I was the victim of a studio flood in Northampton, Massachusetts. The sewer drain next to the back door of my basement studio plugged and I was inundated with a nasty slurry of fetid water that infected my costumes, my library and anything under two and half feet in height. I was not looking forward to reliving the disaster as I headed to Tom Burckhardt’s “Studio Flood,” one of four exhibitions currently on view on at Rockland’s Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA). However, much to my surprise, I was enthralled. This is a true miracle of cardboard construction in amazing detail. Creatively clever, smartly humorous, this artist’s topsy-turvy phantasmagoria of mind-bending detail is a delicious take on devastation. You cannot help but smile at its conceit. Every nook and cranny is filled with carefully crafted ephemera, all executed with exacting detail. Paint brushes, tubes of … [Read more...] about MAINE’S MINI-MECCA: CONTEMPORARY ON THE COAST
WATERCOLOR WONDERS: 7TH ANNUAL GREEN MOUNTAIN SHOW
The big, red, high-drive barn at Lareau Farm, standing at the edge of fields and against a backdrop of forested hillside, offers about as iconic a Vermont landscape as you can find. The 1895 barn has the clean, elegant lines and proportions of its genre. Inside, its rustic beams, rough boards and soaring hayloft speak to its working past. This landmark barn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to the Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition (GMWE). With a recent superb restoration, the barn has fabulous gallery space with high quality lighting, ample walls that provide rich but not distracting surfaces, and lots of atmosphere. The Seventh Annual Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition opened in the Big Red Barn Gallery at Lareau Farm in Waitsfield, Vermont on June 17 and runs through July 28. This year’s exhibition features 96 watercolor paintings by artists from … [Read more...] about WATERCOLOR WONDERS: 7TH ANNUAL GREEN MOUNTAIN SHOW
NYC DANCE PROJECT: BREATHTAKING MOMENTS IN TIME
With a single click, a moment in time can be captured forever. It’s extraordinary, really, when you think about it. Occasions, places, and historical events are preserved by the internal mechanisms of a camera — and the skill and passion of the photographer — providing us with something our own eyes may not see. The click of a shutter can capture something so slight as the breath of a dancer. Speaking on the art of the performance, the late legendary dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham once said, “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscript to store away, no paintings to hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that fleeting moment when you feel alive.” Ken Browar and Deborah Ory have given us, and the dancers they photograph, something to hold on to. They are the founders of NYC Dance Project, which features a … [Read more...] about NYC DANCE PROJECT: BREATHTAKING MOMENTS IN TIME
EIGHT VISIONS: VISCERAL VIEWS AT ATTLEBORO ARTS
Juried shows are what you make of them, whether you’re an artist, the sponsoring venue or the juror. They can provide a chance to reach a new audience, expand your portfolio, or find out which artists you’ve not previously been aware of who are making work that deserves your attention — and possibly a place in your collection. The selection process for “8 Visions,” opening at the Attleboro Arts Museum on August 1, began during last December’s members’ exhibition at the museum, when juror Sarah Swift, gallery director at Hera Gallery in Wakefield, Rhode Island, reviewed portfolios from over 60 submitting artists. “I am a sucker for texture and materiality, particularly in application,” said Swift, explaining her selection process. “I looked for artists whose use of material seemed not just thoughtful, but ‘necessary’ to the contextual completion of their piece. I also looked for … [Read more...] about EIGHT VISIONS: VISCERAL VIEWS AT ATTLEBORO ARTS
INDEPENDENT SPIRIT: FISKE OWNS IT IN PORTSMOUTH
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” — Pablo Picasso Picasso said it, but American Master Gertrude Fiske lived it. She certainly paid her dues. She learned “the rules,” or perhaps more accurately, she absorbed the societal expectations of New England at the time, and then she allowed herself — encouraged by such mentor greats as Edmund C. Tarbell, Frank Benson, Philip Hale and Charles Woodbury — to carve her own path. Fiske (1879-1961) was born into a prominent Massachusetts family and spent much of her time farther north in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Downeast Maine. Her work was lauded for her ability to “see” a scene or a subject. That ability, that gift, set her apart. A founding member of the Guild of Boston Artists and later the Ogunquit (Maine) Art Association, Fiske was the first woman ever appointed to the Massachusetts State Art … [Read more...] about INDEPENDENT SPIRIT: FISKE OWNS IT IN PORTSMOUTH
COASTAL CONTEMPORARY: PASSION, DRIVE AND FAITH IN NEWPORT
It was finally a beautiful day, as you would expect in June. But, being a New Englander, I had my reservations as to how long it would last, considering that it had rained for most of the week. It was equally pleasant to drive to Newport and to meet Shari Weschler Rubeck, the owner/gallerist of Coastal Contemporary Gallery, the newest art gallery in town. But, the first words out of my mouth as I shook her hand were, “Are you crazy or something?” After all, with the current trend in the art world of galleries closing by the score, why would she be opening hers? Rubeck, aka Sumo Bunni, her very own persona brand, replied that it was a result of her passion, drive and faith. No, not the religious kind. Faith, as in trusting oneself. Or, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Rubeck’s faith also extends … [Read more...] about COASTAL CONTEMPORARY: PASSION, DRIVE AND FAITH IN NEWPORT