“A fun silver lining of the pandemic has been the opportunity to witness the shift of wardrobes from traditional business casual to a more casual style filled to the brim with unique, personal expression,” which has led to a two-month exhibition of masculine works, including couture leather jackets, uniquely printed t-shirts, jewelry and belts, made by over 20 Maine craft artists. “Hey Handsome! A Show of Rugged Attire & Accessories” runs from May 6 through June 26 at Maine Craft Portland, 521 Congress Street, Portland, Maine. “The ability to work from home allowed many people of all genders to find and experience the freedom to experiment in the creation of their own personal style with a new flare, often through more sustainable means.”
For over 39 years, Phyllis Kornfeld has been working with incarcerated men and women across the country in prisons and jails that offer art classes, albeit with limited access to art supplies. “These artists (housed in all levels of security from county jail to maximum security to death row) did their work with care and passion. Though inexperienced, they seemed to know what to do and how to do it, without instruction. They trusted something, an unseen guide. The art is beautiful in its sincerity even where the truth is painful to see. Art has always had the power to transform lives.” A representation of some of this work, created from 1983 to the present, “Phyllis Kornfeld’s Cellblock Visions,” will be on view from May 7 through 29 at A.P.E. Ltd., 126 Main St., Northampton, Massachusetts. A reception and artist talk will take place on May 14 from 3-5 p.m.
“Press Out Hate,” a uniquely community-created exhibition, continues through May 22 at the Grace Ross Shanley Gallery at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Mathews Park, 299 West Ave., Norwalk, Connecticut. The show includes prints made during a series of hands-on printmaking workshops offered to local Norwalk-based non-profit organizations earlier this year. “During the workshops, individuals took part in hands-on projects creating a piece of art — a print (or sign/ poster) expressing what “press out hate” means to them, what fills them with joy, with hope, what does “community” mean to them in this context. The prints will be accompanied by photographs of the printmaking workshops and contextual information explaining the program and printmaking process used during the workshops.” Additional prints expressing this theme made by CCP artists will also be on display. A “Press Out Hate” Open House and Community Day will take place on May 22 from noon-4 p.m. with everyone invited to experience hands-on printmaking activities for themselves.
Continuing its “The Year of Narrative Art” theme, the Mystic Museum of Art, 9 Water St., Mystic, Connecticut, is currently showing “More Than Hot Type,” a special printmaking exhibition presented in collaboration with the Providence Art Club. “PAC’s group portfolio of 25 innovative prints targets contemporary social and political issues, environmental concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic. Some images also reflect on the process of printmaking itself.” After the exhibition closes on May 29, the portfolio will be sent to the Graphics Art Collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The oldest print-collecting division at the Smithsonian, the Graphic Arts Collection focuses on the technical and social history of printmaking.
The 15th International Encaustic Conference, directed by Cherie Mittenthal and produced by the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill (which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer) takes place from June 3-5 and once again features a series of exhibitions, including “Transatlantic Fusion 21: The Diptych Project,” a collaboration between members from New England Wax and European Encaustic Artists, will take place from June 1 through 11 at The Commons, 46 Bradford St., Provincetown, Massachusetts. “The idea for our collaborative project grew out of a desire to expand international creative collaboration between artists using encaustic in their work. Artists from six different countries got together to participate in this project, meeting only virtually. The 56 Diptych Project artists were randomly paired between the groups, having agreed only on the primary use of encaustic in their work and the size option for their panels. Each artist initiated a diptych by painting a panel and then sending a high-resolution image to their partner. Diptych partners then responded by creating a second panel in any manner they chose. Partners agreed between themselves as to edge treatment and orientation of the finished pairs.” An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 3 from 5-8 p.m. For details on other International Encaustic Conference exhibitions and conference related workshops and events (taking place before, during and after the conference), visit castlehill.org.
“Material Drawing Redux: Drawn to Touch,” works by Audrey Goldstein, Michelle Samour, Julia Shepley and Debra Weisberg is on view through June 11 at Catamount Arts, 115 Eastern Ave., St. Johnsbury, Vermont. “These four artists have been in conversation with one another for over 15 years about their individual drawing practices. Expanding upon the traditional boundaries of drawing and incorporating dimensionality and tactility into their work, the drawing for these four artists begins with the material and its subsequent manipulation: Goldstein’s structural stitching in her found object cocoons; Shepley’s layered lines embedded in cast paper and wood; Samour’s burning of wood in her narrative tablets; and Weisberg’s heavily collaged paper pieces which start with embossed monoprints. Each use their materials in unique and inventive ways to form structure and meaning and in doing so, create constructed drawings. Their handling of material reveals layers of thought and engages the viewer directly and viscerally with the drawing process.” The Fried Family Gallery is currently open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon-9 p.m., Sunday from noon-5 p.m. and by appointment.
“Paying it Forward: Alumni Artists who Returned to Teach” is on view through June 18 at Milton Academy’s Nesto Gallery. The show features six professional alumni artists who returned to teach at Milton Academy and their recent works: Te Palandjian (’17), whose mixed- media Cyborg Series, explores a post-apocalyptic universe where weatherproof feminist creatures roam; seascapes of the North Shore in oil by Julian Von Mentzsch-Ramos (’03); “Quiver,” a massive mixed-media piece by Emilie Stark-Menneg (’02) from their “A Show on Earth” series about risk and rapture, terroranddesire,andwonderandbrutality;threedigitalpaintingsthat blur the lines between art and design by Nicole Darling (’97); installation photographs and video by Sarah Sze (’87) about her “The Edge of One of Many Circles” sculpture that sits outside the school’s student center; and impasto oil-on-board landscape paintings from Ian Torney (’82)’s ongoing “36 Views of Mt. Washington” series. The gallery is open weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. by appointment on the lower level of Milton Academy’s Art & Media Center, 170 Centre Street, Milton, Massachusetts.