collaborative, the help of numerous arts and civic minded businesses, and, of course, the enthusiastic participation of Dorchester artists, themselves, Dorchester Open Studios is entering the second half of its first decade, and, according to one well-placed informant, it is smoking!</p> James Foritano <p>Martin Lawrence Galleries<br> 77 Newbury Street<br> Boston</p> <p>Through September 30</p> <p>Well known throughout the world, Ali Golkar has exhibited for over 25 years in Europe, Asia, and the United States. He brings a blended perspective to his work, rich with his Persian background as well as an intellectual curiosity. Golkar pursues his concepts through expressionism, often making one feel as though they are in a dreamscape where emotion is focal and logic is secondary.</p> George Gerard <p>Pepper Gallery<br> 38 Newbury Street<br> Boston</p> <p>Karen Moss: Coloring Book Hybrids: An Artist Reinterprets Childhood<br> September 8 through October 7</p> <p>Tabitha Vevers<br> October 12 through November 11</p> <p>Focusing on works of figurative representation, the Pepper Gallery seeks artists who are able to reflect dilemmas in society in inventive and thought provoking ways. This fall, it features two artists who capture this figurative aim with storyboard backdrops and theatrical imagery.</p> George Gerard <p>Cow Parade Boston 06<br> 100 plus locations<br> Through September 5</p> <p>Gala auction<br> Marriott Copley Place<br> September 21</p> <p>Something oddly uplifting has been scattered at the City Hall Plaza, on Rowes Wharf, in the Boston Common, in front of prestigious art galleries on trendy Newbury Street and numerous other spots around town: a herd of 117 delightfully painted, robust, life-size plastic cows, grazing to benefit the Jimmy Fund of Dana-Faber Cancer Institute.</p> Frank Liu <p>Garden in the Woods<br> 180 Hemenway Road<br> Framingham, Massachusetts</p> <p>Through October 15</p> <p>Ask people where they would go to look at art and most would say a museum. You know, those forbidding granite and marble edifices that house hundreds, if not thousands, of years’ worth of stuff. And roaming the hallways are guards who continually admonish you to keep your kids (if you have any) in tow, and to keep your voices down, and to not touch the artwork. Others might answer by saying that they go to art galleries. You know, those chic little white-walled boxes, with bright lights and highly polished wood floors – with attendants who admonish you to keep your kids (if you have any) in tow, keep your voices down, and to not touch the artwork.</p> Leon Nigrosh <p>John Hames: Provence Holga<br> Michael Sherman: New Works</p> <p>Gallery Z<br> 259 Atwells Avenue<br> Providence, Rhode Island</p> <p>September 19 through October 12</p> <p>The juxtaposition of photography and painting within the same room tends to raise a skeptical eyebrow and with it the question of cohesiveness. The two mediums have inhabited such disparate corners of the art world and come from such different traditions that any real cohesiveness between them can easily seem contrived without a strong thread to pull them together and fill an exhibit.</p> David Delmar-Sentíes <p>MassBay Film Festival<br> Various locations<br> Worcester, Massachusetts</p> <p>November 3 through 12</p> <p>(The MassBay Film Festival is the creation of Rob Newton. Here, he talks about the history of the Central Massachusetts-based event. This year’s independent film fest lineup will be announced on October 2 at MassBayFilmProject.org.)</p> Rob Newton <p>Kathleen Klose and the Immigrant Theater Group</p> <p>These days, the proverbial melting pot of American society is a complicated place to land, as immigrants grapple with an admixture of language, cultural adjustment, economic and perception issues. With the right stoking and stirring, though, the “pot” produces marvelous brews – for immigrants and American citizens alike.</p> Roanna Forman <p>Museum of Science<br> Science Park<br> Boston<br> Through January 7, 2007</p> <p>All museum exhibitions seek to fire up the public interest but few have created as much controversy while drawing packed crowds as “BODY WORLDS 2,” a breath-taking, international exhibition of real human bodies presented by the Museum of Science in Boston.</p> Franklin W. Liu <p>Priscilla Serafin: Shelter</p> <p>Alpers Fine Art<br> Two Main Street<br> Andover, Massachusetts</p> <p> Dennis Sheehan</p> <p>The Andover Inn<br> 4 Chapel Avenue<br> Andover<br> Mid-September through October 22</p> <p>Voted best gallery north of Boston in the 2006 annual “Best of Boston” editors’ poll, Alpers Fine Art of Andover is a key point to mark on the map as you plan a fall gallery tour. Its eclectic shows of contemporary works - whether showcasing particular artists or theme-based - offer a stimulating viewing experience.</p> Roanna Forman <p>Clark Gallery<br> 145 Lincoln Road<br> Lincoln, Massachusetts<br> September 5 through 28</p> <p>September marks the 30th anniversary of the Clark Gallery, which located only two and a half miles from the DeCordova Museum &amp; Sculpture Park. With a long track record of “discovering and supporting emerging and established artists,” owner/director Pamela Clark Cochrane says her latest show achieves that balance well. Rebecca Kinkead’s paintings of figures in nature and Dawn Southworth’s multi media works are different, yet complementary, solo shows.</p> Roanna Forman <p>Concord Art Association<br> 37 Lexington Road<br> Concord, Massachusetts</p> <p>October 7 through November 5</p> <p>Think of Concord. Quick, what do you think of next? History, Minutemen, Thoreau? Think again, of an artist, Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts, who in 1922 bought and renovated a 256-year-old structure and created an art association with a sky-lit gallery that is still home base to local artists and exhibit space for curated shows where its historical walls flatter the contemporary art hung on them. Constantly balancing member shows with outside-curated shows, the gallery seeks work the quality of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation’s, whose double mission of rural revitalization and artistic residence has sponsored over a 150 international artists.</p> Roanna Forman <p>Gallery Penumbra<br> 75 Rocky Neck Avenue<br> East Gloucester, Massachusetts</p> <p>In Rocky Neck, East Gloucester, where sea air and boat masts make an olfactory picture postcard, Gallery Penumbra shows contemporary works by artists who take risks in their mediums. “What I have in my gallery,” says owner Amanda Nash, who’s also President of Rocky Island Art Colony, “is an attempt to get people who are really pushing themselves. A lot of the work comes from Somerville; it’s very active there and there’s a lot of cross-pollination. And the purpose of having this gallery was to bring more people up.”</p> Roanna Forman <p>October 21 and 22</p> <p>Led by the board of the Dorchester Arts Collaborative, the help of numerous arts and civic minded businesses, and, of course, the enthusiastic participation of Dorchester artists, themselves, Dorchester Open Studios is entering the second half of its first decade, and, according to one well-placed informant, it is smoking!</p> James Foritano <p>The Art Institute of Boston Gallery at Lesley University<br> 1815 Massachusetts Avenue<br> Cambridge</p> <p>Through September 16</p> <p>The creations of six local sculptors inhabit the intimate spaces of this gallery in the Porter Exchange Building like bouquets in a flower stall, each redolent with its own vigorous suggestion.</p> James Foritano Some of the best art can be found on our region’s campuses. We start with a look at a number of recently opened exhibitions before exploring shows opening this fall. Brian Goslow Having played multiple roles in the growth and successes of the Malden artists community as an educator, juror, curator, and exhibiting artist, bookmaker Stephanie Mahan Stigliano was the perfect choice to curate artSPACE@16’s “From Two to Three Dimensions: Prints & Artists Books” exhibition that runs from September 9 through 30. Stephanie Mahan Stigliano <p>The Schoolhouse Gallery/artSTRAND<br> 494 Commercial Street</p> <p>Provincetown Art Association and Museum<br> 460 Commercial Street</p> <p>Berta Walker Gallery<br> 208 Bradford Street</p> <p>The Provincetown gallery season doesn’t end when the temperatures start their unavoidable fall downwards. The smaller crowds mean more solitude and time to ponder how that mesmerizing work would look in your own home.</p> Brian Goslow