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Artscope Magazine | January/February 2019

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Visual Arts

Nikolai and Simon Haas, “Ferngully,” at the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach.

ALTERNATIVE WORLDS AND ALTERNATIVE SPECIES: DAY ONE AT MIAMI ART WEEK AND ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2018

// Art Basel Miami Beach, Artscope Online, News, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

DECEMBER 4, 2018 --- The first stop on day one in Miami Beach for the art fairs and exhibitions was the Bass Museum of Art, where Los Angeles-based twins Nikolai and Simon Haas presented their installation, “Ferngully.” The environment evoking renewal and rebirth in altered physical states is inspired by the animate 1992 film, “FernGully: The Last Rainforest.” In that film, the fairy Krysta and the lumberjack Zak try to save their rainforest home from nature’s destructive forces. The beasts, Martian-like in their appearance, with antennae and eyes often on stalks, alternatively resemble worms and centipedes covered in sumptuous materials, including fur and beads. Icelandic sheepskin browns and whites, curly cow fur, brown goat fur, carved ebony and cast bronze recall prehistoric Animalia and minerals in these creatures of diverse personalities, sizes, genders and races, both human and … [Read more...] about ALTERNATIVE WORLDS AND ALTERNATIVE SPECIES: DAY ONE AT MIAMI ART WEEK AND ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2018

Michael Moore, "Lone Sail," oil on panel, 11” x 14”.

Red 2018 at Cambridge Art Association

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

The Cambridge Art Association has had a tradition for a number of years of inviting artists to submit works along the theme of two colors: red and blue. This year it was red and for whatever reasons that color, in this writer’s opinion, struck such a resonant chord from the palette of so many excellent artists that I would have broken tradition to title it “Big Red.” Juried by Dan Byers, the director of the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard University, this year’s harvest is such a feast that one is well advised to nibble and digest rather than run wild and miss almost everything. Even at the smaller of the two venues for “Red,” the Kathryn Schultz Gallery, located up Mt. Auburn Street from Harvard Square just opposite the bus stop for Mt. Auburn Hospital, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand in front of every work long enough to do its artistry even small justice. So, … [Read more...] about Red 2018 at Cambridge Art Association

TOP ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Laurie Bonner, "Midnight Mermaid," 2017, digital image capture, 12" x 12"; Deborah Baye, "Night & Day," 2018, mixed media with high resin finish, 24" x 24" x 1.5"; Bror Hultgren, "Runes of Time's Passage 2," 2016, cast paper pulp on handmade paper, 39" x 30" x 2.5"; Diana Barker Price, "Conscious," 2016, digital image capture, 12" x 12". BOTTOM ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Susan Denniston, "Shroud," 2017, monotypes on both sides of translucent Japanese papers, sewn with black thread, hung with magnets, 50" x 60" x 1"; Stephen Sheffield, "Going Away For A While," 2018, archival print from original collage, 14" x 11" x 1"; Erin Juliana, "Idiopathic," 2018, paper cut or cut paper interwoven, 17" x 21" x 2"; Deb Hall, "Crack in The Ground," 2018, digital and hand printmaking, 15" x 15" x 2".

Works on Paper at the South Shore Art Center

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

by Bryanna F. Drew

The Bancroft Gallery at South Shore Art Center’s current show is “Works on Paper,” juried by Andrew Witkin of Krakow Witkin Gallery. “Works on Paper” has a diverse set of pieces, the only common denominator of them being that they are paper. From hyper realistic watercolor to abstract cut-paper works, the show was dominated by a mix of media. Out of hundreds of artists’ submissions, only 50 works were picked by Witkin for the show, and seven of them given awards. “I was amazed at the breadth of exploration and the depth of involvement,” Witkin’s juror statement expressed. “My decisions are balanced between personal preferences and respect for the specifics of the wonderful diversity of art presented. The works show incredible creativity, dedication and skill.” Witkin asked that the award winners be honored equally; “In this era of intense judgement and separation, I hope this group … [Read more...] about Works on Paper at the South Shore Art Center

Fenway Open Studios.

CORNERED: LYNDA MCNALLY, FOUNDING PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF FENWAY STUDIOS

// Artscope Online, Cornered, Exhibit Openings, Visual Arts

by Brian Goslow

This weekend, November 10 and 11, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Fenway Studios, a National Historic Landmark and the oldest purpose-built structure in the country designed solely as artist studios, hosts “Fenway Studios Open Studios Weekend.” Work ranging from abstract expressionism to post-modern realism is available; whether you’re a major collector or someone looking for a special gift or unique stocking stuffers or cards to adorn your gifts (all worthy of frames in their own right) — or you’re just interested in seeing a strong cross-section of locally-created art in the space where they’re made, the event promises to be visually and spiritually rewarding. If you attend, please bring a donation for its 10th Annual Food Drive to Benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank.   A few days prior to the event, Artscope managing editor Brian Goslow exchanged questions with Lynda McNally, the … [Read more...] about CORNERED: LYNDA MCNALLY, FOUNDING PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF FENWAY STUDIOS

Farsad Labbauf, "Of Shirin and Superheroes," oil on canvas, 2018, 54" x 44" from "From My East to your West," at Blank Space Gallery, 30 Gansevoort St, New York, until October 28.

Farsad Labbauf: From My East to Your West

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

by Nancy Nesvet

In a layering of styles and content, east and west, Iran and America, past and present, Farsad Labbauf has used imagery from his youth in Iran combined with iconic imagery from mass media and commercialism in America to comment on global economics and society. Speaking about his paintings at Blank Space Gallery, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, in his solo show, “From My East to Your West,” he emphasized the constant bombardment of images from western entertainment media: television, comic books and toys while being exposed to Persian arts including calligraphy, Persian miniature painting, tile works and poetry. Resultantly, he has merged these images in his paintings. He comes from a background of sewing, so that stitchery is translated in his work to a series of lines ranging from the thinness of threads to thicker lines on the canvas, comprising faces, figures, backgrounds, … [Read more...] about Farsad Labbauf: From My East to Your West

LEFT: "5:30 a.m. In the Basement," oil painting on canvas overlaid with video projection, 60" x 36", 2018. CENTER: Safarani Sisters at interview, NY, Oct 19, with "Twilight reincarnation," oil painting on canvas overlaid with video projection, 108" x 72", 2018. RIGHT: "Late Afternoon Gaze 2," oil painting on canvas overlaid with video projection, 60" x 36", 2018.

From Two, One.

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

by Nancy Nesvet

Seeming to reference Edward Hopper’s interiors and Gerhard Richter’s “Woman Descending the Staircase” (1965, after Duchamp), with a bit of Vermeer’s Dutch Master technique and figurative expertise thrown in, the Safarani sisters’ video paintings, in their solo show “Reincarnation,” surpass and contemporize these past masterworks. Presented by Roya Khadjavi Projects, Iranian twin sisters, Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani, master of fine arts graduates from Northeastern University with bachelor of art degrees from Tehran University in painting, literally set the stage for the slow contemplation of domestic scenes featuring themselves. The video projection of wavering sheer curtains onto the oil paintings doubles the doppelgänger effect of two sisters appearing in and simultaneously painting the canvas. From the earliest paintings shown, layers of curtain increasingly part and cover to … [Read more...] about From Two, One.