Brian Goslow, Managing Editor bgoslow@artscopemagazine.com Welcome to our 12th Anniversary Issue. When our first March/April issue arrived in 2006, it did so with the mission of striving to fill a void in the general arts community. “We have set the bar high for Artscope and we promise to do our best with determination, hard work and integrity to gain your trust and to exceed the expectations of our readers, advertisers and the arts community,” wrote publisher Kaveh Mojtabai in our first Welcome Statement. This has remained our goal over the past dozen years, and I strongly feel that the issue in your hands will confirm our continuing dedication to promoting the visual arts and artists of the New England region. Longtime contributors Greg Morell (the 2018 Portland Museum of Art Biennial), Franklin W. Liu (2018 Cambridge Art Association Members Prize Show), Suzanne … [Read more...] about WELCOME: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
Issue Articles
HOWARD BARNES: LIVIN’ THE DREAM
12 FOR OUR 12TH HOWARD BARNES MILLER WHITE FINE ARTS 708 ROUTE 134 SOUTH DENNIS, MA FOR MORE INFORMATION: ARTBYBARNES.COM by Anne Daley In a small Kansas town in 1950, a seven-year-old boy hides behind the family garage, playing in the dirt. But he’s not creating fortresses for imaginary armies, nor sculpting imagined terrain on a distant planet; he’s learning to paint. With dust and soil as his medium, twigs and leaves as his tools and his own skin as his canvas, he inhabits his own atelier. Howard Barnes is not in Kansas anymore, but through his paintings he has created his own Land of Oz, replete with Yellow Brick Roads and Emerald Cities. At the age of 74, Barnes is savoring the fruits of his labors, having continued to paint during his years spent art directing at major high-tech corporations and providing medical illustrations for education and courtroom … [Read more...] about HOWARD BARNES: LIVIN’ THE DREAM
VISITING THAHAB: EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARINESS
REVIEW VISITING THAHAB: NABIL (NABEELA) VEGA NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! 608 PLEASANT STREET NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH MARCH 25 by Don Wilkinson There is something particularly intriguing in one of the videos by Nabil (Nabeela) Vega, in which a figure is draped in a shimmering shroud of gold lame, their identity concealed, their face hidden. [Gender neutral pronouns are used at the request of the artist.] The cloaked figure is on a bridge over the Charles River, and the Hancock and the Prudential are clearly visible in the background. Pedestrians stroll by with barely a glance, focused runners do not slow their pace, and cars whiz by without an unnecessary beeping of the horn. It is as if seeing a golden ghost on the side of the road were the most ordinary of events. It may be a particularly Bostonian “I’ve seen it all” attitude or a practiced … [Read more...] about VISITING THAHAB: EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARINESS
BECHDEL AT UVM: WISDOM AND WHIMSEY
FEATURED ARTIST SELF-CONFESSED! THE INAPPROPRIATELY INTIMATE COMICS OF ALISON BECHDEL FLEMING MUSEUM OF ART UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT 61 COLCHESTER AVENUE BURLINGTON, VERMONT THROUGH MAY 20 by Elayne Clift She’s a black belt in karate, a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award, an award-winning cartoonist and writer, Vermont’s Cartoonist Laureate, and what one critic called an “intellectual populist.” She is also an astute observer of the human condition who reveals an abundance of emotional intelligence, both personal and political, in her work. To top it off, she has a great sense of humor. All that makes her exhibition, “Self-Confessed! The Inappropriately Intimate Comics of Alison Bechdel,” on view at Burlington’s Fleming Museum, a must-see before it closes on May 20. Bechdel, who grew up in a family of literature, art, culture and secrets — her … [Read more...] about BECHDEL AT UVM: WISDOM AND WHIMSEY
JENNIFER VINEGAR AVERY: A PRETTY PARADOX
12 FOR OUR 12TH JENNIFER VINEGAR AVERY FOR MORE INFORMATION: JENNIFERLAVERY.COM by J. Fatima Martins Jennifer Vinegar Avery is an intellectually formidable artist; the joie de vivre and zaniness seen in her art is not contrived entertainment. The name itself, Vinegar, is not a moniker — it’s real, and is a push-back against the “sugar and spice and everything nice” cliché applied to girls. “Clap your hands and say, Jennifer,” she wrote, “clap your hands and say Vinegar, it’s the same thing! A pretty paradox. Avery means wisdom of the elves and it lends itself to emphasis and intensity.” At the time of this writing, Vinegar was living her usual duality, perfectly blended: joy (luxury) and sorrow (imperfection). She was invited to install and perform the theatrical piece “Pupa, Poubelles et Les Bêtes/The Beast Boutique” at the Maison Hermes Le Forum art space in … [Read more...] about JENNIFER VINEGAR AVERY: A PRETTY PARADOX
LÉGER AT LANOUE: LAYERS OF BEAUTY
FEATURED GALLERY KARINE LÉGER LANOUE GALLERY 450 HARRISON AVE #31 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS MARCH 2 THROUGH APRIL 6 by Lisa Mikulski The Lanoue Gallery, Boston, presents “New Works by Karine Léger” — a show that will certainly fortify the minds and spirits of gallery goers. Canadian artist Karine Léger’s large-scale abstracts represent her expression of Quebec winter spaces and Icelandic landscapes. Simple and sparse in both palette and form, Léger’s shapes float across the canvas as if supported by some ethereal means. Each element is fiercely independent and yet these elements come together gracefully to meet, to overlap, or to perhaps pass one another in a journey that continues off the canvas. The work leaves me feeling introspective and imaginative. Part of the beauty here is the layering Léger employs, producing soft and separate textures that allow each … [Read more...] about LÉGER AT LANOUE: LAYERS OF BEAUTY