by Linda Chestney So often we are compelled to leave home. The further the better, right? Yet there remains in our cultural DNA a pair that brings us back home. According to T.S. Elliott, “…and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” A popular saying states that: “Life takes you to unexpected places, love brings you home.” Indeed. That was seascape artist Karen Blackwood’s experience. Blackwood, who will have over 30 works in oil on display when her show opens on July 22 at the Todd Bonita Gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was born and grew up in New Hampshire, where she majored in painting at the University of New Hampshire. She was taught in the classical tradition by such mentors as Sigmund Abeles and Conley Harris. Upon graduating, she was enticed by the siren call of the bright lights and career … [Read more...] about NO PLACE LIKE HOME: BLACKWOOD IN PORTSMOUTH
Issue Articles
TO COIN A CHAISE: FUN MEETS FUNCTION IN VT
by Elayne Clift Johnny Swing was fortunate enough to have a mother who was an artist. She inspired and encouraged his interest in welding which led to him sculpting metal into functional art, something he said he knew he wanted to do from the age of three. By the time he was 13, he was comfortable with his medium both as a welder and a budding architectural artist. His first gallery show took place just after he graduated from Skidmore College, after which he studied at the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Today his work is shown and owned internationally. Swing is best known for his coin furniture. One of his earliest chairs was made from individually welded steel dock washers he found in a dumpster. In the mid-1990s, his source material became coins, starting with his “Penny Chair,” which required thousands of pennies to be individually welded … [Read more...] about TO COIN A CHAISE: FUN MEETS FUNCTION IN VT
WORCESTER ELECTRIFIED: HUANG MOVES THE IMAGINATION
by Brian Goslow Nearly 50 years ago, the Worcester Art Museum hosted “Light and Motion,” a groundbreaking exhibition in which the participating “new kineticists” turned to “light and movement to produce a new sensibility.” This summer, just as those artists used the latest “electrical elements, lenses, Polaroid filters … and other non-traditional media” to modernize its viewers’ senses, Shih Chieh Huang’s “Reusable Universes” reinvents the possibilities of what a gallery space — and museum experience — can be. It only takes a peek inside WAM’s darkened (for this exhibition) Contemporary Gallery to be drawn into a multisensory visual experience not unlike a Disney ride through a new world. And while the collection of seven mesmerizing kinetic sculptures may have features viewers will automatically attribute to being similar to sea creatures, that’s more your imagination at … [Read more...] about WORCESTER ELECTRIFIED: HUANG MOVES THE IMAGINATION
HOPKINS COMES FULL CIRCLE: AWESOME ABSTRACTION IN PTOWN
by Laura Shabott “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.“ — Henry David Thoreau Budd Hopkins (1931-2011) was a highly complex, remarkable artist. His unique vision, a melding of abstract expressionism and hardedge abstraction, will be on view in two upcoming shows at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, curated by daughter Grace Hopkins, and at Berta Walker Gallery Provincetown. Both exhibits will bring the viewer from the artist’s earlier years creating abstract expressionist works, through his collage-based hard-edge period, to the guardians and altars, and finally, to Hopkins’ return to action painting with his series of “Dancing Guardians.” Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Hopkins was struck with polio at the age of two during … [Read more...] about HOPKINS COMES FULL CIRCLE: AWESOME ABSTRACTION IN PTOWN
SEUSS ON THE LOOSE: HOMAGE TO A STORYTELLER
by James Foritano I have to admit that my awakening to literature didn’t arrive through the genius of Theodor Seuss Geisel — known the world over by his pen name Dr. Seuss — but through the “Dick and Jane” elementary school reading series, a post-World War II depiction of the traditional two parents, two children and their beloved dog, “Spot.” A series that remained firmly staid, suburban and tame — in both word and picture. Fortunately, I fell in love with my first-grade teacher, Miss Edmunds — and she, I’m sure, with me. So, when I first felt rather than simply spelled out the banal sentences “Look at Spot. Look at Spot run.” I raised my eyes to Miss Edmunds, fell in love all over again, and have been running with “Spot” ever since. Those few paragraphs are my towering testament to the place of Miss Edmunds in my life both in and out of books. To read more, pick up … [Read more...] about SEUSS ON THE LOOSE: HOMAGE TO A STORYTELLER
CREATIVE TRIFECTA: TRANSFORMATION AT THREE STONES
by Flavia Cigliano Walking into the Three Stones Gallery on a late spring afternoon in the village of West Concord was a pleasure. Full of light and airy, with a high ceiling, the space provided excellent viewing for the artwork on display. Artist/owner Jennifer M. Johnston established the gallery three years ago with the goal of focusing on regional artists. “It was really good timing. Everything came together. A sparkling vitality has infused the center of West Concord,” Johnston said. These days, the village is bustling with new restaurants and specialty shops. The gallery represents 10 artists working in different mediums, with exhibits generally showing the works of two to four artists on a rotating basis. Johnston selects artists based on several criteria. The quality of art is paramount, but she also looks for artists whose work is complementary yet varied in its … [Read more...] about CREATIVE TRIFECTA: TRANSFORMATION AT THREE STONES