by Donna Dodson According to the Biennial Foundation, Prospect New Orleans is one of only 20 biennials/triennials in the United States out of approximately 200 internationally. The current edition, Prospect.4, is curated by Trevor Schoonmaker, who is also the curator of contemporary art at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art. Looking at New Orleans as a nexus of cultures, P.4 features over 70 artists from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and the United States. At the grand opening, Schoonmaker said, “New Orleans is like no other city in the world, and is completely unique as an American city. It is the most European and the most African city in the United States. It is frequently called the northernmost Caribbean city and is still distinctly of, and in, the American South. Its rich history and culture provide bound-less inspiration for artists from all over … [Read more...] about MAKING CONNECTIONS: WITH DONNA DODSON
January/February 2018
IT DOESN’T HURT TO ASK: MIAMI 2017 SATELLITE FAIRS
EVENT MIAMI ART WEEK ART MIAMI ARTMIAMI.COM CONTEXT ART MIAMI CONTEXTARTMIAMI. COM RED DOT MIAMI REDDOTMIAMI.COM SCOPE ART SHOW SCOPE-ART.COM SPECTRUM MIAMI ART SHOW SPECTRUM-MIAMI. COM UNTITLED ART FAIR UNTITLEDARTFAIRS. COM by Nancy Nesvet Taking advantage of the huge crowds of art collectors in Miami and Miami Beach for Art Basel Miami 2017, the artwork at satellite fairs — often blatantly political — this year was new, older, relevant, colorful, glitzy and humorous. Work at Art Miami and Context, over the bridge into downtown Miami, was gutsy, with artists using new technology and materials; artists were having fun but asking important questions and expressing opinions in unambiguous language. These were the standout artists and works and the fair in which they were shown: CONTEXT ART MIAMI Represented by the Blink Group Fine Art Gallery, Boston artist … [Read more...] about IT DOESN’T HURT TO ASK: MIAMI 2017 SATELLITE FAIRS
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2017: CHECKING THE ART WORLD’S PULSE
EVENT ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2017 CONVENTION CENTER SOUTH BEACH, MIAMI, FLORIDA ART BASEL HONG KONG MARCH 29-31, 2018 ART BASEL SWITZERLAND JUNE 14-17, 2018 ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH DECEMBER 6-9, 2018 ARTBASEL.COM by Nancy Nesvet For this writer, Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, the world’s biggest art show — in space, sales, artist and gallery representation — provided a giddy week. The crowded fair, full of technology, dazzle and shine, featured work from the big names in contemporary art. Anish Kapoor’s vertical swoosh of steel, “Non-Object (Door)” (2008, stainless steel, Lisson Gallery), reflected people who posed in front of it admiring their reflection. Barry X Ball’s “Perfect Forms (after Umberto Boccioni)” (2010-14, Connersmith) upped the ante by using 24-karat gold in another aerodynamic, futuristic form. Older paintings and sculptures for sale included Marc … [Read more...] about ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2017: CHECKING THE ART WORLD’S PULSE
TWO ROADS DIVERGED…: VON MERTENS AT UMASS LOWELL
REVIEW ANNA VON MERTENS: COLOR: A LOVE STORY UNIVERSITY GALLERY AT UMASS LOWELL MAHONEY HALL 870 BROADWAY STREET LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS JANUARY 22 THROUGH MARCH 3 by Greg Morell There are two divergent roads of aesthetic departure for New Hampshire artist Anna Von Mertens. In one direction, we discover works of popular whimsy — a lighthearted exploration of the emoji. Fanciful, playful, vibrantly colorful and deliciously cute, it’s art candy you just want to eat. However, the other path that Von Mertens explores is far different. Both will on view in “Color: A Love Story,” an exhibition running from January 22 through March 3 in the University Gallery at UMass Lowell. In the main gallery, Von Mertens will present two beds, side by side, in the open expanse of the gallery floor. It is not the beds themselves, but what is on the beds that is the point of the … [Read more...] about TWO ROADS DIVERGED…: VON MERTENS AT UMASS LOWELL
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST: DAVID LEE BLACK
ARTIST PROFILE DAVID LEE BLACK by Brian Goslow Photographer David Lee Black’s resume is one of a well-lived and experienced life: he earned a BS in music education at the University of Missouri in 1983 and was a Tullaloughaun Residency Fellowship Recipient in County Clare, Ireland in 2012 and 2014; professional career highlights include serving as associate artistic director for Orchestrations Conceptual Art, Inc. since 1985; as a juvenile parole officer for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services from 1987-2014; as an expressive art therapist with New England Expressive Arts Therapy; as a visual artist with Rhode Island’s legendary Big Nazo puppet troupe and as artist-in-residence at David A. Lang Studios in Natick, Massachusetts. It was Lang who urged Black to contact me in early November to help publicize “Passage,” his then-upcoming exhibition at the Jewish … [Read more...] about A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST: DAVID LEE BLACK
GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE: ARTS RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE
COMMUNITY ARTS RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE 82 PRESCOTT STREET LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH FEBRUARY: SELECTED WORKS OF JESSICA TAWCZYNSKI FROM HER RECENT ARTIST’S RESIDENCY IN AKUREYRI, ICELAND by Flavia Cigliano Founded in 2009, the Arts Research Collaborative (ARC) in Lowell, Massachusetts quickly established itself as a cultural presence in the heart of the city, committed to working with the arts communities of both Lowell and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML). The concept for a professional workspace and gallery came from three colleagues in the Art and Design Department: Jim Jeffers, Denise Manseau and Stephen Mishol, who explained, “We wanted to create a hybrid space where our students could have more direct interaction with professional artists.” Both Manseau and Mishol were quick to acknowledge the critical role Jim Jeffers played in developing … [Read more...] about GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE: ARTS RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE