In mid-March, the art scene all over New England — and slowly afterwards, much of the United States — came to a standstill — or at least its institutions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many galleries moved to appointment-only viewings. An overwhelming number temporarily closed altogether. Cultural backbones like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston are closed to the public, with its date for reopening being extended to further and further dates. The communal feeling that art brings has been thrown out of synch. Even imagining the empty halls of museums or a gallery with its lights out brings a disconcerting mood. But some institutions are defying that mood. Standard Space in Sharon, Connecticut, has launched “Art in Place,” a rolling virtual exhibition focused on art relating to the ongoing pandemic. The idea for its development came to curator Theo Coulombe two weeks ago: “My art … [Read more...] about ART IN PLACE ONLINE AT STANDARD SPACE

The Armory Show, held on Piers 90 and 94 in New York City from March 5 through 8, was incredible. The lack of the usual crowds allowed up close looks at the work and talks with artists. Although the most talked about work was a car (Ed and Nancy Kienholz, “The Caddy Court,” 1986-87, presented by L.A. Louver, Venice, California), Armory showed a significant amount of art focused on social justice and art by, and portraying people from, ethnic groups not seen before. The takeaway is that work at Armory was more specifically ethnic rather than global, but all groups were represented. It was like a world tour with stops everywhere. Has art become the new world tour, all in one place, since it is difficult to physically travel? It seems so. That car was stationary but promised travel. The show delivered on that promise. Directly behind that very popular car was a much more significant … [Read more...] about THE NEW WORLD TOUR — ARMORY SHOW 2020

No longer on the Pier, after last year’s loss of its space and retreat to David Zwirmer’s Gallery on West 21 Street in New York’s Chelsea district, Volta 2020, which closed on Sunday, was a pleasure to explore. Held at Metropolitan West, it was not glitzy and not crowded, the work shone in quality and patina, resulting in navigable floors of excellent and varied work from all over the world, as well as local galleries. The work was diverse, using materials I have rarely seen, like mud-like applied paint, pennies, shaped canvases and artists’ books. Some of the best work was by Boston artist Lavaughan Jenkins (represented by Abigail Ogilvy Gallery), winner of the 2019 Foster Prize at Boston’s ICA gallery. His figures, made of oil paint applied in rough, thick impasto with a palette knife, looking claylike, stand proud and tall and green in some instances, sporting yellow and lime green … [Read more...] about OFF THE PIER: SPACE AND LIGHT: VOLTA 2020