By Lindsey Davis Boston, MA – Two girls stretch atop ladders with bright colors on the ends of their brushes, carefully filling in morphing feathered sections of wall at the Kingston Gallery. Another girl stands to the left painting thick black lines that trace a projected outline, a slide created by Sophia Ainslie that combines her drawings into one mural design for this entire wall. Ainslie has been working on this drawing series for the past four years, combining two sources of inspiration to represent the color and lined counterparts that dance and combine on an otherwise blank background. The dark lined spaces contrast with the color and emptiness that surrounds them. The left side of the mural is left empty compared to the colorful busy right side that greets you as you enter the gallery. Ainslie explained that this kind of balance was important, a kind of fading that … [Read more...] about Sophia Ainslie: “in person” at Kingston Gallery

By Lindsey Davis Jamaica Plain, MA - “Canyon Passages” sits along the back wall of the UForge Gallery, inviting you in from the sidewalk through the clear glass. There are eight paintings in all, completed with deep dripping reds and oranges that expose passages of canyon wall without ever revealing the canyon itself. It’s both a study and a celebration of nature, each identically shaped canvas showing a completely different formation of fault lines and indentations, shadows and weather marks. By zooming in and placing the rock out of context, you find yourself looking for shapes in the lines. Some find organic abstract compositions and others have more purposeful outlines that resemble figures or faces often hinted at in the title. “Horse Canyon #2” shows a passage of sharp jagged rock with dark deep-cut crevices that run horizontally across, resembling the surreal skeleton of a … [Read more...] about David Thomas: Canyon Passages at UForge Gallery

By Lindsey Davis Newton, MA - It’s like walking into the mind of an eccentric New Orleans witchdoctor. Thick paint is coarsely hurled onto canvases in rough outlines of people, and cow skull and plaster form ritualistic-looking tikis that resemble overdone voodoo dolls. The New Art Center in Newton’s new exhibition, “Upsodown,” features work by 10 different artists, all created with a kind of raw, free expression — a boldness that reflects a reinvention, the kind of freeing liberty that accompanies the spirit of Carnival. The gallery is intended as a reflection of all the different forms this holiday takes in each culture, and the carnality that comes with absolute freedom manifests as a powerful barbarism in these artworks. Tara Sellios’ dual photographs “Lessons of Impermanence” feature the arranged remains of a seafood meal — an image of orange lobster shells strewn beside empty … [Read more...] about Upsodown at the New Art Center