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Artscope Magazine | November/December 2018

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Fenway Open Studios.

CORNERED: LYNDA MCNALLY, FOUNDING PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF FENWAY STUDIOS

// Artscope Online, Cornered, Exhibit Openings, Visual Arts

by Brian Goslow

This weekend, November 10 and 11, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Fenway Studios, a National Historic Landmark and the oldest purpose-built structure in the country designed solely as artist studios, hosts “Fenway Studios Open Studios Weekend.” Work ranging from abstract expressionism to post-modern realism is available; whether you’re a major collector or someone looking for a special gift or unique stocking stuffers or cards to adorn your gifts (all worthy of frames in their own right) — or you’re just interested in seeing a strong cross-section of locally-created art in the space where they’re made, the event promises to be visually and spiritually rewarding. If you attend, please bring a donation for its 10th Annual Food Drive to Benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank.   A few days prior to the event, Artscope managing editor Brian Goslow exchanged questions with Lynda McNally, the … [Read more...] about CORNERED: LYNDA MCNALLY, FOUNDING PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF FENWAY STUDIOS

Alfredo Jaar restaged his A Logo for America, 1987, in New York in 2014. © Alfredo Jaar. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., New York.

Still Relevant: Art Basel Miami Beach Keeps the Pulse

// Art Basel Miami Beach, Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Nancy Nesvet

Reflecting North and South America’s political and economic turbulence and artists’ domestic and environmental concerns, Art Basel Miami Beach 2018 — its 17th edition — will open to the public December 6 through 9 at the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. Two hundred and sixty eight exhibitors will display work in tried and true sectors: Galleries, where gallerists present their choice of artists and where 12 galleries have moved to from their previous sectors; Nova, where three artists will exhibit in each of the twenty nine gallery-supported booths; Survey, showing 16 works made since 2000; Positions, where emerging galleries will show 14 solo artists, eight for the first time; Kabinett, with themed exhibits; Edition, where 11 galleries show prints; Conversations, where artists, curators and gallerists discuss the work and the art world; and Magazines, the sector where … [Read more...] about Still Relevant: Art Basel Miami Beach Keeps the Pulse

Farsad Labbauf, "Of Shirin and Superheroes," oil on canvas, 2018, 54" x 44" from "From My East to your West," at Blank Space Gallery, 30 Gansevoort St, New York, until October 28.

Farsad Labbauf: From My East to Your West

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

In a layering of styles and content, east and west, Iran and America, past and present, Farsad Labbauf has used imagery from his youth in Iran combined with iconic imagery from mass media and commercialism in America to comment on global economics and society. Speaking about his paintings at Blank Space Gallery, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, in his solo show, “From My East to Your West,” he emphasized the constant bombardment of images from western entertainment media: television, comic books and toys while being exposed to Persian arts including calligraphy, Persian miniature painting, tile works and poetry. Resultantly, he has merged these images in his paintings. He comes from a background of sewing, so that stitchery is translated in his work to a series of lines ranging from the thinness of threads to thicker lines on the canvas, comprising faces, figures, backgrounds, … [Read more...] about Farsad Labbauf: From My East to Your West

LEFT: "5:30 a.m. In the Basement," oil painting on canvas overlaid with video projection, 60" x 36", 2018. CENTER: Safarani Sisters at interview, NY, Oct 19, with "Twilight reincarnation," oil painting on canvas overlaid with video projection, 108" x 72", 2018. RIGHT: "Late Afternoon Gaze 2," oil painting on canvas overlaid with video projection, 60" x 36", 2018.

From Two, One.

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Seeming to reference Edward Hopper’s interiors and Gerhard Richter’s “Woman Descending the Staircase” (1965, after Duchamp), with a bit of Vermeer’s Dutch Master technique and figurative expertise thrown in, the Safarani sisters’ video paintings, in their solo show “Reincarnation,” surpass and contemporize these past masterworks. Presented by Roya Khadjavi Projects, Iranian twin sisters, Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani, master of fine arts graduates from Northeastern University with bachelor of art degrees from Tehran University in painting, literally set the stage for the slow contemplation of domestic scenes featuring themselves. The video projection of wavering sheer curtains onto the oil paintings doubles the doppelgänger effect of two sisters appearing in and simultaneously painting the canvas. From the earliest paintings shown, layers of curtain increasingly part and cover to … [Read more...] about From Two, One.

(Clockwise from top left) Philip Gerstein, “The Cool Dude,” acrylic and textured medium on wood panel, 24” x 24”; Barry Margolin, “when the precious guru approaches: play of wakefulness 39,” 2018, beeswax and paint marker on panel, 18” x 24”; Ronni Komarow, “Diary of a Bake Sale Diva” (detail), 2018, mixed media installation, 8’ x 8’ x8’.

OCTOBER TREAT: GERSTEIN, MARGOLIN & KOMAROW AT GALATEA

// Exhibits

by Brian Goslow

Boston, MA - Venturing down the 10 or so stairs to Galatea Fine Art at 460 Harrison Ave. in Boston’s SoWa District has always held the promise of discovering a new favorite artist, whether through its monthly spotlight exhibitions of collection of members work that sometimes threatens to steal the show in its own right. The three exhibitions on view through October 28: Philip Gerstein’s “Sometimes There Is Bliss”; Barry Margolin’s “Play of Wakefulness” and “Ronni Komarow’s “Tender Mercies” have lots to deliver, so plan on a second or third walk around the gallery space to see what revelations you missed the first time around. The first work in Gerstein’s collection as you turn into its viewing area, “Count O’Litski,” has the immediate feel of process thanks to the sharpness of his drawn lines and the marking and filling in of space on the canvas. In “After the Humans,” you can … [Read more...] about OCTOBER TREAT: GERSTEIN, MARGOLIN & KOMAROW AT GALATEA

LEFT: David Brewster, Freemason, at Gross McLeaf Gallery; RIGHT: Janet Echelman, “Pulse” installation in Center City District; photography by Melvin Epps.

PLAY ON PHILADELPHIA! JANET ECHELMAN’S PULSE & DAVID BREWSTER’S ROGUE WAVES AT GROSS MCLEAF GALLERY SHARE THE LOVE

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Philadelphia is an art city. When I first encountered Philadelphia’s City Hall on a bright sunny day in early October, I was enchanted by the extent and excellence of the installations and sculptures I encountered, beginning with bronze statues of historical figures that included John Wanamaker, President William McKinley, General McClellan and William Penn. Penn’s statue, created by Scotsman Alexander Milne Calder and installed in 1894, graces the top of the tower of Philadelphia’s City Hall. The city’s website claims it is the largest, at 37 feet tall and heaviest, at 53,000 pounds of any statue worldwide. Challenging the size of Penn in the same plaza is Claes Oldenburg’s “Clothespin,” which is joined by Robert Indiana’s “Love” sculpture, with red letters, and blue sides mimicking his 1976 painting. Jacque Lipshitz’s “Government of the People” (1976) looks like a tangle of human … [Read more...] about PLAY ON PHILADELPHIA! JANET ECHELMAN’S PULSE & DAVID BREWSTER’S ROGUE WAVES AT GROSS MCLEAF GALLERY SHARE THE LOVE