Drawing inspiration from music, dancers, color, and the quiet moments that define movement, “Conversation in Movement,” which opens January 3 and continues through the end of the month at the Loading Dock Gallery, 122 Western Ave., Lowell, Massachusetts, “delves into the poetic relationship between dance and visual art. Inspired by the unspoken language created when gesture, color, and form meet, the exhibition invites visitors to experience an emotional and sensory exchange unfolding across the space.” Participating artists Nino Gordeladze, Dina Mordeno, Ed Porzio, and Johanna Tiemann noted that this exhibition grew from the natural dialogue that forms between the visual and performing arts and that their works are united by a rhythm and flow through their painted forms, playful color, whimsical detail, and captured motion.
“The Stars Are Out Tonight,” a multimedia exhibition featuring the work of father and son artists J-Me Johnston and Jaiden Johnston, lands at the Harold Stevens Gallery at WCUW, 910 Main St., Worcester, Massachusetts, from January 3 through February 21. The show, which centers on imagery inspired by David Bowie, commemorates the 10th anniversary of his passing on January 10, 2016, marks the return of J-me, whose space themed pop art paintings have taken inspiration from Bowie and Andy Warhol for four decades and include instruments made of found objects used in performances of his band, Industrial Sonic Echo. Jaiden’s work captures contemporary pop stars and cultural celebrities, offering a new generational perspective on fame, identity, and stardom.
If you’re ever needed proof of the value of photojournalism in the times we live, the Giacomo d’Orlando: Symbiosis exhibition that opens on January 15 and remains on view through April 10 at The Current, 90 Pond St., Stowe, Vermont, is as strong an example that you could get on the effect of accelerating climate impacts on marine environments and the people that live near them. “Symbiosis examines the interdependence between coastal communities and the sea, drawing on d’Orlando’s long-term work across Southeast Asia and Australia. Through documentary, aerial, and underwater photography, the exhibition offers a timely and visually compelling perspective on climate change, resilience, and environmental stewardship” and “how the climate crisis is reshaping both ecosystems and the communities whose survival depends on them.”
“The wall wanted to play too: the Architecture of Tenderness,” playful works by Boston-area artist Jai Hart, opens January 24 and runs through March 7 at Overlap Newport, 112 Van Zandt Ave., Newport, Rhode Island. The work on display will range from “precious and pillowy abstract landscapes to larger-than-life hybrids that mix stretched canvases with soft sculptures. Bands of stuffed and painted material partially frame the work and then take detours.” Also showing are Rhode Island-based artists Olivia Baldwin and Babs Owenwhose work demonstrates “affinities for creating relationships between color, shape and form, embodied through innovative approaches to materiality, depth, and arrangement.”
“Collaborating in Conflict: The Yeats Family and the Public Arts,” an exhibition of more than 200 works, go on display on February 1 and remain on view through May 31 at Boston College’s McMullen Museum, 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, Brighton/Boston, Massachusetts. “Among them are paintings, drawings, prints, embroideries, books, and letters by patriarch and acclaimed artist John Butler Yeats and his children: poet William, one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature; Lily, an embroiderer associated with the Celtic Revival; educator and publisher Elizabeth; artist Jack; and William’s daughter, Anne, a painter and theater designer.” Many of these objects are displayed publicly for the first time, others for the first time outside of Ireland.
Reserved Passages: Watercolors by Richard Yarde and Susan Montgomery, remains on view through February 26 at UMASS Amherst’s Augusta Savage Gallery at the New Africa House, 180 Infirmary Way, Amherst, Massachusetts. The show is intended to be a celebration of the late Yarde’s legacy in watercolor painting and his enduring influence on artist and former student Montgomery. “It reflects on what I continue to learn from him and through his work,” she said. “The show creates a dialogue between our works, highlighting mentorship, shared sensibilities, and our individual voices.” The exhibition is part of the UMass Fine Arts Center’s 50th Anniversary celebration.
Curated by Kim S. Theriault, author of Rethinking Arshile Gorky (Penn State University Press, 2009, “Arshile Gorky: Redrawing Community and Connections,” on view through April 26 at the Armenian Museum of America, 65 Main St., Watertown, Massachusetts, brings the self-taught artist whose work “helped launch Abstract Expressionism and transform modern art in America” back home to where his story began. “The exhibition highlights Gorky’s journey from his early life as Vostanik Manoug Adoian in Watertown to his emergence as a celebrated artist, emphasizing the relationships and sense of community that shaped his art. Through works shared by family, fellow artists, and the Armenian Diaspora, the exhibition reveals how Gorky used art to process loss, build connection, and redefine what it meant to be an artist in America creating not just compositions, but a lasting community.”
Coupling the synergies between the practices of two internationally renowned contemporary artists, “Ursula von Rydingsvard: States of Becoming” and “Leonardo Drew: Alchemy,” on view through May 10 at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Dr., Greenwich, Connecticut, “covers the past two decades of the respective artists’ careers, demonstrating how each transforms their materials — notably paper and wood — into emotionally resonant and highly experimental art.” Noting that both artists have deep roots in the state and known for their labor-intensive methods and intuitive approaches to abstraction, Margarita Karasoulas, the Bruce’s curator of art. added. “Through their insistent materiality, the works on view in both exhibitions are powerfully resonant. Above all, they make us feel something.”