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New England's Culture Magazine

Artscope Magazine | March/April 2021

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Artscope Online

URBANO PROJECT CELEBRATES THE WARMTH OF WE HEAL’S ART WORKSHOPS

// Artscope Online, Community, Visual Arts

by Montana Mendes

A click of a Zoom link and a question of whether the video would stay on and I was in to view the online closing celebration for the “We Heal” exhibition and book release coordinated by sculptor Nora Valdez in collaboration with patients from the Cancer and Sickle Cell Support Programs at the Boston Medical Center and Dana Farber Cancer Institute and youth from the Urbano Project. The project was an encouraging and inspiring workshop that allowed those going through hardships to experience the creativity they have. As everyone rolled in for the March 19 event, I sat and waited for the presentation of what would be beautiful art from people who do not consider them artists. It started with a warm welcome to show how much of a community had been built through this exhibition. The exhibition mimicked the feeling of healing and the work resembled places that feel good to those who … [Read more...] about URBANO PROJECT CELEBRATES THE WARMTH OF WE HEAL’S ART WORKSHOPS

THE BUSINESS OF ART: NFT’S ON THE MARK?

// Artscope Online, Featured, News, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

On March 11, 2021, a 10 second video clip by video artist Beeble, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, was sold by Miami-based art collector Pablo Rodriquez-Fraile for $69,346,250 in Ethereum Digital currency. He had bought it in October 2020 for $67,000 making quite a nice profit less than a year later. No one to date has bought NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) for their aesthetic value, although Beeble’s work is quite beautiful. “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” a collage of 5000 images produced over 33 years by Beeble, is a unique string of code called a non-fungible token (NFT). Unique to the buyer/owner, it cannot be reproduced or sent to anyone else. Consequently, the artwork can only be viewed by the purchaser, on their computer, or projected on their wall. It carries on the tradition of the Renaissance fresco, only viewable in the Medici or Sforza palace or church, and transferable for … [Read more...] about THE BUSINESS OF ART: NFT’S ON THE MARK?

CORNERED: ABSTRACT PAINTER RICHARD KATTMAN

// Artscope Online, Cornered

by Brian Goslow

Abstract paintings by Holliston, Massachusetts-based Richard Kattman are currently on view alongside those of Warwick, Rhode Island-based Eveline Luppi in “Perspectives,” which can be seen through March 26 at the Providence Art Club, 11 Thomas St., Providence, Rhode Island.Prior to the exhibition’s opening, Brian Goslow, Artscope Magazine’s managing editor, exchanged questions via email with Kattman about his work in the show and what the past year has been like for him as a painter.   TELL ME ABOUT THE FOUR WORKS IN THE SHOW ... The four artworks represented in the Perspectives exhibition are large abstract paintings completed either in studio or plein-air at awarded artist residences at Fruitlands Museum (Harvard, Massachusetts) and Brush Creek Ranch, Wyoming. The series is based on the colors red yellow blue green, as a palette developed to insure a constant source of … [Read more...] about CORNERED: ABSTRACT PAINTER RICHARD KATTMAN

A LASTING IMPRESSION: STUART KNEW THE PROPAGANDIST VALUE OF SYMBOLS

// Community, Current Issue, March/April 2021

by Nancy Nesvet

Forty-four Presidential portraits hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., each unique, reflecting stylistic and political preferences and concerns as visual art codes and signals points of view of society at the time it is produced. Recent events in our nation’s capital have drawn attention to recognizing the artist’s role as documentarian and interpreters of society’s views and preferences. Where a camera is aimed and what a videocam records is dependent on the stance of an artist and their courage to be in a place and time. That has been proven in the videos of the Capitol riots that numerous people have seen on TV and computer screens. Painters and sculptors observe the same requirements and parameters in creating their work. The stance and mind of a sculptor or painter, and the artist’s view of the President, was responsible for the artist’s unique vision and … [Read more...] about A LASTING IMPRESSION: STUART KNEW THE PROPAGANDIST VALUE OF SYMBOLS

A NEW APPROACH TO PROGRAMMING: LEXART’S BROADER OUTREACH, RENOVATED GALLERY

// Community, Current Issue, March/April 2021

by Isabel Barbi

Founded in 1935, Lexington Arts and Crafts (LexArt) continues to service the community and expand in resources and innovation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last 86 years, the educational non-profit collaborative has undergone many intentional and inevitable changes, but the ones enacted in the past year are completely reshaping LexArt to even further “encourage and inspire artisans at all stages of their journeys” and “enrich lives through the power of art and craft,” quoted from their vision and mission statements. In November 2020, Matthew Siegal, former Chair of the Department of Conservatism and Collections Management at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was officially appointed as Executive Director and President of LexArt. Prior to Siegal, the organization was entirely volunteer run until March 2019 when the organization overhauled its internal structure and … [Read more...] about A NEW APPROACH TO PROGRAMMING: LEXART’S BROADER OUTREACH, RENOVATED GALLERY

CURRENT | UNDERCURRENT: PRESSING ISSUES SPOTLIGHTED AT UMASS AMHERST SHOW

// Current Issue, Featured, March/April 2021

by Hannah Carrigan

In “CURRENT|UNDERCURRENT,” an online show at UMass Amherst’s Hampden Gallery on view through May 14, both the acute and the latent pains of an unequal and unhealed America are exposed, dissected and felt. The exhibition, curated by Linda Griggs and M. Charlene Stevens, is overtly personal and political; consequently, it lends itself to vastly different viewing experiences. The show begins with works curated by Griggs which are organized into four themes: the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice, climate change and the economy. These themes reflect “the four key points that then President-elect Biden vowed to address on his first day in office,” and many intersect across and within individual works. The first piece in the exhibition, Christina Marsh’s “One Drop,” features 100 cups containing various shades of chocolate milk. The cups sit in rows on a white painted floor, each … [Read more...] about CURRENT | UNDERCURRENT: PRESSING ISSUES SPOTLIGHTED AT UMASS AMHERST SHOW