REVIEW PEOPLE WATCHING: THEN AND NOW FITCHBURG ART MUSEUM 185 ELM STREET FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS Flavia Cigliano From the first primitive marks people made to depict their external world or internal reflections, portraiture has been a major form of expression in art making. The genre has existed across centuries, cultures and art movements. The Fitchburg Art Museum’s (FAM) cur- rent exhibition, “People Watching: Then and Now,” is an outstanding survey of historical and current portraiture that reveals the continued interest in and evolution of portrait painting. The show is the third and final part of a series of genre painting exhibitions conceived and developed to take a fresh look at works from FAM’s permanent collection in relation to current works of contemporary New England artists. The first two of these shows, “Still Life Lives” (still … [Read more...] about People Watching at FAM: Portraits Past And Present
Current Issue
Modern-Day Mythology: Yuan’s Dynamic Mural at Tufts
REVIEW YUAN YUNSHENG: CHINESE MYTH, FOLKLORE AND HISTORY TUFTS UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY AIDEKMAN ARTS CENTER 40 TALBOT AVENUE MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS By Franklin W. Liu Even at 80, contemporary Chinese muralist Yuan Yunsheng is actively producing art while also serving as a mentor and teacher. Yunsheng, born in 1937 in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, is widely praised for his vibrant, large-scale, narrative-murals resplen- dent with ethnic cultural symbol- ism that are hand painted on-site in America as well as within China, where he currently resides. Yuan’s ruminating, diversified, internationally known artworks are now showcased in two separate 2017 exhibitions. One, a group show, “Anren Biennale-Crossroads,” on view in Anren, Chengdu; another, a prismatic solo exhibition, “Yuan Yunsheng: Chinese Myth, Folklore and History,” is being presented at the … [Read more...] about Modern-Day Mythology: Yuan’s Dynamic Mural at Tufts
Hearing is Believing: Dartmouth’s Resonant Spaces Sing
FEATURED EXHIBITION RESONANT SPACES: SOUND ART AT DARTMOUTH HOOD DOWNTOWN 53 MAIN STREET HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE By Marguerite Serkin As a genre, sound art is still very young, even nascent in its evolution. The wide parameters defining the genre allow for breadth of interpreta- tion and representation within such a divergent range of media and thematic content to be at once idiosyncratic and profound. Curated by Spencer Topel, assistant professor of music in the Digital Musics Program at Dartmouth. and Amelia Kahl, associate curator of academic programming, “Resonant Spaces: Sound Art at Dartmouth” brings its visual and auditory subjects to life in unexpected ways. The exhibition is not limited to a single location, but is rather placed across seven venues on and around the Dartmouth College campus. The Hood Downtown Gallery, on Main Street in … [Read more...] about Hearing is Believing: Dartmouth’s Resonant Spaces Sing
Love in the Air at Newport: A Sophisticated Smorgasbord
REVIEW BE OF LOVE AND OTHER STORIES: CONTEMPORARY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION NEWPORT ART MUSEUM 76 BELLEVUE AVENUE NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND By Suzanne Volmer Newport Art Museum curator Francine Weiss chose “be of love and other stories” as the exhibition title for the current show perhaps to rec- ognize that love of art takes passion. With abundant variety, “Contemporary Highlights of the Permanent Collection” flow throughout the first and second floors of the museum’s Griswold House. The phrase “be of love” comes from an e.e.cummings poem and the words appear in a serigraph in the show by Corita Kent. This print anchors the exhi- bition for Weiss, who was delighted to learn that something by Kent was in the museum’s collection. Weiss had been impressed by the Harvard Art Museums’ exhibit “Corita Kent and the Language of Pop” in 2015. Her … [Read more...] about Love in the Air at Newport: A Sophisticated Smorgasbord
Home Sweet Home?: It’s All Relative at Art Complex
REVIEW CLOSE TO HOME ART COMPLEX MUSEUM 189 ALDEN STREET DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS By Suzanne Volmer Because of their tactile quality, there is often a compelling urge to touch the installations in “Close to Home,” on view through January 14, 2018, at The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Mass. Expertly curated by Elizabeth Michelman, the show spotlights narrative approaches by nine women artists who range from emerging to late-career talents. Women often define themselves by their relationship to home, with a sense of personal value absorbed from an intimate subculture of family and friends. This show contextualizes where and how attachments form in that trajectory of experience. As an exhibition devoted to installation art, “Close to Home” taps into childhood and adult experience. The show includes sculptural approaches, drawing, painting, photography and … [Read more...] about Home Sweet Home?: It’s All Relative at Art Complex
Migration & Memory: Revolutionary Jewish Arts in Clinton
REVIEW MIGRATION AND MEMORY: JEWISH ARTISTS OF THE RUSSIAN AND SOVIET EMPIRES MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ICONS 203 UNION STREET CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS By Flavia Cigliano Conceived to coincide with the cen- tennial of the Russian Revolution (1917), “Migration and Memory: Jewish Artists of the Russian and Soviet Empires” presents the work of 50 artists, predominantly Jewish, from the pre- and post-revolu- tionary eras. The exhibit was organized by Boston’s Ballets Russes Arts Initiative, and continues the Museum of Russian Icon’s ongoing public programs focusing on Russian art and culture. Anna Winestein, executive director of the Ballets Russes Arts Initiative, served as the show’s guest curator. Winestein worked closely with Vladimir and Vera Torchilin, whose personal collection was the source of all the artwork in the exhibit. When the Torchilins emigrated from … [Read more...] about Migration & Memory: Revolutionary Jewish Arts in Clinton