Founded in 1798, Milton Academy, based in Milton, Massachusetts, has graduated, and educated, an impressive student body — with too many big-name alumni to count. The artists in 2021’s final and only shows are no exception. On a yearly basis, Milton typically holds six or seven professional shows in the Nesto Gallery — the primary audience consisting of its visual arts students as well as being open to the public for visitation. But, with the COVID-19 pandemic, only two exhibitions were held for the academic year, and unfortunately, they are closed to outside visitors. Ian Torney, Chair of the Visual Arts Department, executive director of the Nesto Gallery, artist, educator and a Milton alumnus himself (Class of 1982), made the call to feature two alumni artists for the shows, strengthening the internal community of Milton Academy during these difficult times. Sculptor Murray … [Read more...] about MILTON ACADEMY’S NESTO GALLERY PRESENTS SCULPTOR MURRAY “MAC” DEWART & MIKEL GLASS’ PARITY EXHIBITION
Visual Arts
Unification
Roya Khadjavi Projects opened Unification, Zahra Nazari’s solo exhibition at the High Line Nine Gallery in New York on May 1. Open until May 15, noon to 6 pm or by appointment at royakhadjaviprojects.com, the exhibition of acrylic paintings, sculptures, works on paper and installations features the work of Hamedan, Iran born artist Nazari’s remembrances of renowned buildings and archeological sites in one of the oldest continuously inhabited Iranian cities. Merging abstract linear paintings and drawings with the clear lines of architecture, the lines seem to be scaffolding holding up the structure she has created from memory and imagination of buildings in Persia. Her experience shines through in the curvilinear rendition of Safavid architecture. At Ali Qapu Palace in Isfahan, Iran where her memorialized vaulted ceiling is rendered but contemporized in abstracted, freeform … [Read more...] about Unification
DONNA DODSON’S AMAZONS AMONG US & ANDY MOERLEIN’S WOOD STONE POEM AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY
As we left the two solo shows just opened at Boston Sculptors Gallery, my wife Madeleine exclaimed with an eloquent and breathy sigh: “Whew! What imagination! How are you going to review that?” Indeed, it is strenuous, albeit delightfully so, to hitch your own imagination to the flights of two sculptors who share a studio and a life in nearby Maynard, Massachusetts. The trick is to husband your strength. Take advantage of pauses, sit, look out the window. Say to your over-heating imagination: “It’s only wood, after all.” Then, plunge in, once again. Andy Moerlein’s wood is both found and transformed. Since Moerlein was present at the gallery, as he expects to be every Saturday, he mimed for me a trip through local woods, a metaphorical axe over his shoulder, on the lookout for wood with the kind of sinuous life-path he favors. Not just any wood, but wood that bulges and curves with … [Read more...] about DONNA DODSON’S AMAZONS AMONG US & ANDY MOERLEIN’S WOOD STONE POEM AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY
17 PRINTMAKERS, PAINTERS & SCULPTORS ARE (UN)CONFINED AT FORT POINT ARTS COMMUNITY GALLERY
At first I was haunted by a distinct feeling of confinement as I entered the just installed exhibition “(un)confined: The Artists of Shepherd & Maudsleigh Studio” at the Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC) Gallery at 300 Summer Street in the Fort Point District. And then I realized that just going indoors and down the stairs to an interior courtyard opening onto a modestly sized gallery meant leaving the expansive skyline and sloshing green seas, the industrial era bridges and the brick and stone buildings all gilded with the spring sunshine of Boston’s waterfront. Grumbling, I entered the artificial lighting, the four walls, of this promised revelation and realized how unfair had been my initial impression. It was an old acquaintance, Liz Shepherd, doing her time at the gallery desk whose art and person always enlightens and enlivens me. Shepherd and her co-partner, Rebekah … [Read more...] about 17 PRINTMAKERS, PAINTERS & SCULPTORS ARE (UN)CONFINED AT FORT POINT ARTS COMMUNITY GALLERY
DUALITY OF WOMXN CELEBRATED IN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTISTS: MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER ONLINE EXHIBITION
In “Womxn,” an exhibit by the National Association of Women Artists: Massachusetts Chapter, is filled with what it means to be a womxn in this day and age. Confusion or a sense of self pulls through within the paintings. The abstract paintings are like the abstractness of gender. The artwork explores being “masculine and feminine at the same time”, as said in the blurb for the exhibit, just like some people do. The exhibit is a chance for people to examine how others feel about themselves, such as a “Swirl of Confusion,” a painting done by Donna Caselden. I was involved with masculine and feminine colors, or what is thought to be associated with the words. In “The Daisy Field” by Candace Whittemore Lovely, there are shades of pinks, oranges and purples to feminize the average meadow and the lady in the painting adds to that femininity. “Womxn” encapsulates what it feels like to … [Read more...] about DUALITY OF WOMXN CELEBRATED IN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTISTS: MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER ONLINE EXHIBITION
REVITALIZED AT THE STOVEFACTORY ART GALLERY
The colors pop off the wall and hit you right in the face — in a good way. The shades of spring and whatever your heart desires fit right in at the Artists’ Group of Charlestown’s 2021 Spring Art Exhibition, “Revitalized,” StoveFactory Gallery; and with all the windows open, the warm spring night filled the room. Before I walked into the exhibit, I had the pleasure of talking to one of the artists, Deidre Tao, about the show. She was excited for me to enjoy the art and told me to take my time as there was so much to see. She was not wrong. What I saw were landscapes, abstract paintings, cyanotypes, and even textiles. I was able to experience what gave new life to other people. Whether it was “Vineyard Cove” by Tao, a pastel sky over a beach scene, or botanical prints on silk by Pat McSweeney. “October” by McSweeney was novel to me and the way the artists captured the color … [Read more...] about REVITALIZED AT THE STOVEFACTORY ART GALLERY