The parties are over. The art fair is dead. As during the Black Plague, worldwide travel and commerce has abruptly stopped. Museum tours and artists’ talks are virtual. The latest buzzword, “viewing rooms,” showing artists’ work online, are the new art fair. We save the work we like, and “trash” the rest. Technology has been valuable in visualizing the virus and making it “real.” The virus cannot be seen as were the buboes of Black Plague. When we cannot visualize the virus, computer and artist’s images of the virus make it visible, confronting us, scaring us. Art will document these times, but not yet. Like drawings of hunted bulls in the Lascaux and Altamira caves, by which we acknowledge the existence of those who drew them, and drawings of royalty inside and outside the sarcophagi of ancient Egyptian rulers — art will always be a testament to what was. … [Read more...] about READY OR NOT, IT WILL CHANGE: WHERE DOES THE ART WORLD GO FROM HERE?

On the East Coast of a western country with a globalized economy, slow is not the default setting of most New Englanders. But aside from the praiseworthy parents now having to work, homeschool and parent all at once, this pandemic has given most of us the opportunity to be still. This is a truth arguably most important for those of us who are millennials, and younger, to hear. In the core of our youth, in touch with — and in control of— pop culture and perhaps most flexible in the face of a global crisis, we are the ones who will carry the lessons of COVID-19 well into the future. Of course, not everyone will appreciate this “opportunity” to be still as such, particularly while we grapple with the worst of the pandemic. The challenges of COVID-19 and its associated consequences loom heavy above our heads, and this is important to acknowledge. Nevertheless, we can all agree … [Read more...] about A CASE FOR MINDFULNESS: PAYING ATTENTION & CULTIVATING SELF DURING COVID-19

After an extended career as a graphics designer, Tony Andrade shifted his focus onto art full-time, devoting his attention to exploring his love of both art and photography. Artscope Magazine editor Brian Goslow first saw Andrade’s work in the Copley Society of Art’s “Winter Members Show: Full Spectrum” exhibition, which he reviewed in Artscope’s March/ April 2020 issue. While he was fond of “Evidence of Growth,” a painting of Andrade’s that captured the exploding color and harvest of a botanical summer garden, it didn’t make his review because it felt separate from the rest of the work. Now, with all of us desperately craving a warm relaxing summer, it seemed that is was the perfect time for him to talk to Andrade about his nature-inspired artwork. BRIAN GOSLOW: TELL ME ABOUT THE “EVIDENCE OF GROWTH” PAINTING IN THE “FULL SPECTRUM” EXHIBITION AND HOW IT WAS CREATED — MY … [Read more...] about BACK TO THE GARDEN: ANDRADE’S BOTANICALLY-THEMED WORLDS

This is a story of resilience, as many are these days. This one began in 2018, with Brain Arts Organization’s incorporation of the Dorchester Art Project (DAP), a restorative justice and arts equity focused community arts center in Field’s Corner. On March 8, I spoke with Emma Leavitt, creative director at Brain Arts Org and gallery director at the Dorchester Art Project. Easygoing and passionate about what she does, Leavitt energetically described the work of this growing organization, whose mission is “To realize creative independence in systematically undervalued communities.” A visual artist herself, she knows the struggle of being recognized for her work. Leavitt, and the team at DAP, is committed to highlighting the creativity and voices of people of color, queer folx, young people and first and foremost, artists in the Dorchester community. “We’ve been a lot of people’s first … [Read more...] about A STORY OF RESILIENCE: DORCHESTER ART PROJECT’S COMMUNITY MESSAGE

Perhaps the main pleasure of covering the New England art scene has been the community behind it. As a Bostonian, the ability to hop on the Green Line or Red Line or bus, show up at a perspective gallery or museum, and be totally immersed in the world of one or many artists whose works hang or sit, is a reward I’ve cherished since arriving in the city nearly a decade ago. The archipelago of culture that dots the Metro-Boston landscape — from a painter’s Somerville studio turned black box theater to an ever-imposing institution like the Museum of Fine Arts — has always been, for me, one of the city’s proudest treasures. But, for now, the atmosphere has changed. And covering the art scene as a journalist has changed along with it. Beyond losing the ritual and the communal gathering of openings and face-to-face interactions, I now find myself covering not“actual”pieces of art, but rather … [Read more...] about HOW COVID-19 IS CHANGING ART REVIEWING

My studio is a think tank, an exhibit site for the artwork of one person, and a place in which to realize 2D and 3D projects. When I develop large pieces, an assistant or assistants will sometimes help me; however, with recent events, creation has become a solitary pursuit. For over 20 years, I have enjoyed the tranquility of my studio environment. It is a sanctuary akin to Monet’s refuge at Giverny or the enveloping safety of Shangri-La. The first artist that reached out to me with a phone call in relation to COVID-19 was Corrine Colarusso. She lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island, in the summer and Atlanta, Georgia, in the winter. I had reviewed her “Magic Gold, Full Sun” exhibition at Newport Art Museum as a cover story for Artscope’s May/June 2014 issue. Since then, we have become good friends. During our talk, Colarusso told me that she had resolved to call an artist a day to balance … [Read more...] about STUDIO VISITS & CONVERSATION: LIFE AS AN ARTIST AND WRITER IN COVID-19 TIMES