Scott Tulay In Brattleboro by Greg Morell I happen to love color the more bold and brash, the better. I also have a proclivity toward figurative depiction and symbol. So how is it that I have been so taken by the monochromatic work of Scott Tulay, a sorcerer of black, white and gray? I first came across his work many years ago. My first Tulay encounter was with his depictions of the skeletal remnants of ancient New England barns teetering on the brink of oblivion; charred by fire, age and neglect, these relics were balanced on the edge of total collapse. The landscape of the Western Massachusetts valley towns of Sunderland, Hatfield and Hadley is dotted with outworn tobacco barns, and Tulay’s own grandfather was a Hadley tobacco farmer. He fondly remembers his Polish grandmother rolling her own cigars and puffing up clouds of the pungent smoke. These barns resonated with … [Read more...] about Drawing On, In, Out
Current Issue
Olitski and McCullough In NH
Answering The Call Of The Wild by Arlene Distler The paintings and prints in the Jules Olitski “Lakes, Mountains, Seas” exhibition currently on view at Keene State College’s Thorne- Sagendorph Gallery show an artist who was still in full command of his creative powers in the last decade of his life. He died in 2007 at age 84. The show consists of paintings the artist made on site during or that were inspired by his summers on Bear Island in Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. He had a house on the lake since the 1970s. Olitski had a special relationship with the Thorne-Sagendorph, which the gallery honors with this show, part of a celebration of its 50th anniversary. “Sea of Paradise” (60” x 84”) is perhaps the “WOW!” painting in the show. It is front and center as one enters the first room of the exhibit. Yellows and oranges thrust up like molten lava, meeting purple, … [Read more...] about Olitski and McCullough In NH
Putting Out Feelers
BCA’S 24TH Drawing Show by Elizabeth Michelman Flat, Flatter, Flattest. “Feelers,” the Boston Center for the Arts’ 24th Drawing Show at the Mills Gallery, is a biennial juried selection of 60 works from 56 artists hailing from as close as the Boston area to as far away as Iceland. Visiting curator Susan Metrican, director of the arts at Brandeis University, sought to capture a “certain something” about contemporary drawing practice through associations to Edwin A. Abbott’s romance “Flatland,” a dystopia of a two-dimensional world. The flat inhabitants of this plane can only know others by reaching outside their own perimeters to “feel” them. Feeling, however interpreted, may be an essential component of all forms of art. But Metrican’s exploration of the term seeks to pinpoint how some “drawings” heighten our awareness of what qualifies as “flat.” Risking a … [Read more...] about Putting Out Feelers
Hassan Hajjaj’s Rock Stars
Rockin’ The Casbah And Beyond by J. Fatima Martins With great rhythm and swanky style, photographer-filmmaker-designer Hassan Hajjaj brings his inclusive visual language to the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) this November. His bombastic site-specific exhibition, “My Rock Stars,” is a music video installation presented in dialogue with photographic portraits of featured musicians and performers. Full disclosure: While I did listen to examples of Gnawa (a beautiful traditional North African musical style rooted in the history of slavery and featured in the installation) in order to deconstruct Hajjaj’s art for this review, I couldn’t stop thinking about “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash (1982), which to me seemed to fit the subversiveness of the exhibition: “But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum, The local guitar picker got his guitar-picking thumb, As soon … [Read more...] about Hassan Hajjaj’s Rock Stars
You Can’t Get There From Here
The 2015 Portland Museum Of Art Biennial by Jamie Thompson You can’t get there from here. This timeworn Maine saying has become a kind of cultural touchstone for the state, like blueberries or lobster. But Alison Ferris, curator of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, found a decidedly more artistic application for the adage. Ferris, who curated “You Can’t Get There From Here: The 2015 Portland Museum of Art Biennial,” was inspired by how the saying seems to sum up the indirect, challenging and at times frustrating creative process. Visual artists often follow winding routes to go from inspiration to final product, guided by a combination of creativity and craft. The 32 artists in this year’s Biennial the museum’s ninth represent established and emerging talent in contemporary art with strong connections to Maine. This is the first year that … [Read more...] about You Can’t Get There From Here
Land Ho!
Fitchburg Pairs Historical with Contemporary by Donna Dodson “Land Ho!,” the impressive new show at the Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM), is a must-see. Mary M. Tinti’s sixth curatorial project is the result of nearly one year of extensive research on FAM’s permanent collection utilizing her keen eye for contemporary New England art. Koch Curatorial Fellow Emily M. Mazzola, whose knowledge of 19th and 20th century American Art brought to light the personal stories behind many of the treasures that FAM owned, assisted Tinti. The results are surprising and wide sweeping, pulling into focus the evolution of landscape painting, mark-making and myriad contemporary approaches to this genre. The exhibition is installed in nearly all of the newly renovated galleries on the second floor and bridge of the museum. Nick Capasso joined FAM nearly three years ago, and with his appointment as … [Read more...] about Land Ho!