Upon reflection, the first thing that comes to mind when North Adams, Massachusetts, is mentioned is Mass MoCA, the giant, wondrous, football field of a contemporary art museum. The second thing is the dreaded hairpin turn on Route 2. Having recently moved to the area, many people who have vowed to come and visit me have mentioned both the museum and the hairpin turn in the same breath, a fitting nod to this city’s denizens meeting challenges against all odds. My own journey took a hairpin turn when I needed to find a “city to live in” (quoting David Byrne) after getting priced out of the North Shore of Boston. Long time good friends, Anna Salmeron (of the Biennial Project fame, and conceptual artist) and Bo Petran (visual artist working in installation, sculpture and painting) had moved to North Adams a few years ago and suggested (no, insisted!) that this here’s the place to … [Read more...] about A NEW BEGINNING: MARJORIE KAYE FINDS INSPIRATION IN NORTH ADAMS
Artscope Issues
CAPSULE PREVIEWS FOR ARTSCOPE 97
“FeministFuturist: Liminal Lab,” the final show at the Hess Gallery at Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St., Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, is scheduled from March 1 through May 25; it follows the FeministFurist collective’s debut show in 2020. “We felt a need to continue the spirit of the Boston Center for the Arts. exhibit in a collective endeavor,” said Hess Gallery director — and collective member — Carolyn Wirth. “One of the first things we did was write a manifesto to state our purposes as artists, feminists and futurists. We choose “FeministFuturist” to describe a point of view which embraces a future of equality intersecting across gender, race, sexual orientation, class, creed and species.” Participating artists include Freedom Baird (who’ll be overseeing a “Journey Quilt” made of fabric and momentos from the Pine Manor College community), digital andVR artist AK Liesenfeld, … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS FOR ARTSCOPE 97
A CALL FOR ORIGINALITY: GIVING ARTISTS A HEADS-UP IN THE GALLERY WORLD
Artists often wonder how to get representation by a gallery as an entrée into the established art world. Mega- galleries such as Hauser & Wirth and Galerie Lelong welcome artists of multiple viewpoints, artistic modes of practice and styles of representation. For large and smaller galleries, an overriding agenda is important in maintaining a personality within the gallery world, and the artist must research what that agenda is, and apply to the gallery that most fits their work. Galleries run the gamut from concern with the environment, social justice, identity, abstraction, representation by national or ethnic identity and more. However, should an opinion expressed in an artwork not be initially shared by a gallery, if an artist’s work can convince the gallerist that his concern and viewpoint is worth displaying for the gallery’s audience, and his or her expression is remarkable, … [Read more...] about A CALL FOR ORIGINALITY: GIVING ARTISTS A HEADS-UP IN THE GALLERY WORLD
LIFELONG PROJECTS: INVALUABLE COWANS AND SILVER PHOTOS AT FAIRFIELD
When New Englanders talk about summer getaways, few mention Connecticut as a destination point, seemingly unaware of its breathtaking shorelines and winding roads hugging its seawalls or the old-time camp feel based around its approximately 3,000 ponds, lakes and reservoirs. Since 1973, when he relocated to Westport, Connecticut, from Greater New York, Larry Silver has been photographing and documenting his home state, in what he calls, “A lifelong project.” Highlights from that work will be on view in “13 Ways of Looking at Landscape: Larry Silver’s Connecticut Photographs,” which will be on view from March 25 through June 18 at the Fairfield University Art Museum. He dedicated himself to being a lifetime photographer as a teenager. At the age of 15, as a photography student at the High School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design) in New York City, which he … [Read more...] about LIFELONG PROJECTS: INVALUABLE COWANS AND SILVER PHOTOS AT FAIRFIELD
A GRAND, POWERFUL REOPENING: FRENCH LEAVES CATAMOUNT GROUNDED FOR FUTURE SUCCESS
Who would expect a small corner at the very northern part of Vermont to be the place to find the finest examples of art from Vermont and regional artists? I would. I haven’t missed the annual Juried Exhibition for the last several years. The pandemic, of course, put a roadblock in that endeavor. But now, the 2021 show is finally on and in addition to an excellent online virtual tour, it is open to the public! Catamount Arts is one of those treasured places you don’t want to miss — even if it means putting some miles on your car — 50 miles or so north of Burlington. Small cafes, terroir style restaurants and handmade chocolate shops line the road up there, and the somnolent winter landscape is breathtaking. (To read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe Here.) … [Read more...] about A GRAND, POWERFUL REOPENING: FRENCH LEAVES CATAMOUNT GROUNDED FOR FUTURE SUCCESS
DYNAMIC AND INSPIRING: NEWPORT BIENNIAL PROVIDES MESSAGES, IMAGES OF HOPE
The Cushing Building at the Newport Art Museum is overflowing with artwork — sculptures of glass, stone and plastic are strategically placed throughout the space and myriad other works line the walls. Over 250 artists submitted 850 paintings, photographs, sculptures and multimedia works to be considered for the 2022 Newport Biennial. Sixty-nine artists were selected for the exhibition by guest juror Dr. Kimberli Gant, the McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia. The Biennial exhibition, formerly known as the Newport Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition, has been a showcase for regional artists for over 30 years. Gant selected works that were “dynamic and inspiring, as well as [those that had] a thoughtful message.” And in that goal, she succeeded. There is no way to capture the entirety of the Biennial in one article. Therefore, much … [Read more...] about DYNAMIC AND INSPIRING: NEWPORT BIENNIAL PROVIDES MESSAGES, IMAGES OF HOPE