By Puloma Ghosh Boston, MA - “We Made It!” — now open in the gallery at the North Bennet Street School — features the work of the first three graduates of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the North Bennet Street School’s collaborative degree program in furniture design, just established this year. The North Bennet Street School, established in 1881 as a trade school for crafts, has had a long partnership with The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, which was established only several years prior in 1878. Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez, president of North Bennet Street School, explained that in the past few years, “There have been a lot of people coming back and forth — designers wanting to know more about how to make, and makers wanting to get skills to design because they have these fabrication skills and they want to learn how to design. So that finally led, a couple … [Read more...] about “We Made It!” – MassArt’s First Furniture Design Graduates at the North Bennet Street School
Exhibits
Visible Soul: Celebrating the Feline as Muse at Lesley University
By Puloma Ghosh Cambridge, MA – The “Visible Soul: Celebrating the Feline as Muse through Painting, Drawing, Photography and Sculpture” exhibit in the VanDernoot Gallery is tucked away behind a café in Lesley’s University Hall, much like a cat that appears in a bright flash of color between the furniture. This exhibit is a collection of pieces focused on man’s other, more mysterious best friend —cats. The pieces are comprised of a variety of media, from prints and paintings to photography and sculpture. Each piece captures a different aspect of the cat, and when arranged together, create a detailed picture of what makes it such a captivating and inspiring companion. The artists featured in the show are nothing short of impressive. “Male and Female,” two dry point prints by Louise Bourgeois, hang complementing each other, and three hand-colored lithographs by Andy Warhol neatly … [Read more...] about Visible Soul: Celebrating the Feline as Muse at Lesley University
Power to the People: Three shows of work by Ralph Fasanella
By Nancy Nesvet In his centennial year, Ralph Fasanella, an artist who painted for thirty years before he was recognized as a great painter, is currently celebrated in Cooperstown, NY, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Each show illustrates his dedication to working people and the America he loved. Following 2013 exhibits in Lawrence, Massachusetts and at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York City, the celebration of Ralph Fasanella’s centennial continues. In Washington, D.C. the Smithsonian Museum of American Art’s exhibition, Lest We Forget, May 2-August 3, features Fasanella’s paintings of New York City, Lawrence, Mass., strikes, and laborers. There are paintings of political events as well, including the Rosenberg trial, the Kennedy assassination, and the McCarthy trials. Fasanella’s “Family Supper” borrows from the Ellis Island Memorial, “Modern Times,” and is a comprehensive … [Read more...] about Power to the People: Three shows of work by Ralph Fasanella
Abe Lincoln’s Piano at the Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
By James Foritano Boston, MA – Artscope was at the Cutler Majestic Theater for a recent performance as Hershey Felder stepped out on stage with only artfully configured lighting and a few props to lead us through the crisis of President Lincoln’s assassination. It helps, when one has something to say, especially over the length of 90 minutes, to be multi-talented. To sing, to dance, to mime, to mimic doesn’t necessarily illuminate every wrinkle of this complex communal and personal tragedy, but it does provide entertainment, and even provocation to wonder. In popular song and musical accompaniment (on Abe Lincoln’s piano) Mr. Felder conjures up the world of sound and rhythm of an era. And we hear that world comforting and dialoguing with itself when art was largely homemade. Along this journey, Felder eloquently assumes and sheds multiple personas but concentrates on the … [Read more...] about Abe Lincoln’s Piano at the Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
Artscoped! Revisiting Robert S. Neuman
By Kimberlee Meserve The last time artscope caught up with Robert S. Neuman was in 2007, when his retrospective, Robert S. Neuman: Selected Work 1954-2007, was being shown at the Beard/Weil Gallery at Wheaton College. At 87 years young, Neuman is still a busy man. Since his retrospective at Wheaton, he has had many themed shows concentrating on specific bodies of work and a number of retrospectives. Last year, he had a major retrospective, Definition of Place: 1950-2012, which featured over 50 pieces of work, from comics he wrote to his first wife when he was drafted to the Air Force in the '40s, to pieces he made in college, along with his more recent paintings. The show was exhibited at The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls, Idaho and the Prichard Art Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. Definition of Place 1950-2012 was a retrospective in more ways than one. It … [Read more...] about Artscoped! Revisiting Robert S. Neuman
CAPSULE PREVIEW: Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art at Endicott College
By Brian Goslow Beverly, MA - In organizing the traveling exhibition, “Theresa Bernstein: A Century of Art,” Gail Levin, Distinguished Professor at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York set out to posthumously earn Theresa Ferber Bernstein (1890 – 2002) her proper place on the list of great American artists. The announcement for the show notes that when Levin was researching Edward Hopper in the 1980s she found that during the time period that the two artists' work was being made and shown, “Bernstein’s work garnered more attention than Hopper’s.” Not only has Bernstein been historically overlooked, few know her name. “She was erased, and there are many reasons why women artists are erased … Bernstein was born just three years after Georgia O’Keeffe. Both enjoyed great success in their time, yet only O’Keeffe achieved celebrity and lasting … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEW: Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art at Endicott College