Glass: utilitarian, sensuous and decorative. Glass can be blown, molded, melted, fused, cut, sanded, carved, slumped and polished. We can drink out of it, see through it, wear it — and we couldn’t live modern life without it. Have contemporary glass artists/artisans pushed glass- making technological experimentation so far that their work is no longer “glass art?” This question is raised in the brilliant small exhibit, “Innovations in Glass,” at the Sandwich Glass Museum. Wayne Strattman’s construction, a glass pillar with LED lights bolting through it, comes close to eliminating glass as the main component of his work. His glass cylinder is merely the container for the light-bolts. Strattman’s “Dream Engine” is the most extreme example of technology overpowering the sensuous qualities of glass-art. “Unbroken Hands of the Vine” is another example. In a tour de force of … [Read more...] about CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT: DEFINITION OF GLASS ART STRETCHED IN SANDWICH SHOW
Artscope Issues
TERRAIN OF THE MAGICAL: WONDROUS CREATURES BRING MYSTERIES TO OLD FROG POND FARM
When Linda Hoffman moved in 2001 to an old farmhouse on a 25-acre parcel of land in Harvard, Massachusetts, Old Frog Pond Farm was born. While some people’s creative musings never go further than lucid dreams, Hoffman’s vision for her new home was built on a solid philosophical foundation — the interweaving of agriculture, art and community. When people come together for a common purpose, a vibrant community of kindred spirits is often the result. Hoffman, artist, writer and orchardist (and co-author of this article) and her multi-talented husband, Blase Provitola, have created a diverse, ever- growing community of artists, art lovers, writers, poets, storytellers, musicians, naturalists and spiritual seekers. Arriving at Old Frog Pond Farm is entering the terrain of the magical. The farm is a place of pastoral serenity with rows of organic vegetables and fruit trees, and wooded … [Read more...] about TERRAIN OF THE MAGICAL: WONDROUS CREATURES BRING MYSTERIES TO OLD FROG POND FARM
ART AND MEDICINE: MECLINA & FORD’S HEALING ART AT THE BEACON
Artists are defining new ways to cope and reorganize emotional traumas while strengthening the relationship between health and creative expressions. Can we assume that when it comes to art forms and artists, specific psychological and physical stresses can navigate through artists’ creative process which will work as an antidote for these states and as a gift to viewers? But if artists don’t have to commit to portraying realistic images or responses, can we say that, in this case, the creative process is a very sensible response? “I cannot get rid of my illnesses, for there is a lot in my art that exists only because of them,” said Edvard Munch, famous for the painting, “The Scream.” There has been significant interest in research on the power and capabilities of the arts as a healing method. Famous visual artists, including Frida Kahlo, Yayoi Kusama and Andy Warhol, have been … [Read more...] about ART AND MEDICINE: MECLINA & FORD’S HEALING ART AT THE BEACON
DISTINCTLY UNIQUE LIVES: WALKER & MILLER STILL KICKING THE EDGES AT OGUNQUIT
What does it take to become a celebrated artist? One who kicks the edges, who does it their way. One who accumulates all the credentials and accolades. One who keeps growing, even in their 80s. Well, if that definition fits anyone, it undoubtedly fits the two artists who are exhibiting concurrently at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art (Ogunquit, Maine). Both are 83. Both are highly accomplished. Both are distinctly unique artists. Both are worth the trip to this beautiful backroad coastal area of Maine. But the similarities end there. We are all products of our life experiences. But I think artists tend to express those experiences more readily than other professions. Certainly, writers who write fiction (and often portray characters who reflect those they know or themselves) also do this. But visual artists oftencan do it blatantly, and it’s not always immediately discernible by … [Read more...] about DISTINCTLY UNIQUE LIVES: WALKER & MILLER STILL KICKING THE EDGES AT OGUNQUIT
PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: GROWING NUMBER OF ARTISTS TURNING TO THE BERKSHIRES
There is something, in addition to the mountain air, the beautiful surroundings and the vibrancy of the Berkshires, that attracts artists of all types like moths to a flame. Between the lush and well established areas like Lenox and Williamstown, and the gritty petri-dish of energy like North Adams, the settings for artistic evolution are boundless. Add in the great institutions like The Clark, Mass MoCA and countless others, and the area becomes more and more a destination for artists to put down rootsandcontributetoanever-growingvesselofcreativity. Upon arriving, one will discover a vast network of like- minded artists sharing a common goal: living, breathing and ingesting art. Artists are magnetized to one another in the Berkshires, and a supportive creative community continues to grow. There are those who are more established in the area, having been here for many years, providing … [Read more...] about PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: GROWING NUMBER OF ARTISTS TURNING TO THE BERKSHIRES
“A CRASH COURSE IN POSTWAR L.A. ART”: ON THE EDGE BRINGS QUINN COLLECTION TO ARMENIAN MUSEUM
The rollicking energy of “On The Edge,” an exhibition of mostly Southern California artists of the 1970s through the ‘90s from the Jack and Joan Quinn Family Collection, is only rivaled by the exuberance of its collector, Joan Agajanian Quinn. This vibrant art lover, in partnership with her now-deceased husband, the prominent Los Angeles attorney Jack Quinn, lived and entertained amongst layers and layers of art, art objects and Armenian rugs they amassed over their 56 years of marriage. Architectural critic Martin Filler called the collection, on view through November at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts, “a crash course in post-war L.A. Art.” Quinn said that people asked her if she would show the exhibition at their galleries and women’s clubs and community things. “And I said no,” she replied. “Because I thought it was so narcissistic to take your … [Read more...] about “A CRASH COURSE IN POSTWAR L.A. ART”: ON THE EDGE BRINGS QUINN COLLECTION TO ARMENIAN MUSEUM