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Artscope Magazine | January/February 2019

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LEFT: David Brewster, Freemason, at Gross McLeaf Gallery; RIGHT: Janet Echelman, “Pulse” installation in Center City District; photography by Melvin Epps.

PLAY ON PHILADELPHIA! JANET ECHELMAN’S PULSE & DAVID BREWSTER’S ROGUE WAVES AT GROSS MCLEAF GALLERY SHARE THE LOVE

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Philadelphia is an art city. When I first encountered Philadelphia’s City Hall on a bright sunny day in early October, I was enchanted by the extent and excellence of the installations and sculptures I encountered, beginning with bronze statues of historical figures that included John Wanamaker, President William McKinley, General McClellan and William Penn. Penn’s statue, created by Scotsman Alexander Milne Calder and installed in 1894, graces the top of the tower of Philadelphia’s City Hall. The city’s website claims it is the largest, at 37 feet tall and heaviest, at 53,000 pounds of any statue worldwide. Challenging the size of Penn in the same plaza is Claes Oldenburg’s “Clothespin,” which is joined by Robert Indiana’s “Love” sculpture, with red letters, and blue sides mimicking his 1976 painting. Jacque Lipshitz’s “Government of the People” (1976) looks like a tangle of human … [Read more...] about PLAY ON PHILADELPHIA! JANET ECHELMAN’S PULSE & DAVID BREWSTER’S ROGUE WAVES AT GROSS MCLEAF GALLERY SHARE THE LOVE

CONCERT REVIEW: IDLES AT BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

// Featured, Music, Review

by Shem Tane

On September 20, I found myself outside Brighton Music Hall for the first time in my six or so years of living in Boston, in line to see Idles, a punk band from Bristol, England that was in the midst of a tour for its sophomore album, Joy is an Act of Resistance. When a band releases a second album, there is a high level of anxiety that it will suffer by comparison to a successful debut album and the band will fade into obscurity (and join the ranks of other one-hit wonders). This is not the case for Idles; the new album has already received high ratings from critics that are claiming the album as a fresh take on the punk genre. The album delivers social commentary on the toxicity of the punk scene as well as the right wing’s take on immigrants. When the band started playing their set, its singer, Joe Talbot, slowly paced the stage staring down the crowd like a shark circling … [Read more...] about CONCERT REVIEW: IDLES AT BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

Lennie Peterson, Philip Glass, Giclée print and gator board (left); Josephine Baker, brush, ink, and acrylic on weathered canvas (right).

Synesthesia: Music-Inspired Art and Mindscapes by Lennie Peterson at the Narrows Art Center

// Artscope Online, Audio/Visual, Exhibits, Interview, Visual Arts

by J. Fatima Martins

Lennie Peterson’s “Synesthesia,” on view through October 15 at the Narrows Art Center in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a must-see exhibition of over 40 original mixed-media drawing-paintings (and a few reproductions of originals in Giclée on board), a hanging sculpture and a behind-the-scenes video of Peterson at work. In the video, we see Peterson creating with a live-performance format, which he is now famous for doing, and get a glimpse of some of his lesser known and fascinating practices. There is a revelation in the video: he takes a substrate and places it in water and sand in a beach environment, allowing the materials to arrive at a natural unrehearsed condition. This act is important because it is Peterson’s fundamental guiding force — flow. The exhibition itself features some of Peterson’s best-known and best-loved portraits of many iconic musical figures, including … [Read more...] about Synesthesia: Music-Inspired Art and Mindscapes by Lennie Peterson at the Narrows Art Center

Left: Suzanne Revy, Hotel Window (detail), 32” x 36”; Right: Michael Sterling, Period Piece (detail), 24” x 18”.

Elevated at Copley Society of Art: Quietly Powerful

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by J. Fatima Martins

There are moments in contemporary art where one is confronted with the big question: Why do I need to contemplate an exhibition when it looks conventional? Hasn’t this been done before? “Elevated” at Copley Society of Art (CoSo) is one of those scream-less conundrum exhibitions. It is a quiet medium-sized national photography show featuring 30 works by both CoSo members and non-members juried by Robert Klein of Robert Klein Gallery that’s on view through October 3. As expected, in a contemporary exhibition, the works on view are in black and white and color formats and range in subject from landscape to figurative, and the display set-up is commercial in that the work is framed and easy to sell. The photographers showcased are Doug Adams, Frank Bartucca, David Lee Black, Sally Bousquet, Dan Cook, John Dalterio, Jim Ferguson, Tim Hale, Robert Hein, Andrea Kemler, Keri McAndrews, … [Read more...] about Elevated at Copley Society of Art: Quietly Powerful

Clockwise from left: Elizabeth Pogor, Morning View; Laura Fischman, (Un)Still Life; Bredt Handy, Trace.

NEW ENGLAND COLLECTIVE IX AT GALATEA FINE ART

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Jacob Cutler

For its ninth annual juried show, “New England Collective IX,” Galatea Fine Art, located in the heart of Boston’s SOWA District, enlisted the expertise of Marni Elyse Katz to jury the show. The show features over 50 artists including Bredt Handy, Elizabeth Pogor and Laura Fischman. Katz is a freelance design journalist, a consultant and an art curator that sources art for private collectors; she is the main blogger for stylecarrot.com and is a contributor to The Boston Globe, Design New England and Boston Home. In this exhibition, Katz does a stellar job of selecting pieces that are not only strong in their own right, but are complementary to the other works hanging on the walls of the gallery. In this exhibition, one can observe that Katz was drawn to works that are slight abstractions on everyday objects and scenes. Each piece deals with subject matter tied to daily life, but … [Read more...] about NEW ENGLAND COLLECTIVE IX AT GALATEA FINE ART

EXPOSURE 2018: PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOURCE CENTER’S FIRST SHOW AT THE VANDERNOOT GALLERY AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY

// Artscope Online, Visual Arts

by Jacob Cutler

With the recent move of the Photographic Resource Center from its original home at Boston University to Lesley University.  The PRC was eager to present its first show in its temporary space in the VanDernoot Gallery in Porter Square, . “Exposure 2018” is a juried group exhibition featuring the works of photographers from Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and beyond. Each artist has their own distinct style while complimenting the others. The show was juried by the acclaimed photographer, curator, editor and educator, Christopher Rauschenberg. While Rauschenberg has not revealed his requirements for the art that he chose, one can see distinct connections between the majority of the 11 photographers’ work that were chosen. Each artists work heavily featured humans or a human element. Upon looking at the work, one can see how each artist is making work that deals with their own identity … [Read more...] about EXPOSURE 2018: PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOURCE CENTER’S FIRST SHOW AT THE VANDERNOOT GALLERY AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY