By Sabrina Garvin CAMBRIDGE, MASS. --– A little bit of Haiti has appeared in the quiet atrium of Lesley University’s Sherrill Library through “Haiti in Context: A Daily Life,” a collection of large, vibrant paintings by Roberson Joseph depicting Haitian life that currently adorns its walls. Holding an enormous presence, the paintings are teaming with dramatic colors and are heavy with fantastical realism. Depicting love, family, fun, tragedy, sadness and everyday life in Haiti, these paintings combine realism-centered images of the common people with the glorification of nature and dizzying backgrounds of romanticism. This exhibit must be seen in person, as neither pictures nor words can do justice to the pure magnitude of these paintings. Joseph’s “Hurricane” (acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”) presents the scene of a flooded town after a hurricane. The painting centers on a man … [Read more...] about ROBERSON JOSEPH’S “HAITI IN CONTEXT: THE DAILY LIFE” AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY’S SHERRILL LIBRARY
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ARTSCOPE REVIEW: BRICKBOTTOM’S 30TH ANNUAL OPEN STUDIOS
By Sabrina Garvin SOMERVILLE, MASS. --- At this year’s Brickbottom Open Studios, held on November 18-19, there was so much artwork it was dripping from the staircases. As one of the largest, oldest and most well-attended open studios events, there was something for just about anyone’s artistic tastes, from elegant photographs, jewelry, oil paintings and pottery to remarkable found art, large installations, kinetic sculptures and mosaics. The Brickbottom Artist Association’s membership covers an incredible range of art forms and styles. Mix in live music and great snacks with crowds of excited people and artists, and that formula is the recipe for one awesome weekend-long art party. With over 70 artists’ studios in three repurposed A&P Grocery factory buildings, and its main gallery open to the public, there was plenty to do and look at. The Brickbottom Gallery itself held … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE REVIEW: BRICKBOTTOM’S 30TH ANNUAL OPEN STUDIOS
DONNA DODSON’S MAKING CONNECTIONS … IN TAIWAN
(In our September/October 2017 issue, Donna Dodson wrote of her experience at the Ringkobing International Woodcarving Symposium in Denmark. In this follow-up report, along with husband Andy Moerlein (collectively known as The Myth Makers), she travels to Taiwan for the International Marine Environmental Art where they create an outside sculpture as Artists in Residence at the Keelung National Museum of Marine Science and Technology). KEELUNG CITY, TAIWAN -- August, The Myth Makers were invited to be the Artists in Residence at the Keelung National Museum of Marine Science & Technology in Taiwan. Organized by Jane Ingram Allen, this International Marine Environmental Art Project invites artists from the USA, Europe and Taiwan to complete monumental public works that connect art and science. We worked with three groups of volunteers to complete our project on site. We also … [Read more...] about DONNA DODSON’S MAKING CONNECTIONS … IN TAIWAN
THE HUNTINGTON THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK
By James Foritano BOSTON, MA -- How best to introduce a play reeking with the ambiguities and ambivalences of the human situation is perhaps to start with a few paragraphs of bare facts. The title of the play under review is “A Guide for the Homesick” by playwright Ken Urban. Its current run takes place from October 6 through November at the Huntington Theatre Company’s new South End venue, the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The main actors on stage are Mckinley Belcher III, playing “Teddy,” and Samuel H. Levine, playing “Jeremy,” under the direction of Colman Domingo. The setting and time are Amsterdam. Teddy’s hotel room. Evening and the following morning. January 2011. All these bare facts come together in a most accommodating and highly professional manner to hand the attending audience (you and me) a “guide” that is so “hot” you have to keep tossing … [Read more...] about THE HUNTINGTON THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK
Gallery 1832 at LabCentral’s Grand Opening
By James Foritano CAMBRIDGE, Ma -- Charlie Baker, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ very tall governor, is standing at a podium in the lobby of LabCentral, deep in the heart of the Kendall Square Innovation District and giving his bipartisan blessing to LabCentral's new 42,000 square foot expansion in Cambridge, Mass. I'm here as an emissary of Artscope because this expansion is about more than feet and inches, more than new shared lab space for worthy startups. It's also about art, and in this instance, specifically "Gallery 1832," which stretches from one end to the other of a long white corridor just upstairs from this ceremonious lobby. "Wait a minute!" you might think, laboratories fitted out with the latest equipment to enable the inspiration of scientific, of entrepreneurial minds while art is banished to a corridor! Perhaps I misspoke. Let's say instead a busy "lane" … [Read more...] about Gallery 1832 at LabCentral’s Grand Opening
Honk Fest 2017
Shem Tane CAMBRIDGE, MA -- This past weekend the city of Cambridge celebrated its 11th year of HonkFest, which is a three day festival of brass bands from around the U.S. performing in both Davis and Harvard Squares. The core of the festival is to bring the community together through music. As I witnessed the many different bands performing and interweaving through the crowds I could feel an increasing sense of unity. Everywhere you turned, those two social centers of Cambridge were pulsing with dancing, discussion, and music. One of the bands that I caught was this rag tag collection of musicians from Seattle, Washington. At one point of their set they performed a cover of “Pink Elephants” from Dumbo. This set the crowd into a frenzy as the musicians began expanding into the crowd inches away from my face; the resulting adrenaline rush was palpable. The second group I … [Read more...] about Honk Fest 2017