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Artscope Magazine | September/October 2024

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November/December 2018

Jasery Doumbouya and Darrius Allen as Fatoumata Sall and Ndiadiane Ndiaye.

Making Connections With Donna Dodson

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Donna Dodson

I first came across Stephen Hamilton’s work at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Roxbury, Massachusetts in the 2017 show, “Black Gods Live: Work of Stephen Hamilton.” I was struck by the vibrant representations of African men and women, the handcrafted tapestries and the narratives in his work. I took to following him on social media to keep up with his practice and recently did a studio visit with him to find out more about his new work. “The Founders Project” will be on view at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Dudley Square in November, courtesy of Now and There. One can trace the development of this series in his recent work. “Portraits of the Orisa: Nigeria Series, 2016” re-imagined artists and members of the Yoruba religious community as the Orisa and other figures central to the Yoruba spiritual and philosophical tradition. The series … [Read more...] about Making Connections With Donna Dodson

Arevik Tserunyan, Still, at the Armenian Museum of America.

Capsule Previews

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Brian Goslow

“Stories to Tell,” a one-person show of “assemblage paintings that combine portraits and other figurative compositions with various salvage and found objects” by Barbara Johansen-Newman will be on view from November 1 through 26 at the Gallery at Gorse Mill, 31 Thorpe Road, Needham, Massachusetts. The folkish-feel of Johansen Newman’s current work brings her career full cycle; she started out “enamored with the art form of puppetry,” creating both puppets and the scenery they’d perform in front of, took up the fiber arts, creating puppets, soft sculptures and dolls, then became an illustrator for children’s books. Gorse Mill, a renovated former textile factory, is home to studios for potters, ceramicists, glass blowers, painters, sculptors, mosaic artists, silk painters and fiber artists, jewelers, photographers, authors, illustrators, stained-glass artists, graphic designers, … [Read more...] about Capsule Previews

Jeff Koons, Split Rocker, Glenstone Museum.

When Private Museums go Public: Visiting Glenstone & the Barnes Collection

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Nancy Nesvet

In August, 2007, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), representing museum professionals, globally defined a museum as “a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits … for the purpose of education and enjoyment.” Private museums, differing from public museums, are based on a single collector’s vision, having no one to answer to but the owners. However, if they are non-profit, in the United States, their tax status requires adherence to requirements focusing, as ICOM defines museums, on educational value and public access. All non-profit private museums enjoy complete curatorial freedom for their owners, and for those they appoint or who succeed them, while reaping the benefits of non-profit tax status. Two hundred and thirty-six private art museums … [Read more...] about When Private Museums go Public: Visiting Glenstone & the Barnes Collection

Alfredo Jaar restaged his A Logo for America, 1987, in New York in 2014. © Alfredo Jaar. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., New York.

Still Relevant: Art Basel Miami Beach Keeps the Pulse

// Art Basel Miami Beach, Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Nancy Nesvet

Reflecting North and South America’s political and economic turbulence and artists’ domestic and environmental concerns, Art Basel Miami Beach 2018 — its 17th edition — will open to the public December 6 through 9 at the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. Two hundred and sixty eight exhibitors will display work in tried and true sectors: Galleries, where gallerists present their choice of artists and where 12 galleries have moved to from their previous sectors; Nova, where three artists will exhibit in each of the twenty nine gallery-supported booths; Survey, showing 16 works made since 2000; Positions, where emerging galleries will show 14 solo artists, eight for the first time; Kabinett, with themed exhibits; Edition, where 11 galleries show prints; Conversations, where artists, curators and gallerists discuss the work and the art world; and Magazines, the sector where … [Read more...] about Still Relevant: Art Basel Miami Beach Keeps the Pulse

Garage, 2016, mixed media on paper, 9” x 12”.

Ellie Brown: Holding on to a Dear Life

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Meredith Cutler

Alzheimer’s. A word that conjures up images of fear, isolation, confusion, and loss. In the United States today, 5.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 14 million. Terminal illness is a painful topic — but this one strikes home for me. My father was recently, finally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, after years of ambiguous labels assigned to his memory loss and declining capacity to care for himself. I sat down with photographer and mixed media artist Ellie Brown to talk about Alzheimer’s, fathers and daughters, and art as a means of documenting, unpacking and transforming this disease. Brown’s upcoming show “Sundown,” at AS220 in Providence, encompasses all of these things. Brown’s own father, a tall, friendly and robust guy known for his love of music and acting, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2015 … [Read more...] about Ellie Brown: Holding on to a Dear Life

Nevet Yitzhak, WarCraft (detail), 2014. Photography by Thomas Seely. Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

Common Threads: Contemporary Fiber Art at the Gardner

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Bryanna F. Drew

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is known for many things: the beautiful Venetian palazzo-inspired architecture, the unconventional way it displays its pieces of art, the largest and still-unsolved art heist in history, and Isabella Stewart Gardner’s wide taste in art — from Italian renaissance and medieval European to Asian and Islamic art; from paintings and sculptures to rare books and textiles — to name a few. Keeping in tradition with her love of textiles, “Common Threads: Weaving Stories Across Time,” is on view through January 13. The exhibition features work from contemporary artists who are continuing the tradition of conveying stories and histories in their works while pushing the boundaries of textile art and distorting the line around what can be defined as a tapestry. Their works are housed in both the Hostetter Gallery as well as the Tapestry Room. Walking into the … [Read more...] about Common Threads: Contemporary Fiber Art at the Gardner