by Brian Goslow Exploring the experiential, psychological and metaphorical implications of the nonvisual in American art from the 1960s to today,” Second Sight: The Paradox of Vision in Contemporary Art,” which opens on March 1 and continues through June 3 at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 9400 College Station, Bowdoin, Maine, “asks why and how numerous visual artists, such as William Anastasi, Robert Morris, Joseph Grigely and Lorna Simpson, challenge the primacy of vision as a bearer of perceptual authority.” The exhibition features “a diverse group of sighted and unsighted creators, a range of sculptural, sound-based and language-based artworks that investigate the significance of embodied knowledge by exploring what resides on the other side of the visual field,” its creators ask its audiences “to reflect upon the significance of what we cannot see, whether by choice, … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS
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HEIDI GEIST: BREWING UP OPPORTUNITY
12 FOR OUR 12TH HEIDI GEIST FOR MORE INFORMATION: DIEGEISTART.COM by Eric Taubert Her name is Heidi Geist and she’s a self-confessed “Art Punk in the Craft Beer Sphere.” To her legions of adoring fans, she’s more familiarly known as ‘The Geist.’ Her paintings are colorful and loose, like a psychedelic liquid light show from a 1960s-era rock concert. They hint at the fluidity of consciousness, especially as it drifts towards the state of sleep, often with a glimmer of hope or wonder, and sometimes with a bold feminine edge. Alternately, her pen-and-ink drawings dazzle with their dizzying level of intricate detail. Sometimes the two styles merge into a tattoo geometry that evokes dark wonder and tickles the mind with the complexity and depth of its illusory patterns. Perhaps you’ve seen her distinctive work gracing the sides of your favorite 16-ounce can of Bissell … [Read more...] about HEIDI GEIST: BREWING UP OPPORTUNITY
ALL IN THE FAMILY: TODDS CREATE ARTIFICIAL ATMOSPHERES
REVIEW ROBERT TODD AND DEB TODD WHEELER: ARTIFICIAL ATMOSPHERES NESTO GALLERY MILTON ACADEMY 170 CENTRE STREET MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH APRIL 20 by Beth Neville Art technological innovation doesn’t have to use cutting-edge equipment. As Robert Todd and Deb Todd Wheeler demonstrate in “Artificial Atmospheres” at Milton Academy’s Nesto Gallery, six TV monitors, two projectors, old cameras and a lot of imagination can produce a complex set of visual images. The artists let their imaginations run free, capturing digital images filmed outdoors and later manipulated in their basement studio. Working improvisationally, their digital installation conjures up a rich mélange of celestial and mundane images, ranging from a suggested solar eclipse to plastic bags. “Artificial Atmospheres” consists of six small monitors with rotating images on one wall, an 8’ x 8’ … [Read more...] about ALL IN THE FAMILY: TODDS CREATE ARTIFICIAL ATMOSPHERES
VICTOR PACHECO: REFLECTING THE TIMES
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT VICTOR PACHECO: A BEAUTIFUL CONNECTION KRIKORIAN GALLERY WORCESTER CENTER FOR CRAFTS 25 SAGAMORE ROAD WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS MARCH 15 THROUGH APRIL 28 by Brian Goslow While the initial response to seeing one of Victor Pacheco’s frog sculptures is to smile or laugh, there’s a deeper meaning behind the amphibious forms — they’re intended to turn a mirror on society and provide an observation of what’s happening when we interact with technology. “A lot of the scenarios I set up are things that are commonly happening, things like using an iPad or a phone while you’re sitting on a toilet,” Pacheco said. The first of his web-footed creatures “jumped” out at visitors to the Worcester Center for Crafts during its “Ambient Folklore” exhibition in 2014 and caught the attention of Krikorian Gallery director Candace Casey, who offered him a solo show. “I … [Read more...] about VICTOR PACHECO: REFLECTING THE TIMES
CANAL STREET ART GALLERY: COLLABORATION, CULTURE & COMMUNITY
GALLERY SPOTLIGHT CANAL STREET ART GALLERY 23 CANAL STREET BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT by Elayne Clift When the Canal Street Art Gallery opened its doors last November in Bellows Falls, VT, its inaugural “Group Show” of works by 18 local artists was praised by the town’s residents and by the larger art community of southern Vermont. Their response signaled that the gallery had succeeded in establishing an atmosphere that reflected the founders’ mission: To create a comfortable space for artists’ creativity to be experienced in “a culture that may need a more comfortable relationship with the arts,” as Michael Noyes, one of three gallery founders, put it. Noyes, the gallery’s director, partnered with Emmett Dunbar, a photographer and former economic developer for Rockingham Township, and Garrison Buxton, a muralist and printmaker. Both Garrison and Noyes had prior gallery … [Read more...] about CANAL STREET ART GALLERY: COLLABORATION, CULTURE & COMMUNITY
HANDLE WITH CARE: PUSHING BACK THE DARK AT SSAC
COVER STORY ON! PUSHING BACK THE DARK DILLON GALLERY SOUTH SHORE ART CENTER 119 RIPLEY ROAD COHASSET, MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH APRIL 8 by Beth Neville “On! Pushing Back the Dark,” the current exhibit at the Dillon Gallery of the South Shore Art Center, promises to be an exciting experience for visitors and the participating creative artists alike. With the gallery skylight covered over and windows shuttered with dark curtains, the hollow, flame-blown glass sculptures will glow in the dark as neon gas pulses and flickers back and forth inside the molten made structures. This reviewer visited the gallery two days before the show’s installation. “Pushing Back” co-curator, glass artist Chris Rifkin, and SSAC Director Patrice Maye were making a final roll call of participating artists, calculating “who is in” and “who is out” among 17 nationally known invited glass … [Read more...] about HANDLE WITH CARE: PUSHING BACK THE DARK AT SSAC