Honoring Jhumpa Lahiri’s book of the same title “Unaccustomed Earth,” inspired by a Nathaniel Hawthorne quote about the resilience of migrants and their descendants, features the work of Boston-based, Caribbean-born artists Emily Rose and Beatriz Whitehill and can be seen from November 3 through January 14, 2024, at Beacon Gallery, 524B Harrison Ave., Boston, Massachusetts. “Working in a variety of media, the artists reinforce the notion that there is no single answer for resilience and learning to flourish in one’s own Unaccustomed Earth. Through painting, sculpture, animation, and installation, the two artists grapple with their positions as storytellers, and forbearers of family culture and artistry, all while exploring their diasporic identities.” Last month, it was announced that this will be the final show under the Beacon Gallery name; the gallery will continue in a rebranded … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: November/December 2023
Capsule Previews
CAPSULE PREVIEWS: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
Photographers Bremner Benedict, Ville Kansanen, Ellen Konar, Steve Goldband, Jason Lindsey, Connie Lowell, Simon Norfolk and Camille Seaman seek “to shed light on the critical issues of climate change and the water cycle, using the power of photography to evoke awareness, empathy and action” in “Ceding Ground” that opens September 8 and continues through October 15 at the reopened Griffin Museum of Photography, 67 Shore Rd., Winchester, Massachusetts. “Through their distinct lenses, these artists explore the intricate relationship between human activity, climate patterns, and the earth's life-giving waters.” “Portrait of an Unlikely Space,” a historical-contemporary exhibition “bringing together small-scale portraits — from miniatures and daguerreotypes to silhouettes on paper and engravings in books — of African American women, men, and children from the pre-Emancipation era,” will be … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
CAPSULE PREVIEWS: July/August 2023
When the first Art in the Park took place in 2008 in Elm Park in Worcester, Massachusetts, founder Gloria Hall said, “there [weren’t] any sculpture shows like this in a public park.” Now, in 2023, there are several taking place in New England. It’s a bonanza for visitors to the sites hosting them and the sculptors. “The artists get to meet other artists from elsewhere and learn how to display their works in other locations,” Hall said. “Love in Action: Joy, Community, Creativity, Art in The Park, Worcester's 10th Exhibition” features 28 installations by artists from throughout the region and continues through October 6. Connecticut sculptor David Skora is showing “Bent” and “Whirlwind,” both made of welded steel; he’s also got work on view in Bennington, Vermont and The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts. For him, the growth in outside shows has resulted in almost his entire inventory being … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: July/August 2023
CAPSULE PREVIEWS: May/June 2023
Using the second chapter of author Lewis Carroll’s beloved “Alice in Wonderland” as a starting point, “because of its tumultuous activity, the frenzied movement of the figures of Alice and the crowds of birds, and the allure of the small sea created by her tears of anger and frustration,” Patty Adams created her “On the Strangest Sea: Alice and the Pool of Tears” series of paintings that will be on view from May 3 through 28 at Bromfield Gallery, 450 Harrison Ave., Boston, Massachusetts. “As I went on with this theme of chaos and new rules ordering her reality, the scene began to be infiltrated by the new social reality around me,” wrote Adams in her show statement, noting, “To add to the drama and meaning of the confrontation, I used devices from the practice of abstract painting.” “Soaring,” the third solo exhibition of works by Ani Babaian, will be on view from May 13 through May 26 … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: May/June 2023
CAPSULE PREVIEWS: March/April 2023
In her solo show, “The Skies Cried as my Fathers Died,” Rhode Island artist Rachel Brask, who has a studio in East Providence, displays her paintings of rainy skyscapes that express the complexity of grief and of mourning the loss of two fathers in the same year, while also seeking beauty and light in the dark. This new series of oil paintings, created in 2022, will be on exhibit from March 1 through 30 at the Preservation Framer Churchwood Gallery, 31 North Washington St., North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Shared Habitat Earth (SHE) continues its collective efforts to save the planet through two exhibitions featuring over 30 artists in Massachusetts on March 10 through April 30 at the Belmont Gallery of Art, 19 Moore St., Belmont, and March 18 through April 23 at QArts Gallery, 1229 Hancock St., Quincy. “At a time when life on our planet is in imminent danger, the artists have made it … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: March/April 2023
CAPSULE PREVIEWS: January/February 2023
“Flora & Fauna,” an exhibition featuring encaustic artists Debra Claffey, Patricia Gerkin, Kellie Weeks and Charyl Weissbach, will be held from January 7 through February 18 at The Brush Art Gallery & Studios, 256 Market St., Lowell, Massachusetts. Claffey focuses on the plant world, celebrating its beauty of form, shape, and infinite color. Gerkin challenges viewers “to note that space where two worlds meet—outer and inner” with her intuitive process allowing her materials (paint sticks, encaustic, metal leaf and disparate materials), to organically lead the way. While using encaustics “for their insurmountable quality, depth and brilliancy,” Weeks also incorporates dry pigments, metal leaf, shellac and other mixed media as vehicles to develop a whole lexicon of imagery. Weissbach, painting with pigment sticks and encaustic, explores nature’s vastness and the details found … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: January/February 2023