Just at the tipping point of the 19th into the 20th century, Paul Gauguin gave us an operator’s manual for humankind in a painting he brought back to Paris from Tahiti: “Where are we going? What are we? Where do we come from?” He had trouble unloading his painting, for keeps — too many questions — until Boston’s own Museum of Fine Arts bought it in the 1930s, where it’s now a staple of modern art. The manual, though reluctantly at first, was picked up by other artists who wanted to be thoroughly modern. And these artists ran with it in every direction, from modern to postmodern — onwards. “Excerpts from My Studio,” the art of Donald Langosy, now on view at the Multicultural Arts Center in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, traces one of those trajectories, in all its twists and turns, in all its personal vicissitudes. And it’s a dinner plate heaped, in … [Read more...] about PAINTING A DAILY SHOW OF STRENGTH: DONALD LANGOSY’S HOME AT MULTICULTURAL ART CENTER
Visual Arts
QUARANTINE, GRIEF, REGROWTH: PETLER FINDS COMFORT THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY AT PINE MANOR
Tamar Orell Petler turned — as many of us often do — to nature for solace during Covid, especially when her beloved father, Izack Alkalay, passed at age 102 from the virus in November 2020 in Israel, just before a vaccine was available. She kept taking photographs and found that after over a year, her work could constitute her very first solo exhibit at Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, where Petler is the graphic designer and staff photographer. The photos create a triptych: “Quarantine, Grief, Regrowth” will be in two rooms (the first room with the first two chapters and then a second room around the corner for “Regrowth”). Eight by eight-inch and 8 by 10-inch framed color prints will hang on the walls but also a journey of small photos will be suspended on a line from the ceiling, a bit like a movie. Petler was born in Israel and grew up in Haifa. She studied photography in … [Read more...] about QUARANTINE, GRIEF, REGROWTH: PETLER FINDS COMFORT THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY AT PINE MANOR
A SPACE FOR DIALOGUE: HOOD EXHIBITION CONFRONTS DISABILITY BIASES
The Hood Museum at Dartmouth College is home to an innovative program allowing student curators to create an exhibition from concept to realization, producing all aspects of their self-defined project including writing wall text and a brochure, choosing wall colors, frames and object placement, and giving a public talk. With the support of faculty and experienced curators, once a theme has been specified, students have access to the vast collection held by the Hood, with wide-reaching opportunities to choose works which best represent their curatorial intent. The program, known as “A Space for Dialogue,” debuted in 2001 and has brought over 580 works into community and public view. Amelia Kahl is Curator of Academic Programming for the Hood, and oversees A Space for Dialogue. “Working with interns to develop their A Space for Dialogue exhibitions is one of the most satisfying parts of … [Read more...] about A SPACE FOR DIALOGUE: HOOD EXHIBITION CONFRONTS DISABILITY BIASES
A COLLECTION OF MAINE RICHES: BATES UNVEILS COSTELLO WELLEHAN COLLECTION
“Maine... the way life should be.” The tourist tagline you’re greeted with as you enter this much sought-after vacation state is classic, timeless marketing. Poignant. Iconic. Like the marketing strategy tagline, the new show at Bates Museum of Art, “An Adventurous Spirit: The Jane Costello Wellehan Collection,” is also poignant, iconic — and by Maine artists exclusively. Many were from Maine. Many moved away from Maine and returned. Many chose Maine later in life, desiring a laidback, casual lifestyle. And many chose Maine because they deemed it the quintessential environment for an art career. All believe that Maine is the way life should be... The show opens in Lewiston, Maine, on November 5 and runs until March 19, 2022, and showcases the work of approximately 50 Maine artists donated by Maine collector and Bates alumnus, Jane Wellehan. She followed the careers of artists whose … [Read more...] about A COLLECTION OF MAINE RICHES: BATES UNVEILS COSTELLO WELLEHAN COLLECTION
SOLO MOMENTS AT BERTA WALKER: HENRY CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF HUMANITY
Robert Henry, one of the nation’s most original artists, will show “Solo Moments” at one of New England’s most renowned art spaces, the Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown. (Walker could open a museum, so many notable American artists are in her archived collections.) Henry is an American extension of the late 19th and early 20th century European painters like Edvard Munch, Egon Schiele and Emil Nolde — a figural/figurative expressionist whose canvases swing with massive color and motion. His Hans Hofmann influenced push-me-pull-you style (he studied with the master) brings us to extremes of emotion — from joy to occasional terror. No matter how Henry’s subject matter or technique changes, what is consistent is the force of painting, the visceral reactions the works invoke; they are participatory. That force, Henry said, happens as a result of the process of drawing and painting, … [Read more...] about SOLO MOMENTS AT BERTA WALKER: HENRY CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF HUMANITY
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: ONLINE AND IN-PERSON, ART BASEL RETURNS
After more than a year of artists delving deeper into their own practice with little or no feedback from fellow artists or gallerists on the progression of their work, it will be exciting for artists, gallerists and the art public to see new artwork. Giddy anticipation on the part of viewers adds to the excitement for Art Basel and other fairs in Basel, Switzerland, coming September 19 through 26. As Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel was quoted in the introductory materials for the Switzerland-based fair, “While the pandemic has been a time of resilience and innovation it has not always been one of discovery – patrons have often not been able to discover the work of new artists.” Artscope, showing in the magazine sector, is happy to be part of the excited crowd seeing new work by artists seen before and discovering new artists and galleries showing for the first time at Art … [Read more...] about RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: ONLINE AND IN-PERSON, ART BASEL RETURNS