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Artscope Magazine | September/October 2021

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Visual Arts

FARSAD LABBAUF: REVISITING FRAGMENTS & ENTITIES AT THE HIGH LINE NINE GALLERY

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

I remember, a few years back, pre-pandemic, a show of Farsad Labbauf, in a downtown gallery, showing colorful, linear patterned portraits. But those colorful portraits have taken a back seat to his newfound production of images from his past and Iran’s history, in an honest exploration of what motivates him. His latest show, “Revisiting Fragments and Entities,” sponsored by Roya Khadjavi Projects at High Line Nine Gallery 9.1, New York, N.Y., from September 23 through October 16 reveals his newfound interest in creating myth and stitching together his history. We find images of a ballerina, oil production facilities and old wooden bridges in “Rotation Ceremony #8,” (2000, paper, thread), all symbols of power. The ballerina is upside down, hanging from trapeze-like threaded lines, perhaps symbolizing the upside down and rotating power structure that exists. I think of culture … [Read more...] about FARSAD LABBAUF: REVISITING FRAGMENTS & ENTITIES AT THE HIGH LINE NINE GALLERY

RICHFIELD’S BUDDHA + CHRIST AT GALLERY KAYAFAS CELEBRATES REMEMBERING THE DEAD THROUGH OUR DIFFERENCES

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Jack Lynch

Photographer Robert Richfield’s exhibition “Buddha + Christ” exhibition, on display until October 16 at Gallery Kayafas, depicts burials from different parts of the world including Guatemala, New Mexico, Portugal, France, Spain and Vietnam. When one first hears the name of the exhibition, they may think that the exhibition is going to be some kind of a combination between the two religions of Buddhism and Christianity into a unique beauty. However, “Buddha + Christ” is really about showing the individual beauty of various religions and how they all remember the deceased in different ways. The exhibit also chronicles Robert Richfield’s travels to different parts of the world where he studied different cultures. Regarding his fascination in different religious practices, Richfield is mainly interested in the different ways that different religions and cultures remember the dead. He … [Read more...] about RICHFIELD’S BUDDHA + CHRIST AT GALLERY KAYAFAS CELEBRATES REMEMBERING THE DEAD THROUGH OUR DIFFERENCES

MARIANO IN HIS MANY, MANY GUISES AT BC’S MCMULLEN GALLERY

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

What would you do if you were headed up from Cambridge across the Charles River to Boston College’s McMullen Art Gallery just outside the main campus on Commonwealth Ave — #2101 to be exact — looking for a little color to brighten up the gloom of an early fall New England morning? I had promised our two art lovers in the back seat a short, scenic drive plus a destination with bongo drums and banana plants enriched by the bodacious senoritas and testosterone-fueled senors to be met with on every yard of Cuba’s balmy shores. And without the bother of international flight! Ah, but, as usual we had reckoned without the artist, and what academics call, if you will, ‘inspiration!’ We arrived at Boston College’s McMullen Museum of Art to view “Mariano: Variations on a Theme | Variaciones sobre un tema,” a retrospective exhibition of 140 oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings that … [Read more...] about MARIANO IN HIS MANY, MANY GUISES AT BC’S MCMULLEN GALLERY

SURvIVING THE LONELINESS OF COVID: LIZ SHEPHERD’S POWERFUL UNGATHERED AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Beth Neville

Rare is the contemporary artist who can make the “personal” universal. Liz Shepherd is one of these special artists. She experienced agonies with Covid-19: her contraction of the virus, loss of creative time, total isolation and a non-Thanksgiving. Her brush with death, loneliness and confusion is translated into a positive vision at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, one all viewers may relate to. Shepherd is an artist who has spent decades exploring many media, and is in total control of her craft. She confidently mixes soft-media papier-mâché with the unyielding hardness of welded steel. A lost Thanksgiving meal is her symbol for the devastation wrought by the virus. Three empty black-wire chairs surround a non-existent table. An exquisitely crafted paper pitcher, a serving bowl and ladle float in the air, Empty placemats hang nearby. On a wall close-by, 16 colorful … [Read more...] about SURvIVING THE LONELINESS OF COVID: LIZ SHEPHERD’S POWERFUL UNGATHERED AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY

WORKING IN A MULTITUDE OF MEDIUMS, SOWA ARTIST STEVEN LUSH REFLECTS HIS INFLUENCES

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Jack Lynch

Artist Steven Lush, who operates out of Studio #220 in the SoWa Artists Guild Building at 450 Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End, has led an extraordinary career. His work reflects the extraordinary life and approach towards life as an artist that he took. Born to an artistic family, Lush’s mother was a major influence on his decision to go into art. She was an artist herself as well as a musician. She taught him how to draw and paint when he was five years old, which led to him developing an interest in drawing and ultimately becoming a self-taught artist. Despite his interest in drawing early on in his life, for a period of 15 years, Lush’s work was primarily done in the medium of watercolor on paper. His inspiration to use this medium came from looking at the watercolor work of Winslow Homer in a magazine that his mother owned when he was growing up. Other artists are not … [Read more...] about WORKING IN A MULTITUDE OF MEDIUMS, SOWA ARTIST STEVEN LUSH REFLECTS HIS INFLUENCES

Finding Happiness Together Again At Parcours

// Art Basel Switzerland, Artscope Online, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Parcours, in French, means Journey, and the Journey around and in the city of Basel at various sites designated for 12 art installations, was, even online, for me, meaningful and a constant reminder of the still-Pandemic world. Answering the question posed by Parcours’ title, “Can We Find Happiness Together Again?” Samuel Leuenberger, Director of Parcours, led the audience, in person and online, in a resounding Yes, Ja, Si, Oui! Beginning on Monday, September 20, the first day of Art Basel, British artist, Hamish Fulton, who famously climbed Mt. Everest, organized an hour-long participatory walk on the Marktplatz (marketplace). It was a voyage of discovery for Fulton as it was for those who followed him, but also an ethnography of artworks at the Parcours sector of Art Basel. Seeing work displayed on the trail the trekkers pursued was not unlike the voyage we all took this past year, … [Read more...] about Finding Happiness Together Again At Parcours