Attleboro Arts Museum’s Executive Director, Mim Fawcett, made an insightful decision inviting gallerist LaiSun Keane to jury the prize awards for the museum’s current Members’ Show. LaiSun Keane Gallery opened with a real freshness in Boston’s SoWa Arts District in September 2020 and since then has presented a roster of innovative exhibitions. Her gallery has participated in art fairs “SPRING/BREAK” and “Art on Paper” during New York City Art Fair Week and most recently participated in “Untitled” during Miami’s Art Fair Week. Keane focuses on developing opportunity for under-recognized artists and she is informed about the latest art trends. Kudos to Fawcett for making such an excellent jurist choice. The Members’ Show is an eagerly anticipated yearly event at Attleboro Arts Museum. Members may submit up to three artworks. The promise made by the museum is that all artworks delivered … [Read more...] about A GREATER INTENSITY OF VOICES: LAISUN KEANE JURIES ATTLEBORO’S PRIZE-WINNING SHOW
January/February 2022
A RARE OPPORTUNITY: LONDON’S NATIONAL PORTRAIT MUSEUM’S TREASURES AT WAM
Valentine’s Day is approaching and “Love Stories,” a fabulous exhibition of portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London, is a perfect way to explore love and sex vicariously. Over 100 paintings of famous people, famous artists, famous love affairs and famous sex scandals fill the Worcester Art Museum gallery. Almost every art style and medium is represented beginning with the 1571 oil portraits of the Archbishop of York and his wife, through 2018 photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The exhibit is almost overwhelming in its visual riches and storytelling. “Scandal and Tragedy” and “Love Against the Odds” are two topical groupings — out of seven — of portraits that have the most contemporary appeal. An example is the famous sex scandal of Oscar Wilde’s outlawed love for Lord Alfred Douglas for which he was sentenced to “hard labor” (Gillman & Co., 1893, … [Read more...] about A RARE OPPORTUNITY: LONDON’S NATIONAL PORTRAIT MUSEUM’S TREASURES AT WAM
HIROSHIGE’S LASTING LEGACY: MOKUHANGA SISTERS UPDATE JAPANESE PRINTMAKING AT SVAC
To its devoted proponents, Japanese water-based printmaking, known as “mokuhanga,” is more than a means of self-expression — it is a discipline, a practice, even a way of life. Each aspect of mokuhanga demands a spirit of humility and respect for the art form, with an attentiveness and regard for the storied legacy the technique carries. Among modern-day practitioners working in the medium, some have abandoned vocations and professional careers to devote themselves to mokuhanga as a dedicated life’s path. Traceable to eighth-century woodblock printing, water- based printmaking became celebrated and prevalent in Japan during the Edo period (1604-1868). The genre has seen a resurgence of popularity in recent decades with new applications and aesthetics, and some controversy regarding the naming of the technique. Among modern-day artists, the term mokuhanga — moku (wood), han … [Read more...] about HIROSHIGE’S LASTING LEGACY: MOKUHANGA SISTERS UPDATE JAPANESE PRINTMAKING AT SVAC