Is it “craft” or “fine art?” This old distinction is blurred in “Ten Years of Master Craft Artists” at the Fuller Craft Museum. Five craftspersons from the Maine Crafts Association exhibit works that are traditionally utilitarian, while 12 others look more like fine art. Tom Ferrero deserves the “Master Craft Artist, 2019” award he received for his “Collar of the Chancellor,” a silver and steel necklace. This circular, sculptural piece may be worn as a necklace, or the collar could be used as a table decoration surrounding a floral bouquet. Ferrero states that his inspiration derives from “Star Wars” movies. However, the basic motif of embellished leaves or shields surrounded by engraved grain stalks also recalls the Art Nouveau movement and Tiffany designs. “Traditional Maine Birchbark Canoe” by Steve Cayard is a functional, full-scale canoe in the traditional style of Penobscot … [Read more...] about A TEACHABLE MOMENT: 10 YEAR MAINE CRAFTS RETROSPECTIVE AT FULLER
July/August 2019
BACK TO THE GARDEN: FIELDS OF CHANGE AT BENNINGTON
Think of Vermont, and it may conjure images of bucolic hills dotted with fabled hamlets inhabited by eccentric intellectuals, passionate liberals, earth mothers and artists. This predominantly liberal-leaningtoward-radical state was not long ago staunchly republican, with a social fabric vastly different than that of today. Yet, many elements of Vermont’s traditional agrarian roots remain. Tolerance of opposing opinions, neighbor helping neighbor, a disdain for idle gossip and a love of the land are all hallmarks of the Vermont way of life. Vermonters are by and large good listeners, and will eschew the obvious for a more studied view of things, in politics and in life. The 1960s brought great change to Vermont, both demographically and politically. Phil Hoff was elected as the first Democratic governor since 1853. In 1965, the federal government ruled that Vermont must reapportion … [Read more...] about BACK TO THE GARDEN: FIELDS OF CHANGE AT BENNINGTON
HUDSON RIVER REVISITED: FRUITLAND’S PASTORAL PRESENT
Step out of your car at Fruitlands, look across the Nashua River Valley covered with the lush mixed forest so typical of New England, then gaze west to Wachusett Mountain, and there will be no question why the transcendentalists sought to make this corner of Harvard, Massachusetts, their utopia. Now under the aegis of the Trustees of Reservations, the Fruitlands Museum preserves the buildings and landscape of the short-lived Transcendentalist colony while providing year-round art and cultural offerings. The exhibits currently on display, “Floating Between Two Worlds” and “A New View” and “Pastoral Present,” offer summer visitors the opportunity to see both new works by contemporary artists and venerated paintings from the permanent collection. Commissioned by the Trustees to design and construct an outdoor installation, multidisciplinary artist Esther Solondz created “Floating Between … [Read more...] about HUDSON RIVER REVISITED: FRUITLAND’S PASTORAL PRESENT
STEPHEN PACE AT PAAM: POSTHUMOUS SHOW LAVISH WITH PAINT AND ENERGY
Stephen Pace will have his first solo exhibition, “Stephen Pace in Provincetown,” posthumously at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum from July 5 through September 1. During his lifetime, Pace journeyed through styles from representational through pure abstraction to Abstract Expressionism to a merger of figural with expressionism — finally creating his own minimalist, Post-Impressionist, representational mode. Provincetown was a huge influence on him; he was in group shows at PAAM throughout his years. Recuperating from hospitalization during World War II where he served first in the infantry and then as a designer of chemical-proof clothing and war posters, he was drawing by the Seine when Gertrude Stein invited him to meet Pablo Picasso. Pace had already been practicing art, and architectural drafting and drawing under the tutelage of a WPA (Works Progress Administration) … [Read more...] about STEPHEN PACE AT PAAM: POSTHUMOUS SHOW LAVISH WITH PAINT AND ENERGY
NEWBURY STREET RE\VISION: A SENSE OF PLACE AT COPLEY SOCIETY
There are times that our lives demand new experiences and nowhere else is this more the case than when it comes to viewing art — that is, unless the experience of not knowing what comes next in your everyday life has worn you down. Which is, of course, where many of us find ourselves in the summer of 2019, grasping for something that feels familiar and comfortable. Thankfully, “Re\Vision,” the Summer Members Show at the Copley Society of Art, brings us back to places, feelings and sensations that are only a short walk or drive away — the beach, an artist’s studio, a fresh painting, abandoned buildings still holding the smallest suggestion of a rebirth being possible. Erin R. Corrales-Diaz, assistant curator of American art at the Worcester Art Museum, was the show’s judge and curator. “Having had the honor to jury other art exhibitions in the past, I knew I wanted to start by … [Read more...] about NEWBURY STREET RE\VISION: A SENSE OF PLACE AT COPLEY SOCIETY
COLLECTIVE IDENTITY: MUSA CONNECTS OUR COMMON NARRATIVE
This July, “Collective Punishment,” works by 10 international artists curated by Roya Amigh, an Iranian artist now living in Boston, will be on view at the Musa Collective Gallery in Allston, Massachusetts. Perhaps only an Iranian artist poised between these two cultures and educated in both could maintain as powerful an emphasis on positive themes of global interconnectedness and collective identity. Having only experienced life in Iran under economic sanctions, Amigh seeks to counteract the depersonalization and biases so prominent in the media. She questions what it means to normalize such an existence as well as the ultimate value of intensified punitive American action toward Iran. Amigh broadens the range of imagery and perspectives by including American, Haitian, South Korean and Swiss artists as well as Iranian artists creating work here and in Tehran. Meditating on the … [Read more...] about COLLECTIVE IDENTITY: MUSA CONNECTS OUR COMMON NARRATIVE