“Art is tactile, gives solace, reminds us to be grounded where we can have a dialogue and find ways to offer benefit and beauty.” Kaveh Mojtabai, Artscope’s publisher, shared these words with me after we’d had a long conversation on how much all of us desperately needed to escape our long-enforced period of solitude and see and return to our long running conversations and friendships in our galleries and museums. Mojtabai and I traveled to West Hartford for the opening of “The Evocative Mark Twain Inspires the Printmakers’ Network of Southern New England” at the Mark Twain House & Museum, where we met up with our Connecticut correspondent, Evan Bieder, who reviews the exhibition in this issue. It was a busy time for Evan, whose wife, Britney, gave birth to their first son, Zen, shortly afterwards. After two plus years of careful solitude, there’s a lot of catching up to do, … [Read more...] about WELCOME May/June 2022: From Brian Goslow
May/June 2022
CAPSULE PREVIEWS: May/June 2022
“A fun silver lining of the pandemic has been the opportunity to witness the shift of wardrobes from traditional business casual to a more casual style filled to the brim with unique, personal expression,” which has led to a two-month exhibition of masculine works, including couture leather jackets, uniquely printed t-shirts, jewelry and belts, made by over 20 Maine craft artists. “Hey Handsome! A Show of Rugged Attire & Accessories” runs from May 6 through June 26 at Maine Craft Portland, 521 Congress Street, Portland, Maine. “The ability to work from home allowed many people of all genders to find and experience the freedom to experiment in the creation of their own personal style with a new flare, often through more sustainable means.” For over 39 years, Phyllis Kornfeld has been working with incarcerated men and women across the country in prisons and jails that offer art … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: May/June 2022
FROM PALESTINE WITH ART: A COLLATERAL EXHIBITION OF SURVIVAL AT LA BIENNALE D’ ARTE, VENICE
“From Palestine with Art,” an official collateral exhibition at La Biennale d’ Arte, “The Milk of Dreams” in Venice, Italy opened for the private days on April 19, 2022. Continuing until November 27, the packed show at Palazzo Mora takes the opportunity to show the world art community the excellence of artists of Palestinian heritage from Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora. Nancy Nesvet, curator of the exhibition sponsored by the Palestine Museum US, where she is head curator (as well as Artscope Magazine’s national correspondent), told me it was an intentional decision to display paintings, photographs, sculptures and installation focused on the beautiful Palestinian landscape and people, largely ignoring the documented atrocities and violence displayed on social media and television worldwide. The message rings out that the people and land portrayed should not be destroyed. That … [Read more...] about FROM PALESTINE WITH ART: A COLLATERAL EXHIBITION OF SURVIVAL AT LA BIENNALE D’ ARTE, VENICE
‘MY PICTURES TAKE TIME’: HAMMERSTEIN’S IMPROVISATIONAL TONES AT MILLER WHITE
To appreciate the beauty of life is to see it change over time. A sunset morphs from beginning — when the sun first starts to dip and the sky comes alight with mesmerizing hues — to end, as the sun finally lowers out of view and the sky becomes dark. In his artwork displayed in “Time and Space: Boundless,” at Miller White Fine Arts, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein sets out to capture every phase of life’s tantalizing moments all at once. “My pictures take time,” said Hammerstein in a phone conversation. “That’s as close as I can describe it. I seem obsessed with time and space and trying to make one do the other.” In his paintings, Hammerstein follows the modernist tradition with touches of futurism sprinkled throughout. In doing so he attempts — and succeeds at — distilling a series of moments into a static image. In his 2020 painting, “False Regret,” a haze of multi-colored circles … [Read more...] about ‘MY PICTURES TAKE TIME’: HAMMERSTEIN’S IMPROVISATIONAL TONES AT MILLER WHITE
EXPRESSING WHAT WORDS COULD NOT: CRETELLA HODGE’S UKRAINE SERIES AT GALLERY 55
“An artist once said that paint picks up what life does to us. My practice has always been informed by my experience in the world. The act of painting is a bodily response and a gestural event where energy passes from the heart to the brush, absent of self-conscious thought. This leads to a place of authenticity, possibilities and clarity. These paintings were an attempt to escape the sabotage of the conscious mind and allow the paint to maintain its physicality and rawness, mirroring the intensity of the subject.” — Wendy Cretella Hodge, introducing the paintings featured in her “Ukraine: Heart and Brush” series. Since war broke out in Ukraine in February, I’ve had trouble focusing on the stories and images coming out of there each day because of the horrific, irreversible damage being inflicted on the country physically, emotionally and psychologically. Having spent more than three … [Read more...] about EXPRESSING WHAT WORDS COULD NOT: CRETELLA HODGE’S UKRAINE SERIES AT GALLERY 55
A TIME & PLACE FOR CELEBRATION: PAO ARTS CENTER’S ANNIVERSARY HONORS AAPI COMMUNITY
The dancers were like lit matches. We, on the other hand were five years late, and yet, on April 21, we are taken in like family at the Pao Arts Center, now celebrating its fifth anniversary, for its presentation of Lenora Lee Dance’s “Convergent Waves: Boston,” an immersive, multi-media dance performance to celebrate the contributions of local activists and non-profit leaders in Boston’s Chinatown community. The Pao Arts Center’s philosophy is that we are all late- comers to this favored continent of North America, and we’re all dancers thinking that wherever our own feet hit the ground is ours to keep. And we’re so right. And so wrong! Since the present pandemic has claimed this world as its very own, my fellow adventurer, Madeleine, and I have barely ridden the Red Line, so we jumped at the chance when we were invited to “Convergent Wave’s” world premiere. We traveled by T … [Read more...] about A TIME & PLACE FOR CELEBRATION: PAO ARTS CENTER’S ANNIVERSARY HONORS AAPI COMMUNITY