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Artscope Magazine | January/February 2025

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Current Exhibits

Playing Hide and Seek in Amherst

// Current Exhibits, Current Issue, Exhibits, July/August 2016, Visual Arts

The Magical Art of Eric Carle by John P. Stapleton As an artist with close to household name status from his children’s books, it’s not a surprise that Eric Carle would be putting so much of his family into his images. At the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, they’ve got a new exhibit called “Hide and Seek” that sheds light on the little family references he’s hidden in various pieces. “Easter Eggs,” as they’re called, are small pieces of a work that blend in, but are a direct reference to an outside subject. In Pixar movies, you’ll see Buzz Lightyear get thrown around in movies that aren’t Toy Story as a cute reminder of that classic movie, seamlessly dropped into the background of that new world. For Carle, he was a fan of initials, but didn’t shy away from the route of reusing characters for minor moments in his work. The Hungry Caterpillar himself … [Read more...] about Playing Hide and Seek in Amherst

Making Lemonade in Vermont

// Current Exhibits, Current Issue, Exhibits, July/August 2016, Visual Arts

Gloria King Merritt's Happy Accident by Taryn Plumb It basically started out as a fluke. Four years ago, a tendon snapped in Gloria King Merritt’s thumb (the result of a 40-year-old injury). Her hand had to be rewired; she couldn’t do the simplest things, like fasten buttons or tie her shoes. Her doctors told her that in order to get her dexterity back, she should repetitively make quarter-inch marks with a pencil on a pad. That got old pretty quickly; it was not only boring, but mind-numbing. So instead, she picked up a tablet and a stylus and began experimenting with digital art. As she put it, she “devoured” software, and within 12 weeks, had a complete drawing. “Now I’m addicted,” said the Woodstock, Vermont-based digital artist, whose work will be on display through July 17 as part of “Domesticated Beasts and Dreams of Home: Early Summer Group Show,” also … [Read more...] about Making Lemonade in Vermont

Bierstadt in New Bedford

// Current Exhibits, Current Issue, Exhibits, July/August 2016, Visual Arts

An Unlikely Partnership Makes Sense by Don Wilkinson The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (NBWNHP) is a 16-acre urban park spread over thirteen city blocks, many of them cobblestoned, and is part of the National Park Service (NPS). In 2014, the NBWNHP approached the New Bedford Art Museum/Artworks! (NBAM/AW!) to invite it to participate in the centennial anniversary celebration of the NPS. It was decided that the museum would host an exhibition of works by the famed 19th century landscape painter of the American West, Albert Bierstadt. Born in Solingen, Rhine Province, Prussia in 1830, Bierstadt moved to New Bedford with his family the following year. But why a Bierstadt show to celebrate the NPS? There is a meandering, far-reaching connective thread. His paintings of the frontier, when exhibited and copied and published back East during the years in the … [Read more...] about Bierstadt in New Bedford

A Pattern of Success

// Current Exhibits, Current Issue, Exhibits, July/August 2016, Visual Arts

Attleboro's National Juried Show by James Foritano Vibrant, funny, elegant, profound. Overall a deeply heartening and enlivening display of talent for a summer afternoon in Attleboro — or for anytime, anywhere. That’s “Patterns,” the Attleboro Arts Museum’s annual national juried exhibition whose call for art sought work in all mediums, sizes and concepts that related to, or included, a pattern: “Consider zebra stripes, the family tartan, flight patterns, nautilus shell curves, quilts, breathing patterns, a strand of pearls, dress patterns, kaleidoscopes, waffle irons, wallpaper …” And did the artists ever respond! I think of the alacrity with which Patrick leapt from his attendance at the front desk to assist me with sculptor Tim Dawes’ kinetic sculpture, “Amore-2016.” Patrick, with a practiced nudge, set in motion two wheels jutting from the gallery wall. Don’t ask me … [Read more...] about A Pattern of Success

Jul/Aug 2016 Capsule Previews

// Current Exhibits, Exhibits, July/August 2016, Visual Arts

by Brian Goslow The National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) Massachusetts Chapter is presenting two exhibitions this summer: “Continuum: Tradition Meets Innovation,” continuing through August 6 at Fountain Street Fine Art, 59 Fountain St., Framingham, Mass., and “Breaking Ground,” featuring 55 works by 46 artists, running through September 16 at the Walter J. Manninen Center for the Arts at Endicott College, 376 Hale St., Beverly, Mass. NAWA was founded in 1889 as a not-for-profit organization of professional women in fine art and is the oldest art association for women. The Mass. Chapter, formed in 2013, offers an active program of exhibitions, seminars, community outreach programs and educational activities. -- “Kaleidoscopic Pathos,” paintings by Bennington-based Renée Bouchard, will be on view from July 5 through September 30 at the Vermont Governor’s Gallery, … [Read more...] about Jul/Aug 2016 Capsule Previews

Redefining the Sublime

// Current Exhibits, Current Issue, Exhibits, July/August 2016, Visual Arts

Man vs. Nature at Hall Art by Elizabeth Michelman For Victorian critic John Ruskin, the “sublime” described an aesthetic experience of awe and magnificence accompanied by subjective and even violent emotion. Guest curator Joel Sternfeld, a photographer and videographer teaching at Sarah Lawrence College, re-visits this concept in “Landscapes After Ruskin,” selecting from over 6,000 works of post-World War II art in the collections of the Hall family and Hall Art Foundation. Quaintly staged in the buildings of a former Vermont dairy farm, the exhibition asks whether we can ever separate the human mark from nature. Its imagery challenges us to recognize a world outside that increasingly fails us as we fail it. Sternfeld favors digital and photographic imagery, painting, and drawing, with a smattering of sculptures, installations, and videos. Familiar German names — Joseph … [Read more...] about Redefining the Sublime