GALLERY SPOTLIGHT EXPEDITIONS: FROM ICELAND TO THE GOBI DESERT PAULA ESTEY GALLERY 3 HARRIS STREET NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH MARCH 10 by Brian Goslow “Expeditions: From Iceland to the Gobi Desert,” featuring work by Lisa Lebofsky, Lisa Goren, Will Nourse, Katherine Richmond and David Stone, can be seen from February 1 through March 10 at the Paula Estey Gallery in Newburyport, Mass. “Expeditions” occurs as the gallery nears its fourth anniversary this April. “Over these short years, we have had solo and two-person exhibitions, as well as group shows,” Estey noted. “In the past 18 months, our shows have become much more thematic, drawing upon my own desires to expand my client-base’s exposure to contemporary art, and to open us all to the collaborative nature of art, when curated into a meaningful narrative.” Estey makes no bones about the fact … [Read more...] about ICE, ICE BABY: EXPEDITIONS AT ESTEY
Visual Arts
A CLEAR REFLECTION: CHISHOLM AT ENDICOTT
REVIEW JAMES CHISHOLM: REFLECTIONS: OCEAN WAVES, INLAND STREAMS CAROL GRILLO GALLERY ENDICOTT COLLEGE WALTER J. MANNINEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS 376 HALE STREET BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH FEBRUARY 8 by James Foritano Driving homeward from Endicott College’s North Shore campus toward Boston, keeping time with the traffic’s imperative to move this car — this metal carapace — along, or risk being moved rudely by a sudden bump from behind or the side, both unpleasant, I thought of the slow time I’d experienced on assignment in the Walter J. Manninen Art Center’s Carol Grillo Gallery. A handful of oil paintings explores with impressionist punctiliousness the way light flickers and gilds, sluices or merely dampens at edges the woods and fields along the banks of the Ipswich River — depending on the year, the season, the time of day. “Handful” is a good word for the … [Read more...] about A CLEAR REFLECTION: CHISHOLM AT ENDICOTT
CORNERED: SMFA AT TUFTS DEAN NANCY BAUER
INTERVIEW DEAN NANCY BAUER, SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS AT TUFTS by Laura Shabott I walk into the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts on the day of its alumni reception for the annual SMFA Art Sale fundraiser. The energy in the school is palpable; this is one of the busiest days of the year for the 147-year-old institution. I am greeted warmly by Clare Saunders, assistant to the dean. There are racks and walls filled with art as we climb the stairs to the administrative offices. As an alumna of the SMFA (diploma 1995), I can sense the change in the very fiber of the school; it is welcoming and cared for, the result of a merger with Tufts University in 2016 with Dr. Nancy Bauer as dean. That she took the time for me on this particular day was a testament to her dedication to artists. Bauer glows from accomplishing more than most: dean, academic dean, Ph.D. in … [Read more...] about CORNERED: SMFA AT TUFTS DEAN NANCY BAUER
FACE IT: DAY THREE MIAMI BEACH: ART MIAMI AND CONTEXT
By Nancy Nesvet Continuing the exploration, the intrepid Artscope Team, national correspondent Nancy Nesvet and publisher Kaveh Mojtabai went over the bridge to downtown Miami to explore the Art Miami and Context Fairs. At both fairs, we found more adventurous, risk-taking work, sometimes gorgeous and well-executed, and sometimes kitchy, maybe intentionally so. We saw a huge number of portraits, both photographic and painted, and figurative sculpture spanning the material spectrum. Perhaps best in the Art Miami show for me were the photographic portraits of Niloufar Banisadr, an Iranian artist now practicing in Paris. With scriptor architectural drawings relating to the image behind the portrait, six photographs including “Mes Voyages, Mona Lisa” (2015) were quietly beautiful. David Yarrow’s 56” x 56” photograph, “The Old Testament, Dinokeng, South Africa” (2017, Holden Luntz … [Read more...] about FACE IT: DAY THREE MIAMI BEACH: ART MIAMI AND CONTEXT
ART BASEL MIAMI 2017: THE FAIR
By Nancy Nesvet Starting the day in the beautiful Botanic Garden for the press conference before the press and VIP opening for Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, we heard about the number one art event attended by United States collectors, with 180 cultural institutions represented and 70,000+ people expected to attend. The news that a seven-year contract was approved for Art Basel Miami Beach’s stay each year at the Miami Beach Convention Center was announced by the UBS representative sponsoring the fair. Banyan trees, palms and art made the morning. Artscope went on to preview Art Basel Miami 2017, noting a high percentage of work by hot, contemporary artists. We observed that the numbers were reversed with about 60/40 hot younger artists to older, established artists or those no longer practicing, here as opposed to Art Basel 2017 in Switzerland with the 60 percent being older, … [Read more...] about ART BASEL MIAMI 2017: THE FAIR
SMILING AND LOOKING FORWARD: SCOPE AND UNLIMITED FAIRS EARLY HIGHLIGHTS OF MIAMI ART WEEK 2017
By Nancy Nesvet MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, DEC. 5, 2017. Smile and the world smiles with you. In Miami Beach, at the Scope and Unlimited Art Fairs, we are in a happy place, or at least a lot happier than at past fairs and biennales. Maybe it is because we are tired of the depressing state the world is in. But hey, it’s time to come out of the cocoon, especially in this sunny paradise of blue skies and cerulean ocean. So, at the Scope Art Fair, we are seeing lots of manga and comic work; paintings declaring “Life is so Big and Beautiful, Where should we start?” signed Luis XXX, or Francois Bel’s “Warhology Blue Neon Fushia Bubbles” (Virginie Barrou Planquart, Paris). Beauty reigns but so does an infatuation with identity, yours, mine and ours, in Sungchul Hong’s “Perceptual Mirror 0633D,” 2017, of solar LCD units in plexiglass at Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, We are delighted, … [Read more...] about SMILING AND LOOKING FORWARD: SCOPE AND UNLIMITED FAIRS EARLY HIGHLIGHTS OF MIAMI ART WEEK 2017