Purple, green, pink and turquoise are colors you think you may see on the sharp gem facet edges of North Truro’s colonial houses, because when Mitchell Johnson paints them, they seem logical, not fanciful, but real. Indeed, color and shape seem to be the point rather than the subjects themselves. The houses and landscapes Johnson paints are, in a way, excuses to express colors. One wonders, is he suggesting our world is just color and form? And yet those colors and forms evoke the essence of place: his European vistas are somehow, well, so European. His vistas of New York, are utterly New York; those of San Francisco as from Russian Hill, could only be San Francisco. So, too, his Cape Cod vistas essentialize the Cape. You can inhale the sea and the musty scent of a pearly gray-blue sky. You can see Johnson’s homage to the Cape’s town of Truro at his exhibit, “Sixteen Years in … [Read more...] about SEASONAL WARMTH AT CASTLE HILL: JOHNSON CAPTURES TRURO’S SPECIAL TEXTURES AND COLORS
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RHODE ISLAND I.M.A.G.I.N.E.S PEACE: MELTED-DOWN GUNS MAKE LOUD STATEMENT
“Rhode Island I.M.A.G.I.N.E.s Peace,” curated by Boris Bally, Victoria Gao, Sara Picard and Dianne Reilly, is an exhibition slated for October 7 through 29 at Rhode Island College’s Bannister Gallery. The exhibition features actual guns re-contextualized to stimulate conversation about the topic of gun violence. Imbedded in its title is metalsmith Boris Bally’s anagram: Innovative Merger of Art and Guns to Inspire New Expressions of Peace. Working in metal, Bally has made it his mission over many years to advocate for better gun laws. Here, he collaborates with Dianne Reilly, a metalsmith and professor at Rhode Island College (RIC); Victoria Gao, director of the Bannister Gallery, and Sara Picard, Associate Professor of Art History at RIC to ultimately create an invitational show comprised of 22 artists called upon to re-contextualize guns. Gao oversaw development for the show and … [Read more...] about RHODE ISLAND I.M.A.G.I.N.E.S PEACE: MELTED-DOWN GUNS MAKE LOUD STATEMENT
ROBERTO LUGO AT THE CURRIER: MULTICULTURAL MASH-UPS WITH A 21ST CENTURY TWIST
Roberto Lugo is one of the good guys. He could don the Superman cape and get away with it. Why? Because he’s earned it. The “good guy” title and joy borne of adversity. Born in Philadelphia, of Puerto Rican descent, Lugo’s parents are first generation immigrants. He was brought up in Phily in a time that saw prevalent drug use, gang activity and many houses in his neighborhood abandoned due to the crack epidemic. His mother and father married young. Both had a middle school education — and lots of grit. Maribel Lugo worked in school cafeterias and other part-time jobs to keep the family afloat. Gilberto Lugo was a Pentecostal preacher who would often bike to town for work to generate income for the family. And yet it was a struggle. Marginalized on the outskirts of American culture, Lugo was a quiet child, devoutly Christian, with a thick Spanish accent. He wrestled with … [Read more...] about ROBERTO LUGO AT THE CURRIER: MULTICULTURAL MASH-UPS WITH A 21ST CENTURY TWIST