Walking parallel along a two-dimensional timeline of the American South since 1845, tensions of the times are immortalized through still-life. A country’s whole is disseminated into parts that become a whole again, encapsulated in photographic images which reveal the expansion of rural farm towns and the pursuit of civil rights. The essence of humanity is revealed through the relationship of an object to its surroundings, forever tethered to the uprising and unsettlement that shaped its very existence. “A Long Arc,” on view through July 31 at the Addison Gallery of American Art, presents a documentation of a region’s pastoral landscapes over time. For all of its glassed transparency, Gordon Parks’ “Ondria Tanner and Her Grandmother Window-Shopping, Mobile, Alabama,” 1956, captures a moment of intimacy shared between two generations. Not only is the photo layered in its composition of … [Read more...] about “A LONG ARC”: PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH, HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT AT ADDISON GALLERY OF AMERICAN ART
Current Exhibits
VARIED TEXTURES OF HOME LYNNE KORTENHAUS AT SCHOOLHOUSE GALLERY
Printmaker Lynne Kortenhaus is exhibiting 10 of her pieces at the Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown as an homage to her memories of the past. The theme she says is “homeward.” “It’s rare these days to hear someone say they had a lovely childhood but mine was idyllic,” the artist said. Her Kortenhaus grandfather, a land surveyor, farmed 26 acres of New Jersey land. Lynne helped him, picking (and eating) the fruits and vegetables. (She liked the raspberries best.) Her father ranched mink. She got to nurse babies rejected by mums, and with her father holding on to adults, pet their soft furry middles. The family would head into New York city for museums and to shop. On the way back they’d stop at a blueberry farm (eponymously named) where her mum would get oodles of berries for pies and pancakes. Her grandma and great grandma taught Lynne to crochet, which, with the animals, and the … [Read more...] about VARIED TEXTURES OF HOME LYNNE KORTENHAUS AT SCHOOLHOUSE GALLERY
DREAMING IN COLOR: DANIELLE MAILER RETURNS TO PROVINCETOWN AND BERTA WALKER GALLERY
A standing cat with its inner spirit of a mythical cheetah or leopard, and its tail a ribbon-like semaphore cast up to greet the sky; a dog with its inner fox; an icon of a woman in a yoga position. Her sculptures are painterly, her paintings are sculptural, all jump with kinetic energy, vitality, seeming to inhabit a land of her own folktales, a gestalt not so much surreal as of shapeshifters carrying many inner beings of the animate world, where women have bird heads and pale blue roses live within sperm whales. Danielle Mailer creates her own visionary tribe of creatures, figures and motion. Because her work is joyous, people may not take it seriously, but it is complex, a bit like a modern millefleurs tapestry with shades of Gaudi’s trencadis, or even of Māori tattooing. Mailer makes paintings, archival ink prints, two-sided sculptures, jewelry. She uses mixed media, acrylic on … [Read more...] about DREAMING IN COLOR: DANIELLE MAILER RETURNS TO PROVINCETOWN AND BERTA WALKER GALLERY
Inspired Lagomorphs: Rabbits and Hares in Contemporary Craft exhibition opens at Fuller Craft Museum
Whether you think of Bugs Bunny, Peter Rabbit, The Easter Bunny, Alice in Wonderland or a collection of other mystical bunny creatures, rabbits and hares hold a dear spot in the hearts of many story lovers. Representing luck, fertility, abundance and other hopeful feelings, rabbits are important in many cultures around the world. “Lagomorphs: Rabbits and Hares in Contemporary Craft,” which recently opened at Fuller Craft Museum, drew its inspiration from the Chinese zodiac calendar where 2023 marks the year of the rabbit. In Chinese culture, the rabbit is clever, creative, ambitious and a peace maker. In the 18-month process of putting this exhibit together, Curator Beth McLaughlin sought after a collection of art that would highlight the different interpretations of the rabbit. Linda Kindler Priest focused on the movement of the rabbit in her wearable sculpture collection, “6 Hairs in … [Read more...] about Inspired Lagomorphs: Rabbits and Hares in Contemporary Craft exhibition opens at Fuller Craft Museum
Audrey Goldstein’s “Intimate Toxicities” at Gallery Kayafas
Painterly relief constructs by Audrey Goldstein in her show “Intimate Toxicities,” on view through June 10 at Gallery Kayafas in Boston’s SoWa District, build upon benchmarks in contemporary art, creating a dialogue of continuum. Her “Conversation Quilt” has kinship with Robert Rauschenberg’s combine sensibility notably “Ram” (1959) and “Interloper” (1982). Goldstein’s approach toward poetic balance, roaming exploration of quintessential American landscape and the world, relates to his thinking, but a difference is Goldstein’s aesthetic lens is trained on recent global ecological disturbances dramatically re-shaping the ideal. The centerpiece of Goldstein’s show, “Conversation Quilt,” is her largest combine and is presented in a dedicated exhibition room at Gallery Kayafas. Physically attached to the wall, it has a large protuberance of quilted unbleached muslin that pushes out onto the … [Read more...] about Audrey Goldstein’s “Intimate Toxicities” at Gallery Kayafas
HIGHFIELD HALL HOSTS BOSTON SCULPTORS AT 30 IN FALMOUTH
Showing at Highfield Hall and Gardens in Falmouth as part of the Boston Sculptors Gallery’s 30th anniversary is an exhibition of 50 pieces of the genius of these artists, diverse in race, class, gender, styles and media. (Many of the pieces are for sale.) It’s a mind-boggling burst of talent almost too much to take in at one go. You can take an hour’s stroll outdoors through enchanted wild woods and formal gardens, and then cool off indoors for part of the exhibit — which is on two floors of the high ceilinged, antique 19th century Queen Anne mansion. The indoors exhibit ends August 21, the outdoors one on October 30. Starting with an homage to a fallen ancient beech tree by Ed Andrews, constructed of a tower of rusted laddered steel, with live sapling atop, the path takes you past a centerpiece of story-high white aluminum structures by Andy Zimmermann, “Seven Sprouts.” It, like … [Read more...] about HIGHFIELD HALL HOSTS BOSTON SCULPTORS AT 30 IN FALMOUTH