Welcome to the 56th issue of artscope magazine, which we’re honored to be bringing to Art Basel Switzerland, where we’ve been selected to join publications from around the world in its collective booth. Our publisher, Kaveh Mojtabai, will be attending the event as will our European (and former Connecticut) correspondent Lisa Mikulski. You’ll be able to follow their visit on our social media outlets — which you can access in one place through the artscope app, downloadable at app.artscopemagazine.com.
We’re excited about this opportunity to introduce New England’s artists, galleries and museums to a wider audience, as that’s been our mission since we produced our first issue in 2006. And, with the onset of the warm weather season, we’re glad to give you 16 extra pages of exhibitions throughout the region that we hope will encourage you to plan a series of arts related road trips.
We open this issue with Elizabeth Michelman’s “Cornered” interview with Julie Burros, the City of Boston’s Chief of Arts and Culture, and Donna Dodson’s preview of Janet Echelman’s installation that’ll be going up over the Rose Kennedy Greenway on May 11. Both convey the visible changes going on in the city.
Last summer, Greg Morell sent me an email about the work of an artist he had discovered in Portland; since then, we’ve been waiting for the opportunity to introduce you to Nathaniel Meyer, whose work is being featured in the “Spring Expo” at the Black Hole Gallery in Rockland, Maine this May.
The Portland Museum of Art was kind enough to allow our Jamie Thompson an early peek at its “Rose Marasco: Index” exhibition prior to its opening so that we could include a review of it in this issue. The retrospective of the long-time Maine photographer’s work belongs on your summer “To See” list.
Marguerite Serkin wasn’t a Warhol fan — until she visited the Williams College Museum of Art to review its current “Warhol by the Book” exhibition. It’s a
reminder that no matter how much we think we know about Warhol, there are endless new discoveries to be made about him and his work.
The Providence Art Club has been a Rhode Island mainstay for 135 years; J. Fatima Martins visited the studios of four of its member artists who’ll be featured in its “Color and Light” exhibition in June.
Just before beginning production on this issue — literally hours before — I attended a meeting of the Arts Center Alliance at the Cambridge Arts Council that was attended by 16 member organizations who over the almost two-hour gathering asked many questions on how they can get the best coverage of their exhibitions. They serve as the center for their communities, and many times host exhibitions that can be the first exposure
an artist gets — and one of the ways they invite new artists in is by hosting juried exhibitions.
After explaining the challenges of sending a writer to cover an exhibition that can have over 100 participating artists — or previewing it from a collection of digital images before the actual works are hanging on the gallery walls — someone asked if it would be possible to bring the juror’s voice into the coverage as well so that everyone could get insight into the selection process.
It just so happened that we were already in the process of doing that with our coverage of the Newburyport Art Association’s 18th Juried Show, opening just as this magazine reaches the street. Kaveh Mojtabai had been invited to judge the 450 or so entries in March and I asked him to share his thought process in determining his final 153 selections. His responses are part of a show preview that I had the pleasure of writing — and in doing so, also had the opportunity to interact with a dozen or so artists I hadn’t been aware of previously.
We put great importance on being inclusionary to everyone in the art world, striving to provide a magazine that’s informational for the collector — hopefully directing them toward emerging artists whose works they might want to consider purchasing in the earlier stages of their career — and letting artists and museum- and gallery-goers know which shows we think are worthy of their attention. I like telling my writers, in deciding what elements of an exhibition or venue is worthwhile, to “Consider whether you’d be willing to drive an hour or two to see this show, or if there might be a work you would be interested in.”
Thus, when you read Suzanne Volmer’s preview of Tyler Vouros’ “After-Life” show at Pawtucket’s SEEN Gallery or Anna Shapiro’s installation at the Maine Jewish Museum; Marcia Santore’s interview with Lia Rothstein about her solo “Photography is Just the Beginning” exhibition at the Aidron Duckworth Art Museum in New
Hampshire or Kristin Nord’s visit to see Stephen Miller’s collection of Shaker artifacts before they go on view at the New Britain Museum of American Art, be assured those are the considerations we make prior to selecting them for coverage in our magazine.
Similarly, we’re glad to be a sponsor of special events to support area institutions and we were glad to be in attendance at the Montserrat College of Art’s artrageous! 29 auction party and Mass College of Art and Design’s 26th Benefit Art Auction, both record-breaking events.
This issue’s centerfold contest winner, with a 3-D theme, is Ania Gilmore’s “Knowledge, Inc.” Thanks to our jurors: Derryfield Gallery Director Andy Moerlein and Bromfield Gallery Manager Gary Duehr. For our next contest, we’re looking for your original watercolor work; full details can be found in our Classifieds section.
To those reading us for the first time, welcome to the Artscope Universe. And for those of you who’ll soon be heading to New England’s beloved beaches, campgrounds and vacation resorts, don’t forget to bring this issue along with you as it’s intentionally been built to last all summer long.
Brian Goslow, Managing Editor
bgoslow@artscopemagazine.com