Through the ages, thinkers and mystics have recognized that numbers speak to the order of things, but artistic visual expression of this discreet order has been historically intermittent. Mathematical constructs such as the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio appear in a broad spectrum of natural features, including snail shells, beehives, pine cones and our spiral galaxy; yet, their alignment with pure mathematics remains mysterious and for many, sacred. Greenfield, Massachusetts-based artist Xylor Jane follows in the footsteps of da Vinci, Dürer, Dali, Juan Gris and Le Corbusier in bringing the magic of numbers into visual form. Jane’s selected paintings of “Counterclockwise,” on exhibit at the University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMass Amherst, incorporate the perfection of mathematics, coupled with the drama of human interpretation. Pointillism defines much of Jane’s … [Read more...] about XYLOR JANE: AN EXTRAORDINARY ARTIST WITH A NATIONAL REPUTATION
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JULIE A. DEROSA: ASSEMBLING HAPPINESS PIECE BY PIECE
Julie A. DeRosa’s mixed-media sculpture, “How to Be Happy No Matter What Happens,” arrives in our physical reality at a poignant time in which the condition of happiness has lost its natural variable state of being, and instead is an idealized commodity to be constructed, purchased and, therefore, faked. Of the sculpture’s conceptual origins, DeRosa wrote, “Over the years, my thoughts on happiness have evolved quite a bit, and I get angry at the ‘happiness industry’ that prescribes all these shortcuts and environmental ways to be happy, yet avoids and ignores the deeper work one needs to do to figure out happiness. I also have come to resent that our society makes it seem as if we should be working to attain 24/7 happiness.” “How to Be Happy No Matter What Happens” is, formally, an assemblage sculpture built up from discarded, found and vintage materials, some considered relics, … [Read more...] about JULIE A. DEROSA: ASSEMBLING HAPPINESS PIECE BY PIECE
BECCI DAVIS: RECONCILING PAST ERASURES THROUGH DIRECT ACTION
Emerging artist Becci (pronounced Becky) Davis explores race and gender identity issues through performance art. I liked the idea of inviting Davis to my studio so we could have a conversation about her work, share art perspectives as colleagues and discuss the trajectory of her career. She was still reeling, in a good way, from the opportunities and responsibilities afforded to her as a recipient of multiple artist awards in 2018 and was in the midst of finishing up an intense work cycle that brought to fruition a number of interactive projects completed roughly over the span of a year. Davis received the New Genres Individual Artist Fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and she won The Emerging Artist Award from the Saint Botolph Club Foundation, Boston in 2018. She also received a Providence Public Library Creative Fellowship and RISD Museum’s yearlong Artist … [Read more...] about BECCI DAVIS: RECONCILING PAST ERASURES THROUGH DIRECT ACTION
ROBERT BRODESKY: A SCREAMING SILENCE YOU SEE LOUD AND CLEAR
Whenever I go into a gallery, exhibit or anywhere art is exhibited, I crave enlightenment and I am always full of expectation. I seek, I want, I expect to be blown away by something that affects me in a way I never imagined. More often than not, I come away disappointed even at the international venues. When I’m asked to critique the work of another painter, I’m usually hesitant. The hesitation comes from worrying that I can’t or won’t be able to connect with the work I’m looking at. Not this time, though, and not with Robert Brodesky. I was both drawn to and intrigued by his work from the moment I set eyes on it. At this point, I am a bit hesitant to say that Brodesky somewhat embodies the romantic notion of the tortured artist — more later. There is a screaming silence in his work, and you hear it loud and clear. Contained therein is the proverbial tension that can only be cut by … [Read more...] about ROBERT BRODESKY: A SCREAMING SILENCE YOU SEE LOUD AND CLEAR
MICHELLE BENOIT: VISUALLY COOL AND CRISP TO THE EYE
Although many artists seem to languish or burn out at mid-career, Michelle Benoit is thriving. She has found a way to survive by working constantly, experimenting consistently and along the way she has gotten some very good advice, support and mentorship. Benoit is truly an inspiration to artists at any stage of their careers. Since graduating with her MFA and MA from the University of Iowa in 1999/2000, Benoit has had a successful career in college teaching. But in 2008, some health issues forced her to take time off which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The single-minded focus Benoit turned towards her work allowed it to grow and gain attention from galleries and collectors. She is currently represented nationally and internationally by Morotti Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Thomas Punzmann Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany; Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia and Margaret … [Read more...] about MICHELLE BENOIT: VISUALLY COOL AND CRISP TO THE EYE
DAVID ARSENAULT: A LOVE OF TRANSFORMATIVE LIGHT AND LANDSCAPE
It was 1970 when artist David Arsenault first saw a reproduction of a painting by American Realist Edward Hopper. Called “Gas,” it depicted a rural gas station at dusk with three red petrol pumps; he’d found it in a grade school library book. More than twenty years later, a professor in a graphic arts program reintroduced him to Hopper’s work and Arsenault decided to study painting. It seems fair to say that “the rest is history” when it comes to the artist the Wall Street Journal once referred to as someone whose “paintings could pass for works by Edward Hopper.” Arsenault studied painting at the University at Albany and began showing his work in 1993. Since then, his work has been exhibited in hundreds of local, regional and national exhibitions. It is also included in private and corporate collections across the country and beyond. Arsenault’s love of light and landscape have … [Read more...] about DAVID ARSENAULT: A LOVE OF TRANSFORMATIVE LIGHT AND LANDSCAPE