Having been a regular visitor to the Shelburne Museum since the mid-1980s, it did not surprise me that on its 75th anniversary, the Museum’s focus show would be one called “Eyesight and Insight: Lens on American Art.” Over the years, the Museum has stayed true to the founder Electra Havemeyer Webb’s vision and at the same time adapted that vision to the rapidly changing world that diversity, technology and social/political interaction have brought to the art world. “Eyesight and Insight,” curated by Katie Wood Kirchhoff and Carolyn Bauer, covers art, artifacts and curiosities. It does so via paintings, prints and photographs by artists from Peale to Eakins to Duane Michaels and Cindy Sherman. The subject is the eyeglass – that lens through which we see the world, both as a physical phenomenon and as a way of perceiving and interpreting what we see. More specifically, this exhibit is … [Read more...] about STAYING TRUE TO ITS VISION: THE SHELBURNE CELEBRATES ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY
July/August 2022
AN ABOVE AVERAGE SUCCESS RATE: TRIENNIAL OF CHANGE AT DECORDOVA & FRUITLANDS
Switching their usual Biennial presentation gears due to pandemic impediments, the curators at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts decided instead to develop “New England Triennial 2022.” The result, on view through September 11, is a dual exhibition created in participation with Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts. These venues are under the umbrella of the Trustees of Reservations. According to deCordova Chief Curator Sarah Montross, they had been looking to partner on something and the Triennial was that opportunity. They are roughly 20 minutes apart by car and upon arrival, visitors encounter stunning landscapes at both locations. Except for one individual artwork, the “New England Triennial 2022” unfolds inside the museums’ buildings where audiences encounter visual statements that explore diversity, environment and issues of … [Read more...] about AN ABOVE AVERAGE SUCCESS RATE: TRIENNIAL OF CHANGE AT DECORDOVA & FRUITLANDS
LONG VIEW IMAGE MAKERS: “A SACRED JOURNEY, NOT A STOPOVER, OF VISIONING”
Following the opening of his ‘I Am As I Am — A Man’ retrospective, which closes on July 24 at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, an inventive mixed media artist and founding member of AfriCOBRA, began curating “THE LONG VIEW: WHAT DO YOU SEE (DO YOU SEE ME!),” a new exhibition at the Bromfield Gallery featuring five prominent African- American artists from Boston. In his curator’s statement, Jones-Henderson writes, “I regard a ‘LONG VIEW’ as a space where one reflects but imagines forward. Imagining forward is a sacred journey, not a stopover, of visioning.” The paintings, digital prints, collage, and fiber works of Bryan McFarlane, Hakim Raquib, Ekua Holmes, Chandra Dieppa Méndez-Ortiz and Napoleon Jones- Henderson present stories of humanity’s collective journey — showcasing artists significant to Boston’s creative history. The “LONG VIEW” artists … [Read more...] about LONG VIEW IMAGE MAKERS: “A SACRED JOURNEY, NOT A STOPOVER, OF VISIONING”
A TIMELY CALL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: ROCKWELL, WILLIAMS & CLARK SHOWS CELEBRATE IDENTITY
There has always been a strong thread connecting the arts and social justice. From satire via the political cartoon to the enigmatic works that expose the human condition, the tradition of awareness through visual means has always been a strong branch of art history. It is no surprise, then, in these extremely volatile times, that volumes of current exhibitions are focused on the experience of racial injustice in this country. Several Berkshire museums are a vortex of visual information this summer. At the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, there is a monumental and comprehensive exhibition entitled “Imprinted:Illustrating Race” co-curated by Robyn Phillips-Pendleton, Professor of Visual Communications at the University of Delaware, whose extensive research motivated this collection, and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the … [Read more...] about A TIMELY CALL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: ROCKWELL, WILLIAMS & CLARK SHOWS CELEBRATE IDENTITY
WELCOME July/August 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
Welcome to our 99th issue! We hope you’ll find the stories within encourage you to take to the roads of New England to see some of the exhibitions featured inside and get a better understanding of the artists and reasoning behind the work they’ve created. Noting that “there has always been a strong thread connecting the arts and social justice,” Marjorie Kaye takes an in-depth look at exhibitions at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Williams College Museum of Art and The Clark Institute that are focused on the experience of racial injustice in this country and in the process, gives us an invaluable historical walk-through of artwork originating in the early 20th century, made during the Civil Rights Movement and created by today’s younger artists. Rachel Flood Page brings the conversation into the present with her preview of “The Long View: What Do You See (Do You See Me!)” exhibition … [Read more...] about WELCOME July/August 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW