CODING AS A DESIGN TOOL AT TUFTS Franklin W. Liu It is said that every age has its own fashion expression, in pleasure, in wit and in manners. Tuft’s cutting-edge exhibition, “Coded_Couture” shows fashion design as the impetus for a digital Magical Mystery Tour that boldly transgresses the traditional boundary of couturier. This couture-collection explores the stylish language of personal adornment, albeit shaped by an imaginative cybertechnology theme, reflecting on the social impact of the interactive, smartphone-toting, dynamic social-networking world we wake up to each day. In this cyber-transformed world, what if we felt a sudden urge for flirtation and a tingling surge of desire for another person whom we had just met? But, we were reluctant to express that romantic attraction. Then, suppose that placed in direct contact with our skin are tiny electrical nodes … [Read more...] about IF THE SHOE FITS…
March/April 2017
SOO SUNNY PARK AT CURRIER
EXPLORING THE SPACE WITHIN Donna Dodson Soo Sunny Park is one of New England’s most talented artists. With recent shows at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and Burlington City Arts in Vermont that launched her national and international reputation, she has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to create new work at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire. Park’s “BioLath” promises to intrigue and delight her devoted fans and stretch the boundaries of perception to reach new audiences. Assistant Curator Samantha Cataldo and the Currier Museum of Art selected Sunny for their “Contemporary Connections” series. Her project, ‘BioLath,’ will be on view through August 6. “I am thrilled to be working with an artist like Soo Sunny Park who is visionary, collaborative and endlessly energetic,” Cataldo said. “Sunny is interested in … [Read more...] about SOO SUNNY PARK AT CURRIER
11 for 11: Harriet Diamond
AN EXODUS FROZEN IN TIME Greg Morell When you walk through the doors of Northampton’s Oxbow Gallery on March 2, be prepared to confront something completely different. It is the official opening of Harriet Diamond’s “Driven from their Homes,” an installation of over 100 ceramic figurines retreating from the horrors of wartime destruction, seeking escape and a flight from oppression in an attempt to survive and emerge into safety. It is an exodus frozen in time. I first became aware of the work of Harriet Diamond at one of Terry Rooney’s Amherst Biennials. Diamond had created a piece called “The Pit,” a startling work that became affixed in my mind. In my brief capsule of the “The Pit” in the exhibit catalog, I had this to say: “The centerpiece is a remarkable floor-toceiling phantasmagoria depicting the nightmare of the war machine. Entitled ‘The Pit,’ the highly … [Read more...] about 11 for 11: Harriet Diamond
Cornered: Mohamad Hafez
Mohamad Hafez Gina Fraone One of the most divisive issues facing our nation today is that of immigration. Fanning the flames of that political hotbed are the raging international conflicts that are resulting in staggering numbers of refugees. Mohamad Hafez, an architect and artist currently residing with his family in New Haven, Conn., was born in Syria. With horror and tremendous sadness, he has watched from afar as his beloved homeland is obliterated by a civil war that has turned more than 11 million Syrians into refugees. When Hafez first moved to the United States on a student visa to study architecture, he discovered that his visa was only valid for one entry. Being Muslim and having a name like Mohamad in a post-9/11 America meant that visiting home was to risk never being let back in. He spent the next eight years in the U.S. without once seeing his homeland. … [Read more...] about Cornered: Mohamad Hafez
Welcome
Welcome Brian Goslow Welcome to our Eleventh Anniversary Issue with special thanks to our readers and advertisers, all of the galleries, museums, artists and publicists we have worked with and, especially, our devoted writers whose hard work has filled our pages. It would be an understatement to say the past few months have been an emotional rollercoaster for those living in the United States, and this has seemed especially true for its artists. Some are addressing their emotions directly through artworks whose message needs no interpretation; others need the solitude now, more than ever, of a canvas or large installation piece to escape the everyday discourse. We’ve attempted to address these feelings in compiling this issue, which continues our tradition of using the annual issue to introduce a group of artists previously not featured in these pages — including … [Read more...] about Welcome