Existential tensions of contemporary life are addressed head-on by many of the watercolor painters in the New England Watercolor Society’s Biennial exhibition. Following in the watercolor traditions of the great masters, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent, many of the paintings deal with the stresses of life. No one has painted a despairing fisherman’s wife looking out to sea for her lost husband or Italian marble quarry workers cutting stone. But the artists do address addiction, loneliness, homelessness and anxiety. In an exhibition dominated by conventional watercolor motifs of fruits and flowers, seaside shacks, birds, boats and beaches, several artists grapple with the problems of modern life. Courageously, they turn their eyes away from the romantic symbols of beaches and boats, often with exceptional technical skill. Carolyn Latanision’s “Ladles and Cranes Ready; … [Read more...] about A Modern Spectrum: Fresh Watercolors at the Art Complex
November/December 2018
Trace Matter: Making Connections at Montserrat
The “trace” is a notion that straddles two worlds. It can be a thing in this world, a tiny amount or residue of something; or drawing around an object’s physical boundaries as a template. In the imagination, it can also be a symbolic representation of the ways in which things and people may be both present and absent to our experience. The paintings, sculptures and performance works of the six artists curated by Montserrat College of Art Gallery director Nathan Lewis under the umbrella “Trace Matter” focus on the leaving of a mark in the physical world, yet many more senses and mechanisms of “trace” can be found in them. In different ways, the trace implies and perhaps reassures us that there is a history, a before and an after. Jenna Pirello self-consciously manipulates her paint on small wood panels to reflect and preserve the history of her decisions in the behavior of her … [Read more...] about Trace Matter: Making Connections at Montserrat
Unexpected Surprises: Contemporary Printmaking Branches Out
The process of printmaking is a metaphor for the making of a human being: from many layers, one is achieved. “It’s a dialogue,” explained Paul DeRuvo, Associate Staff Printer, while speaking about three print-portraits arranged together in “E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One,” at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP), another solid and expertly curated exhibition of superb and diverse examples of contemporary print methods curated by Kimberly Henrikson, Executive Director of CCP. DeRuvo was talking specifically about artists Meg Turner, Elizabeth Peyton and Nicole Eisenman who are part of the seventeen artists in the exhibition which also features well-recognized artist-activists Swoon, Dana Schutz and Alison Saar. Addressing the theme of being human, the exhibition’s subject is the human body either in full form or as a portrait. From the exhibition statement: “We live in a time … [Read more...] about Unexpected Surprises: Contemporary Printmaking Branches Out
Not Remaining Silent: Confronting Gender Violence at Lesley
It is a damning statistic how often women are harassed, attacked or raped in today’s world. The current exhibition at Lesley University, “1 in 3: Comparative Perspectives on Gender Violence,” delves into that statistic. It examines prejudices that condition cultures to overlook the subjugation of women. In 1969, in a NOVA Magazine interview, Yoko Ono said, “Women are the Niggers of the World.” Today, 40 years later, like gunpowder shot over the bow of misogyny, the shocking salvo still meets with an audible gasp. A human tragedy is that everybody knows a woman [or is that woman] that has experienced sexual violence or harassment. The exhibit rides the wave of the #MeToo movement, which has kept violence against women at the forefront of public attention through media. The exhibition was organized by Lisa Fiore, Meenakshi Chhabra and Sonia Perez-Villanueva. “We share a determination … [Read more...] about Not Remaining Silent: Confronting Gender Violence at Lesley
Paul Manship: Generational Legacy Continues at Addison
“From Starfield to MARS: Paul Manship and his Artistic Legacy” is an exhibit conceived in two parts: “Art Deco at the Addison” explores sculptor Paul Manship’s artistic legacy and historical connection to Phillips Academy, and “Starfield through Contemporary Lenses” presents the works of four acclaimed Massachusetts artists and educators, all having recently completed year-long artist residencies at Manship’s beloved home, Starfield, in the village of Lanesville, an enclave in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Starfield was recently purchased from Manship’s descendants by a nonprofit with the goal of preserving the Manship legacy by restoring the historic property to house the Manship Art Residencies + Studios (MARS). “Art Deco at the Addison” brings together some of Manship’s finest sculptures, numismatics and preliminary drawings from the permanent collection of the Addison Gallery. Many … [Read more...] about Paul Manship: Generational Legacy Continues at Addison
Remembering David A. Lang: Teacher, Artist, Friend
I first became acquainted with David Lang through his art, specifically with the large metal sculpture on the grounds of the Danforth Museum of Art where I once worked. Curvilinear in form and monumental in size, the piece stood delicately balanced on its pedestal, a twisted, disintegrating question mark that the artist entitled “The Question Is the Answer.” Solid, yet seemingly weightless, this formally abstract sculpture was most dramatically visible to students looking down from the second-floor classrooms in the museum’s school. Which was appropriate, given Lang had been a teaching artist for most of his decades-long career and never really stopped. When we finally met, it was when he came in to work with our teen docents, which led to many conversations about his whimsical kinetic sculpture (including ways to keep it working while on display) and so much more. The path Lang … [Read more...] about Remembering David A. Lang: Teacher, Artist, Friend