Photographer Tad Malek knows a bit about patience. With a background in color landscape photography, Malek has spent full days immersed in natural surroundings, waiting for the perfect still. Malek’s current exhibition, “People at Work and Other Environmental Portraits,” on view at Springfield Museums, marks a departure from the restraint of waiting for that consummate shot into the realm of portraiture in the moment, with all its alluring fallibility and epiphanic fulfillment. Choosing almost exclusively black-and-white images for “People at Work and Other Environmental Portraits,” Malek has deliberately shifted media to capture the rich textures and nuanced variations within each piece. Sharp exposure delineates the finest detail, whether it be the lines along the walkway of the “Brooklyn Bridge Lady in the Shade,” 2008; the sculpted musculature of a male bather in “Rio de Janeiro … [Read more...] about LIFE’S DECISIVE MOMENTS: MALEK CELEBRATES PEOPLE AT WORK
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SHOOTING THROUGH THE FOG: MARY LANG WANTS YOU TO STAY FOCUSED
While Mary Lang’s latest exhibition at SoWa’s Kingston Gallery, “Here, nowhere else,” could have featured a strong collection of images from her travels to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California and the isles and highlands of Scotland, she decided to also include more localized works that seem to hold personal importance to the Auburndale, Massachusetts-based photographer. The show serves as a valuable exercise at a time we’re asking ourselves, more and more in the Instagram age, what makes a great photo — and a great photographer. “I struggled with whether I could build a show out of such disparate images, and vaguely considered showing the travel ones — Anza-Borrego and Scotland — in the main gallery and putting the backyards in the center gallery, but in the end, I rejected that,” Lang said. “I wanted to show that there is a through thread which links all of our experiences, … [Read more...] about SHOOTING THROUGH THE FOG: MARY LANG WANTS YOU TO STAY FOCUSED
ESKIN AT GALATEA: FINDING ABSTRACT LANDING SPACE
Barbara Eskin professes to chart disasters without a leg to stand on — multiple disasters, pieces flying everywhere. Before you think about her person — “What a pessimist!” and about her art: “What a downer!” — listen to some history. Eskin was born in Germany during the waning years of the Second World War. She was taken out of Germany by her parents when still a toddler, and then before she came to America, 20-some years ago, she was a resident of multiple European countries where she picked up a taste for languages and literature. A teacher by vocation and a canny European by upbringing, she has strong opinions which rarely veer towards the dogmatic, and, if they do, find little landing place. I’m looking at “In Pieces (4)” — a dynamo of vectors strong enough to bend its frame — yet all within a boundary of 24 x 30 inches. Perhaps boundaries are as good a concept as any to … [Read more...] about ESKIN AT GALATEA: FINDING ABSTRACT LANDING SPACE
DISAPPEARING IN PLEIN AIR: HUNTER GOES BETWEEN MEMORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Ask folks who know Vermont artist Charlie Hunter’s work to describe it and you might hear words like “ethereal and mysterious,” “straightforward and real” and “highly evocative.” Ask them to describe the man, and they are likely to say “funny,” “smart,” “sensitive” and “thoughtful.” They would all be right. Hunter, who lives in the small town of Bellows Falls, once a mill town, on the banks of the Connecticut River dividing Vermont and New Hampshire, works in a sprawling studio housed in an old paper mill. A visit there reveals how labor intensive his work is and reveals his creative and philosophical approach to his work. “I’m fascinated with how each viewer brings their life, memories and associations to a painting or work of art,” Hunter said. “I try to create a resonance that conspires to exist between memory and photography. By mimicking old photographic techniques, I can … [Read more...] about DISAPPEARING IN PLEIN AIR: HUNTER GOES BETWEEN MEMORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY
FABRICATION OF IMAGINATION: FIBER ARTISTS ADD TO LOWELL’S TEXTILE HISTORY
“Fabrication of Imagination,” on view at Arts League of Lowell through mid-September, works on several levels in presenting recent developments in the fiber and paper arts genre and shows how artists are attempting to balance the current political and social climate with their art. The show was juried by Karen Hampton, an assistant professor in 3D fine art at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. A conceptual artist whose works address issues of colorism and kinship within the African-American community, her art practice is the synthesis of memory, history, time and cloth. “The work was submitted and I viewed it without knowing who the artists were,” Hampton said; the show’s prospectus called for 3D fiber-based work, or work referencing fiber, either wall-hung (relief) or self-standing. “I was looking for quality of work and thoughtfulness.” Louise Abbott’s handwoven tapestry … [Read more...] about FABRICATION OF IMAGINATION: FIBER ARTISTS ADD TO LOWELL’S TEXTILE HISTORY
ART IN THE ORCHARD: A BIENNIAL SCULPTURE HARVEST AT PARK HILL
Alane Hartley and Russell Braen, owners of Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton, Massachusetts, harmoniously blend into a single vision — their commitment to land conservation, sustainable farming, culture and community. While September through October are peak months for visitors of all ages to come to the 127-acre pick-your-own orchard, there also is the added treat of seeing the Art in the Orchard biennial (AIO 2019), which continues through November 24. There is no admission fee to enjoy this exhibition. The orchard has lots of picnic tables throughout its property to sit, take a break, relax, eat and perhaps discuss the art around you with friends and family. The rolling orchard landscape has exquisite views of Mount Tom from its Pioneer Valley location, precursor to the Berkshires for those traveling from the east. The town’s large network of mills almost rivals the scale of the … [Read more...] about ART IN THE ORCHARD: A BIENNIAL SCULPTURE HARVEST AT PARK HILL