Carmen Cicero has made art since he was a child and at 99 is still doing so. The Berta Walker Gallery is currently featuring some of his prolific watercolors in “Tales of Intrigue,” an exhibition running through July 20, which accompanies his book: “Carmen Cicero, Watercolors and Drawings, Tales of Danger, Intrigue and Humor.” (The book, by David Ebony, and “The Art of Carmen Cicero,” will be available at the Provincetown gallery.) Walker recently talked of rediscovering Cicero, promoting him at the Graham Modern Gallery in New York City where he received three important reviews that launched him on his current trajectory as an artist collected by virtually every important museum in the country including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney and the Guggenheim. (Simultaneously to showcasing Carmen’s work, Walker is featuring Deb Mell and Danielle Mailer who create their own … [Read more...] about CORNERED
Cornered
CORNERED: JOANNE MATTERA
Joanne Mattera’s 2001 book, “The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax,” has been a guiding light for encaustic artists since its publication in 2001. She founded the International Encaustic Conference, IN 2007, which will be held for its 17th year from May 31 through June 3 at the Providence Inn and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill; she’s now its Director Emerita. Built on several years of entries under the same name, Mattera’s latest book, the self-published “Italianità: Contemporary Art Inspired by the Italian Immigrant Experience,” has a complementary exhibition, “A Legacy of Making: 21 Contemporary Italian American Artists,” that is on view through the end of April at John D. Calandra Italian American Institute in Manhattan. Her next solo exhibition, featuring paintings on paper that Mattera produced during the pandemic, … [Read more...] about CORNERED: JOANNE MATTERA
“A DYNAMIC CONTINUUM”: Cornered with Brett Abbott
On February 15, Brett Abbott became the new Director and CEO of the New Britain Museum of American Art; during his first week in office, Artscope Magazine’s Suzanne Volmer exchanged questions and ideas with him as he was stepping into the job. SUZANNE VOLMER: Welcome back to New England. Congratulations on becoming the new Director of NBMAA. BRETT ABBOTT: Thank you. SV: Your background includes a Master’s Degree from Williams College and then onward to Stanford and Museum Leadership training at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It’s a combination of influences that makes me think of the exhibit “Now Dig This!” that originated from The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time Series that I saw at Williams College Art Museum. I wonder what cross-pollination, inclusive of your museum directorship at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, do you plan to bring to … [Read more...] about “A DYNAMIC CONTINUUM”: Cornered with Brett Abbott