A pair of ravaged pewter sculptures resembling hieroglyphs flank the window in the Groton School’s Brodigan Gallery on the site map for its upcoming “In a State of Becoming” exhibition of work by Boston-based metalsmith and sculptor Venetia Dale. Both are the height of a fireplug — one rotund, the other a spiky “X.” They reach upwards like toddlers asking to be picked up. “Between: Kitchen-Aid Mixer,” together with wall-mounted pewter castings of other Styrofoam packing inserts, comprise Dale’s “Between” series. Their label points to the mother’s essential functions: holding, supporting and aiding the child, both in a physical and an emotional environment. Dale, a visiting lecturer at the Mass College of Art and Design, began hoarding packaging materials in the new house where she would raise her young family. They came from accessories and comforts acquired for the home — faucets, … [Read more...] about DALE’S STATE OF BECOMING: BALANCING SCULPTURE & EMBROIDERIES IN GROTON
March/April 2020
GIVING PAUSE: VANDER SCHAAF’S VISUAL POEMS AT BROMFIELD
The Greek aphorism “Know thyself” has been attributed to numerous ancient Greek sages, but probably most often to Socrates and Plato. In more recent history, such luminaries as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Samuel Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others have incorporated it into various dissertations of their work on self-examination and the exploration of wisdom. Westbrook, Maine (near Portland), encaustic artist, Dietlind Vander Schaaf, has followed her own path and adopted the enlightened understanding the sages embrace — totally in her own way. She’s effectively married her love of yoga — she’s a trained Kripalu instructor — with her studio work. She strives to “render ‘quiet’ visible.” And hence has embodied her own version of “Know thyself.” Vander Schaaf, who earned an MFA from the University of San Francisco and an MA from the University of Southern Maine, has immersed herself … [Read more...] about GIVING PAUSE: VANDER SCHAAF’S VISUAL POEMS AT BROMFIELD
DUXBURY’S SKILLED DEDICATION: HIGH QUALITY, IMAGINATION AT ART COMPLEX
No “bad art” to be seen in the Duxbury Art Association “Winter Juried Show!” Juried art exhibitions are a visual treat because of the diversity of topics, media and surprises. American artists, both professional and amateur, are exceptionally skilled due to the high quality of art classes offered by schools, museums, art associations and private teachers. The 85 artworks, selected from among 600, are exemplars of this high quality. Once again, curator Craig Bloodgood has installed the diverse works in a pleasing pattern at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Decayed, decrepit, rusted-out automobiles in Ken Tighe’s oil painting, “Alchemy,” along with paint-peeling signs for motels and gas, depict an evil of our overconsuming society. Fully deserving the “Best in Show” award, Tighe meticulously paints every hubcap, flat tire and dusty windshield of old cars piled one on … [Read more...] about DUXBURY’S SKILLED DEDICATION: HIGH QUALITY, IMAGINATION AT ART COMPLEX
CAN ART SAVE THE WORLD? CAA EXHIBITION TAKES ON THE LURKING DARKNESS
When it seems that environmental protections are increasingly scaled back, even as we speed towards the point of no return, it is not unusual for so many artists to focus on the beautiful and wild things of this world, or to meditate on nostalgia for the past and their anxiety for the future. In the Cambridge Art Association’s annual Members Prize Show, many have done just that. This year’s show is larger than ever, with works by almost 60 artists in almost every conceivable media, and is split between two venues, the University Place Gallery and the Kathryn Shultz Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Walking through both spaces, one is struck by the proliferation of trees and other plant life in the paintings, photographs and prints on view. A carpet of bright red, yellow and pink leaves surround moss-covered roots in Erik Gehring’s photograph, “Red Maple #2.” Jane Sherrill’s … [Read more...] about CAN ART SAVE THE WORLD? CAA EXHIBITION TAKES ON THE LURKING DARKNESS
A GAME CHANGING OPENING: MASSART MUSEUM HAS A REFRESHING IMMEDIACY
The Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s newly-minted MassArt Art Museum, branded as MAAM, offers audiences contemporary art immersion for free along Boston’s museum mile. Roughly the size of a boutique hotel, it presents art programming Kunsthalle style. As the product of a major architectural remodel, MAAM greets the public on the footprint of MassArt’s Paine and Bakalar Galleries. Its three inaugural exhibitions feature an eyeful of world-class installations to celebrate its emergence as a museum. “When visitors enter the museum, they enter off of Huntington Avenue through the outdoor Arne Glimcher Plaza,” explained MAAM director, Lisa Tung. When asked about the dedication Tung replied: “We are very fortunate to have alumnus Arne Glimcher as a donor on this project and as a friend of the college. His involvement extends beyond the museum — he funded a scholarship for the … [Read more...] about A GAME CHANGING OPENING: MASSART MUSEUM HAS A REFRESHING IMMEDIACY
WELCOME STATEMENT MAR/APR 2020
Welcome to our 14th Anniversary issue! Since 2006 it’s been our goal to promote the artists, galleries and museums of New England with the hope that our coverage leads to increased attendance at exhibitions and sales with the long-term outlook that we’re all in this together and those we assist will reciprocate in supporting our mission. Looking back at our premier issue (March/April 2006), the cover of which highlighted “Jamaican Art in Boston” and featured stories on “Random Acts of Art: Community Murals in Boston”; “Cross-Currents in Recent Video Installation: Water as Metaphor for Identity” and Arthur Freedman’s photographs documenting the homeless of Greater Boston, it shows how our dedication to spotlighting the many cultural aspects of New England’s arts community and its devotion to environmental and political issues has been a priority from our inception. In this issue, … [Read more...] about WELCOME STATEMENT MAR/APR 2020