Artscope Magazine

New England's Culture Magazine

Artscope Magazine | January/February 2023

Subscribe to the Magazine

A vibrant, dynamic magazine with arts news, reviews and info you can use, delivered right to your door!

Subscribe now

Sign up for our Email Blasts!

Special Artscope updates in your inbox every two weeks!

Sign up

Visual Arts

WOMEN CAN HAVE IT ALL — A CELEBRATION THROUGH THE ART OF Zeynab Movahed AT High Line Nine Gallery

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Running from April 5 through 18, Roya Khadjavi Projects brings Iranian woman artist Zeynab Movahed to High Line Nine Gallery 9.1 in New York City. Movahed’s work celebrates women’s freedom in moving about her day, including social and family commitments in the Tehran metropolis of her residency by women clearly in control of their present and future.

Reflecting the unstable societal situation present in Iran and worldwide, the artist takes us on a Joycian tour of places where women socialize in Iran. Realizing that a reflection can be a memory of the past or an immediate vision of the present, that cellphone reflection becomes a past vision as soon as it is recorded or sent, with the present taking over immediately afterwards. The paintings show the artist’s reflection in her cellphone image and society’s reflection of her.

By painting women together and alone in cafes, Movahed cracks the glass to reveal women freely associating in cafes, amid burgeoning foliage, unafraid and undeniably visible. The women are careful to mask, protecting their health during covid, but rarely veil to satisfy religious demands. They hold their cellphones in front of them, surveilling, but only allowing those to whom they speak and show their face to see them. We become those chosen to see their painted thoughts, dreams and reality. Unlike the story of Anarkali in Lahore, women are no longer immured if seen enjoying themselves, but here are seen taking full part in society and by themselves.

Clearly, the paintings challenge what is seen; the woman in the car, seat belt unbuckled, water bottle next to her, out for a joy ride or voyage alone, or the woman, hair askew, unveiled, sitting unaccompanied at a café counter, tapping away at her phone, communicating with someone on the other end of the phone, or the lone unveiled women, partaking of fruit displayed for only her on a brick patio.

The work is the essence of the independent woman, challenging Iranian stereotypes. The only paintings in the show not of sole women include two women, talking together in sisterhood amidst ancient, monumental buildings; two women clearly at home behind trees growing large and strong, with bookcases filled with models of modern houses, perhaps to be lived in without companions, and one of children in a car, honoring the mother’s commitment to carpooling the children amidst the social and professional lives they lead.

We are observing the full lives of women during the pandemic, carpooling, socializing, carrying on normal domestic duties of washing dishes, working professionally and reflecting on all that is and will be.

(“Zeynab Movahed: Unstable Conditions” runs from April 5 through April 18 at High Line Nine Gallery 9.1, 507 West 27th St., New York, N.Y.; the show’s opening reception will be held on Tuesday, April 5, from 4-8 p.m. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon-6 p.m. For more information, visit https://highlinenine.org).

THE 59TH VENICE BIENNALE, A TEASER

// Artscope Online, Visual Arts

by Elizabeth Ashe

“Biennale de Arte, The Milk of Dreams” opens this April in Venice. The curator is Cecilia Alemani, the first Italian woman to hold the position, and she previously curated the Italian Pavilion. After two years of a pandemic, the buzz, the very breadth and need for art, is fierce. Our need to see art is bursting at the seams, at the edges of our Zoom windows, we see new collaborative projects and culinary ventures to stay sane. The biggest art party in the world shall open with some expected, and not so expected, changes and shifts.

The Russian Pavilion will be closed. It was a noble choice from the curator Raimundas Malašauskas and artists Alexandra Sukhareva and Kirill Savenkov. The Ukrainian Pavilion was on the fence to close; Poland has stepped up heroically and plans to take on the responsibility of shipping the Ukrainian artists’ work. There are artists representing countries they were not born in, which just proves how international our society is. We move, we count many places as home, we make new connections. Indigenous is no longer a rare topic. We are looking critically at our systems. These last two years have given many artists the time to do deep dives into new approaches, and those projects are highlighted this year. We have learned how much rides on collaboration, how much is improved by it.

The global supply chain still has some of the same weak spots that we’ve all experienced over the last two years. Paper is in short supply. Shipping is still unreliable, and the arrival of some works, is still pending. On the official Artists List, so many names are pending. Do we dare travel? Can we travel? Will we travel anyway? If at all possible, the answer is yes. Yes, we still have essential questions to pose through art. Yes, with also the accepted permission to step out this time. This is not to say that the 59thBienniale is unprepared to go on. Just that it has a fresh energy, determination, and a whole lot of drive. Thirty collateral events are scheduled to occur throughout Venice. Highlights include “Catalonia in Venice,” organized by the Institut Ramon Llull, “From Palestine with Art,” organized by Palestine Museum US; “Uncombed, Unforeseen, Unconstrained,” presented by Parasol Unit Foundation; and a handful of Italian-based projects. The Biennale’s College Musica, College Dance, and College Theatro together received hundreds of applicants and are quintessential international collaborations.

The Biennale takes place from April 23 through November 27, with pre-opening April 20-22. There are still hotel rooms available. My round-trip ticket cost me less than $900 with one seat upgrade, and I was expecting it to be over $1,300. Vaccine cards are required to enter anywhere, as well as N or KN95 masks — shops, restaurants, museums, the Biennale exhibitions. At the moment, tests are not required to enter the EU so long as you have your vaccine card. Anyone can say they travel to Venice for either the architecture, or the art. It is a dream to go for both during the Biennale. The exhibit’s title is taken from a book by Leonora Carrington, a Surrealist artist who described a magical world. It is a dream to journey to this space where transformations, possibilities, and imagination, come together to define what it is to be human.

(“Biennale Arte 2022: The Milk of Dreams” is scheduled for April 23 through November 27, 2022 in Venice, Italy. For more details, visit https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2022.)

BRIDGES: ONLINE EXHIBITION AT CHILDS GALLERY

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sandra Tirado

“Bridges” is an online exhibition from Childs Gallery that features artwork from various artists depicting a stunning array of bridge landscapes and designs. “Though they serve a simple purpose of connecting places and people,” these artfully constructed bridges serve as marvels to the artists and are the perfect muses for those keen on how architecture can personify one’s art. If you’ve ever been awed by the sight of a bridge, grand or small, this exhibition is a wonderful escape that offers the viewer the chance to marvel just as the artists once did.

Ben Norris’ piece, “Firenze, Ponte Vecchio,” 1933, is an elaborately sketched piece of pencil on paper which effortlessly captures the essence of Florence, Italy’s segmental arch bridge, Ponte Vecchio. This bridge is known for housing shops in-between its arches, and Norris protrudes these shops in his piece with sloping lines more noticeable than the rest of the bridge, depicting the typical populated life this bridge embodies with its unique features. Norris’ brings an almost reminiscent feeling to the piece with its sketched style, leaving more to the viewer’s imagination.

Otto Bacher’s incredibly detailed “Rialto Bridge and Grand Canal, Venice,” 1880, etchingm expands only 4” x 9” but is teemed with life in every crevice. It is another piece in view of an Italian landscape that brings a more populated and moving landscape. From the civilians on the edges of the artwork going about their lives, to the man rowing the boat in the canal underneath the central bridge, Bacher’s eye catches life with hazy yet purposeful etching strokes.

Margaret Evelyn’s “Covered Bridge, Spring, Kansas,” c. 1940, brings a more abstract and colorful tone to the Bridges exhibition with her woodcut color print. Evelyn delivers a depiction of the only covered bridge left in the state of Kansas. The colors are muted, giving it a vintage appearance — something one might have seen in a postcard — and gives a beautiful impression of the surrounding scenery, down to the birch-like trees, the wooden panels painted red, worn over time, and the picturesque blue sky.

The “Bridges” exhibition officially ran until February 27, 2022 but continues to be open to the public for online viewing. Be sure to check out other artists presented — the likes of Andrew Fish, Fred Wagner, Dudley Vaill Talcott and more — in their displays of these timeless monuments.

(The Childs Gallery “Bridges: Online Exhibition” officially ran from January 26 through February 27, 2022, but can still be seen online at https://childsgallery.com/exhibition/bridges-online-exhibition/. Childs Gallery, located at 168 Newbury St., Boston, is currently exhibiting “Robert Freeman: America’s Past-time” through March 12 and “Souvenirs of the Grand Tour” through April 2.)

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: STEVE IMRICH; HIS “TERRAIN DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS” ON VIEW AT BROAD INSTITUTE CONNECTOR, SOPRAFINA, CAA & BRICKBOTTOM GALLERIES

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Jack Lynch

The art of Steve Imrich, who works in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts depicts not only his thoughts and personality, but the different arts and professions that he obtained skills in, both as an artist and a pilot, throughout his life.

He has a Masters degree in Architecture from MIT and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Goddard College concentrating in Studio Arts and History. Goddard College, located in Plainfield, Vermont, is where he studied drawing, painting and sculpture before he started focusing on architecture and design. He also has experience as a commercial pilot and still flies planes as a recreational activity. He first became interested in art when he was a child of 5 or 6 years old when his mother would buy big rolls of shelf-paper and he would draw on them from one end to the other. At an early age, Imrich was very interested in drawing. As a child, he mainly drew action-drawings before becoming interested in the arts in general and moving on to his current practice.

Imrich’s approach to artwork has a specific characterization that was influenced by his life experiences. His current artwork is influenced by aerial memories, sketches and photos of landscapes, as well as direct observations. mainly aerial shots of landscapes. His artwork is also mostly done in oil on linen. He has characterized his artwork and art style in general as being “terrain drawings or paintings, but I think it’s only because it doesn’t necessarily focus on psychological or human figural or other kinds of stylistic aspects.” This describes how the focus in Imrich’s artwork is mainly to depict landscapes and not try to invoke any human psychological messages.

However, that isn’t to say that Imrich doesn’t have a particular point-of-view on landscape that permeates most of his work. His work is really trying to elaborate the relationship between the ‘human designed world’ and the ‘natural world’ as it relates to the landscape. His depiction of landscapes is also mainly done through aerial shots, which was influenced by his experience of learning how to fly a plane when he was 16 years-old. Therefore, he has multiple accumulated memories of flying.

Imrich was also heavily influenced by what writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery said about flying, which was that “flying is primarily memories of landscapes.” This quote describes how people flying in airplanes, either as pilots or passengers, naturally tend to focus on what is below them, but also on the general environmental characteristics of patterns, weather, and wondering what must be happening on the surface. This, combined with his memories of flying, is what gave him his interest in the aerial perspective. Despite the majority of his artwork being done in similar styles with a main medium, Imrich still manages to experiment with different mediums and forms of art and add variety to his portfolio.

He doesn’t have a fixed medium or art style; despite his current main medium being oil on linen, there is still variety to his work. For example, the oil on linen pieces in his portfolio have been done in different scales and sizes with the largest so far being done in the 6-foot range. However, he also shows interest in other mediums, as he said, “I’m open to use anything and in my younger days I trained in printmaking and sculpture and drawing, as well as painting.” Not only has Imrich worked in those multiple mediums, but he will sometimes paint on board or canvas and has also been experimenting with wash. His newest interests are gouache and ink on a small scale, but maybe trying to increase in size next. This shows how he has an interest in creating his artwork through many different ways.

Imrich’s interest in doing his art in different ways doesn’t just stop with different mediums, as he has expressed an interest in other art styles, as well. For example, he has said that he might focus more on figure-study art in the future, but only because his artwork relates to the idea of “human design versus what happens in nature.” However, he doesn’t consider the drawing of figures to be a separate kind of work. As a matter of fact, he is somewhat dismissive of art being put into categories or creating “boundaries in the art world.”

This interest and all-inclusiveness towards an understanding of art also stretches towards his work in creating abstract art, which is seen in his “Power Man” and “The Fall” series. However, his interest in abstraction relates to how he considers everything painted in two dimensions on a flat surface must already be an abstraction of the three-dimensional world by definition. He has described abstraction to be “a very simple and complicated idea at the same time.” Therefore, he doesn’t think to himself before working that he will make an abstract or a realistic piece. As a consequence, he said that a lot of his work “straddles the line between some identifiable subject and abstraction.” Ultimately, Imrich’s work is done in a variety of ways, despite his main medium, which are used to show what is significant in his life.

Imrich’s work doesn’t try to depict any human psychological messages, but it does try to depict his own feelings towards locations that are relevant to his life, as well as current events. This quality is shown in the series of paintings he has done titled “Somerville” that depicts just that, the city of Somerville, Massachusetts. His interest in the city stems naturally from how it is where his studio is located. He has tried to represent his environment in a unique way, which he was able to do, because of daily travel on the streets of the city and, but also because he has flown over Somerville many times.

One of its aspects that he finds intriguing is, “the sheer patterning of it,” which can only be truly seen from the air, which is why the series incorporates aerial vantage. These patterns, combined with specific lighting, also help create fleeting moments or special moods from what one might find as not a very ‘special’ location on a gray or rainy day. However, that isn’t to say that Somerville isn’t a unique location that Imrich finds interesting to paint.

He has said that “Somerville is a very vibrant community in general, with more diversity, creative action and interesting physical characteristics than many communities in the region.” As a result, Somerville has been a unique environment for him to both work in and use as a subject for his work. However, his interest in painting this location isn’t out of any interest in painting architecture, but to show “human design versus what happens in nature.”

Imrich’s interest in painting locations doesn’t just stop at Somerville, as he will paint wherever he is that he finds to be an interesting muse. For example, another location that he is interested in painting is the San Francisco Bay area, where he has family and has taken a number of hikes and walks during visits. This is seen in his painting of the Mount Tamalpais area North of the San Francisco Headlands. This depiction of what is significant to his life doesn’t just stretch to locations, but is also shown in his work that depicts the current events he is living through with the rest of society, such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. Imrich has expressed his reaction towards these current issues just as many other artists have. He has also focused on how people intersect on these social issues. Ultimately, Steve Imrich uses observations of daily routines but with a variety of mediums and styles of art to study the sentiments of where we sit, both environmentally and in spirit.

(Steve Imrich’s work can be seen in “Remembering Together: Marking Lives: Covid-19” through November 19 at the Broad Institute Connector Gallery, 415 Main St., Cambridge, Massachusetts; as part of the “Group of 3: recent and future” exhibition through November 27 at Soprafina Gallery, 55 Thayer St., Boston; in the “BLUE 2021” group exhibition from December 1 through 17 at the Cambridge Art Association, 25R Lowell St., Cambridge, Massachusetts; and in “Somerville As Muse” from December 9 through January 15, 2022 at the Brickbottom Gallery, 1 Fitchburg St., Somerville, Massachusetts. Steve Imrich’s next solo show is at the Soprafina Gallery from April 1-30, 2022, with an opening reception on Friday, April 1. To see more of his work, visit steveimrich.com.)

IN REMEMBRANCE: ETAL ADNAN: LIGHT’S NEW MEASURE: FEBRUARY 25, 1925-NOVEMBER 14, 2021

// Artscope Online, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

When I ventured to the Guggenheim Museum in New York on Thursday, November 11, Veterans Day in the United States, to see “Etel Adnan: Light’s New Measure,” a retrospective of the life work of artist, writer and philosopher Etel Adnan, I had not anticipated her passing four days later, on Sunday, November 14. Etel Adnan’s writings informed us of the atrocities of war. Her paintings celebrated the intense and joyful colors of California. Her 96 years of life were filled with ideas and artistic action.

A world traveler, Etal Adnan, born in Lebanon, educated in French schools, was first a philosopher, studying at the Sorbonne, with later postgraduate courses at the University of California, Berkeley and at Harvard, later teaching at Dominican College in San Rafael (now the Dominican University of California). She wrote wrenchingly beautiful books of literature and poetry. In protest of France’s colonial rule in Algeria in the late 1950s, while Adnan resided in California, she began “painting in Arabic,” turning her talents to paintings of Sausalito, especially Mt. Tamalpais. Ms. Adnan’s small paintings of Mt. Tamalpais exude brilliant sunshine and bright colors, reminding us of her California days, while her Leporellos, also known as Japanese accordion books, combine her colorful abstract marks with Arabic words and numbers. In 1972, Adnan returned to Beirut, where she met her partner, Simone Fattal, an artist with whom she moved to Paris in 1975, continuing to work there.

The Leporellos, tapestries and small abstract paintings on canvas, with brilliant colors applied from the tube with a palette knife, are in the exhibition, taking up an entire floor of the Guggenheim. The tapestries are particularly spare and beautiful including “Morning Mist,” 2019, tapestry (courtesy White Cube Gallery). “Untitled,” 1995-2000, oil on canvas (Collection of Peter M. Currie) exudes a simplified, geometric view of the beach, with the yellow sun overtaking the green of the sea and brown of the California sands. “Untitled, 1980s, oil on canvas (Collection of Gary and Tracy Mezzatesta), with its brilliant blues, reminds me why lapis blue was so precious and limited to only a few artists in centuries past. “Vignoble,” 2019, tapestry (Courtesy the artist and Galerie Lelong), is a complicated and joyously colored riot of flowerlike shapes while the two Leporellos on view combine images of eyes with script, burning suns and abstract linear marks, reminiscent of trees. Truly depicting nature at its best, the show celebrates Adnan’s admiration and care for the natural world.

As well as the retrospective of her work currently at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Adnan’s work is presently at Galerie Lelong, New York and Paris; in a show currently at Sfeir Semmler Gallery, Beirut; with a Leporello illustrating two poems by Mahmoud Darwish at the Palestine Museum US in Ridgefield, Connecticut. With her work exhibited at Documenta 13 (Kassel, Germany) in 2012; the Whitney Biennial in 2014 and receiving France’s highest cultural honor, Chevalier de Art et des Lettres in 2014, Etal Adnan lived a rich and full life and left us with a trove of beautiful work with which to remember her.

(“Etal Adnan: Light’s New Measure” remains on view through January 10, 2022 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. For more information, visit guggenheim.org.).

LONG WEEKEND OR DAY TRIPPING? VISIT NEW BEDFORD’S KILBURN MILL OPEN STUDIOS THIS WEEKEND

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sheila Oliveira

This weekend, October 23 and 24, Kilburn Mill Artists are opening their New Bedford art galleries and working studios to the public and invite visitors to explore and view the creative process each day from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. In addition to seeing a wide variety of art works, including fine art painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles and jewelry, the Kilburn Mill, a city within a city, contains three popular well known art galleries offering a collection of individually curated exhibitions.

Situated on Clark’s Cove in the South End of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Kilburn Mill is surrounded by the waterfront for which New Bedford is famous (most notably, through Melville’s “Moby Dick”). The Kilburn is an artists’ destination, home to art galleries and studios, as well as an event center. It has become the region’s most versatile space with a rooftop deck providing gorgeous ocean views and a seaside walkway.

Kilburn Open Studios events will include live music in the Artisan Center and demonstrations in several studio spaces throughout the mill complex. A self-guided map will be offered upon arrival. There is plenty of free visitors’ parking.

October is a perfect time to purchase handmade one-of-a-kind artworks for the holiday season from paintings to textiles. Within the Kilburn Mill, you will find the unexpected in the fine and contemporary arts as well as the intersection of ocean, history, heritage and fantastic food for any and all palettes.

New Bedford has a history of celebrating the arts, and October’s cooler temperatures are welcoming for those wishing a scenic and affordable getaway. You will find public art throughout the city celebrating the city’s music, history and connection to the water.

For those who are looking to cycle, there are several paths that extend for miles. A favorite is the New Bedford Covewalk (Saulnier Memorial Bike Trail) which connects to both West and East Beaches and winds through Fort Rodman where ocean views are the finest.

On a clear day, the Elizabethan Islands are visible as is Butler Flats Lighthouse. For antique collectors, the Kilburn Mill is home to two antique centers, offering rare collector’s items as well as antique furniture. History buffs will enjoy a visit to the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park filled with stories of the whaling industry, the working waterfront, Underground Railroad and those who fascinate, such as Melville’s fictional Captain Ahab and the very real persons of Frederick Douglass, Paul Cuffee and Henrietta Green (the witch of Wall Street) to name just a few who have lived here.

Rich in history and tradition other weekend visits might include Buttonwood Park & Zoo, New Bedford Art Museum, The New Bedford Whaling Museum, Fort Taber Military Museum, The Seamen’s Bethel and Schooner Ernestina Morrissey. All locations offer an educational experience for family visitors and are handicap accessible.

Food! For those who like diverse and excellent cuisine, the list of available dining options is long, from breakfast to dinner by the water you will find the finest, especially in fresh seafood, at New Bedford’s taverns and cafes, many offering outdoor dining with entertainment.

Several of our Kilburn Artists have created artwork in a collective effort to entertain and inform visitors of New Bedford’s important personages at Cultivator Shoals on Union Street. Here you can enjoy the best cocktails and menu as well as view historical steampunk inspired portraits including Herman Melville. The Kilburn hosts an exceptional cafe and eatery Dough Company (DoCo) cafe that never disappoints.

For more information, visit kilburnmill.com for details on scheduled entertainment at the Night Stage Performance Center, where tickets are always affordable.

For information on lodging, available at several city locations, visit destinationnewbedford.org.

We’re looking forward to seeing you this weekend at our first Kilburn Open Studio event.

(Kilburn Mill Open Studios take place this Saturday and Sunday, October 23 and 24, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Kilburn Mill, 127 West Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford, Massachusetts. Covid safety measures are in place and the venue is handicap accessible. For more information, call (508) 990-3500 or visit kilburnmill.com.)