By Puloma Ghosh Boston, MA - “We Made It!” — now open in the gallery at the North Bennet Street School — features the work of the first three graduates of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the North Bennet Street School’s collaborative degree program in furniture design, just established this year. The North Bennet Street School, established in 1881 as a trade school for crafts, has had a long partnership with The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, which was established only several years prior in 1878. Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez, president of North Bennet Street School, explained that in the past few years, “There have been a lot of people coming back and forth — designers wanting to know more about how to make, and makers wanting to get skills to design because they have these fabrication skills and they want to learn how to design. So that finally led, a couple … [Read more...] about “We Made It!” – MassArt’s First Furniture Design Graduates at the North Bennet Street School
Visual Arts
Visible Soul: Celebrating the Feline as Muse at Lesley University
By Puloma Ghosh Cambridge, MA – The “Visible Soul: Celebrating the Feline as Muse through Painting, Drawing, Photography and Sculpture” exhibit in the VanDernoot Gallery is tucked away behind a café in Lesley’s University Hall, much like a cat that appears in a bright flash of color between the furniture. This exhibit is a collection of pieces focused on man’s other, more mysterious best friend —cats. The pieces are comprised of a variety of media, from prints and paintings to photography and sculpture. Each piece captures a different aspect of the cat, and when arranged together, create a detailed picture of what makes it such a captivating and inspiring companion. The artists featured in the show are nothing short of impressive. “Male and Female,” two dry point prints by Louise Bourgeois, hang complementing each other, and three hand-colored lithographs by Andy Warhol neatly … [Read more...] about Visible Soul: Celebrating the Feline as Muse at Lesley University
Power to the People: Three shows of work by Ralph Fasanella
By Nancy Nesvet In his centennial year, Ralph Fasanella, an artist who painted for thirty years before he was recognized as a great painter, is currently celebrated in Cooperstown, NY, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Each show illustrates his dedication to working people and the America he loved. Following 2013 exhibits in Lawrence, Massachusetts and at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York City, the celebration of Ralph Fasanella’s centennial continues. In Washington, D.C. the Smithsonian Museum of American Art’s exhibition, Lest We Forget, May 2-August 3, features Fasanella’s paintings of New York City, Lawrence, Mass., strikes, and laborers. There are paintings of political events as well, including the Rosenberg trial, the Kennedy assassination, and the McCarthy trials. Fasanella’s “Family Supper” borrows from the Ellis Island Memorial, “Modern Times,” and is a comprehensive … [Read more...] about Power to the People: Three shows of work by Ralph Fasanella
Outsider Art Series: Judy Taylor’s Maine Labor History Mural Part 3
By Nancy Nesvet When Judy Taylor was commissioned to create the History of Maine Labor mural, Governor Balducci was in office. He and the members of the Maine Commission on the Arts were proud of the history of Maine labor, as it is depicted in the murals and proud of union and government input into laws and policies protecting workers. The problem resulted when Paul LePage became Governor. On March 22, 2011, Laura Boyett, an official in Governor LePage’s administration, announced a planned removal of the mural to the Department of Labor staff. Over the weekend of March 26-27, 2011, Taylor’s mural was removed from the Maine Department of Labor building in Augusta, due to an order from the state’s governor, Paul LePage, a Republican closely aligned with business interests and a businessman himself. Governor LePage cited an e-mail he had received that said the mural was antagonistic to … [Read more...] about Outsider Art Series: Judy Taylor’s Maine Labor History Mural Part 3
Outsider Art Series: Judy Taylor’s Maine Labor History Mural Part 2
By Nancy Nesvet It is important to understand both the history of the creation of the Maine Labor Mural cycle, including decisions about the content and style of the mural. The Reed Act, an unemployment fund administered by the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. and nine other streams of funding at the U.S. Department of Labor provided funds to the State of Maine to fund an artist to create a mural for the Maine State Department of Labor building in Augusta. [i] The Maine Commission on the Arts was charged with administering a juried process to choose an artist to create the artwork and to be paid a commission of $62,000. During the administration of Governor John Balducci, in 2008, artist Judy Taylor was chosen. She embarked upon a process of researching the topics for a set of ten panels (later adding an additional panel) for the space, with the aid of Professor Charles … [Read more...] about Outsider Art Series: Judy Taylor’s Maine Labor History Mural Part 2
Artscoped! Revisiting Robert S. Neuman
By Kimberlee Meserve The last time artscope caught up with Robert S. Neuman was in 2007, when his retrospective, Robert S. Neuman: Selected Work 1954-2007, was being shown at the Beard/Weil Gallery at Wheaton College. At 87 years young, Neuman is still a busy man. Since his retrospective at Wheaton, he has had many themed shows concentrating on specific bodies of work and a number of retrospectives. Last year, he had a major retrospective, Definition of Place: 1950-2012, which featured over 50 pieces of work, from comics he wrote to his first wife when he was drafted to the Air Force in the '40s, to pieces he made in college, along with his more recent paintings. The show was exhibited at The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls, Idaho and the Prichard Art Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. Definition of Place 1950-2012 was a retrospective in more ways than one. It … [Read more...] about Artscoped! Revisiting Robert S. Neuman