SPAZUK PLAYS WITH FIRE Molly Hamill I ran down the streets of Boston’s SOWA district on a chilly night in early April, heading to the opening reception of “Spazuk: Hubris, Beauty & Greed.” The Adelson Gallery on Harrison Avenue was buzzing, but the work on the walls immediately commanded my attention more than the colorful, well-coiffed crowd. Elegant clouds of black carbon soot billowed on the canvases and images emerged: butterflies, birds and bunnies; skulls, flowers and gas masks. The pieces … an alarm. Steve Spazuk paints with fire. Well, not fire per se but rather the potent pollution produced as it burns. He says the idea came to him in a dream 16 years ago. “I had a dream one night where I was looking at a painting or a drawing, it was a landscape, and I knew in my dream that this work was done with a flame, with a candle,” he explained. “I knew it was done … [Read more...] about HUBRIS, BEAUTY & GREED
Issue Articles
MAKING A SPLASH
KAT O’CONNOR IN NEW HAVEN Brian Goslow The idea for Kat O’Connor’s current series of “Water: Pools/Figures” oil paintings came to her at a hotel in Marfa, Texas. “We were sitting around at night, watching bats diving into the pool for drinks in the middle of the desert,” she explained. “Somehow, the reflection of figures around and in the pool became more than the pool.” The inspiration of that evening became more than a memory for O’Connor, as it led to what has become an ongoing collection of water-inspired works. One of them, “Epic,” served as Artscope’s cover for our July/August 2016 issue, where it was showcased in conjunction with its showing in the Copley Society of Art’s “Ship to Shore” exhibition that summer. It caught the eye of Reynolds Fine Art’s owner, Robert Reynolds, who after reviewing O’Connor’s portfolio on her website, contacted her about showing her … [Read more...] about MAKING A SPLASH
SHELLEY REED’S CURIOUS NATURE
A GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT Donna Dodson I do not think I am alone in thinking Shelley Reed has “made it.” I admire her, look up to her and respect her work. She makes no secret of how hard she works or how serious she is, but she is also approachable, generous and kind. She has had an impressive trajectory in the last 10 years since winning the Maud Morgan Prize for painting in 2005. Reed is currently represented by the Sears-Peyton and Danese/Corey galleries in New York City, and her work has recently been on view at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Wyoming, the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina and The Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois. I was first introduced to Reed’s work by friends who knew that I have a particular fascination for artists who work with animals in unique and surprising ways. When I visited her studio at Westinghouse Lofts to see her work … [Read more...] about SHELLEY REED’S CURIOUS NATURE
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
A SYNERGISTIC BLEND IN PTOWN Laura Shabott In concert with the International Encaustic Conference hosted annually by the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, artists/curators Lia Rothstein and Sherrie Posternak are bringing their weeklong “Photosynthesis” exhibition to Julie Heller Gallery East. “Encaustic is a translucent material that can be used in many ways, from direct painting to embedding, to working sculpturally, to transferring an image, or to collaging different materials together,” said Cherie Mittenthal, executive director of Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, artist and co-producer of the conference with Joanne Mattera. She continued, “[Photosynthesis]” brings all of that together with six interesting artists taking their work in very different directions but all sharing the mediums of photography and encaustic.” While attending last year’s … [Read more...] about PHOTOSYNTHESIS
A PERFECT STORM
NBMAA’S 47TH MEMBERS’ SHOW Kristin Nord The New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) is serving up a lively stew of works by 90 emerging artists from throughout New England in an exhibit running through May 28. Sarah Fritchey, full-time curator and gallery director at Artspace New Haven, set aside her normal duties to serve as 2017 guest curator of “Nor’Easter,” the 47th annual NBMAA’s member exhibition that brims with color and content. This year’s prize winners include fine art photographer Tracy Hoffman of Chappaqua, New York, conceptual artist Cecil Gresham of Bloomfield, Conn., and mixed-media artist Anita Gangi Balkun of West Hartford, who took third prize for her work, “Shoe Scribe.” National artists 18 years or older with current NBMAA membership were eligible, with submissions of original works accepted in all media, provided they were executed during the … [Read more...] about A PERFECT STORM
Cornered: Michael Mansfield
Michael Mansfield Eric Taubert As the Ogunquit Museum of American Art (OMAA) prepares to open the doors for its 64th Season on May 1, a new executive director stands at the helm. After a nine-month nationwide search, the museum board selected Michael Mansfield, former curator of film and media arts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, to fill the position. Ogunquit fine art photographer (and frequent Artscope contributor) Eric Taubert “cornered” Mansfield in mid-April, as the newly minted executive director was hard at work preparing the galleries for opening day. The dialogue they shared casts clarifying light on Mansfield’s intentions to deliver the OMAA into a new and vibrant era — while continuing to honor everything people have long come to know and love about the venerated museum. SO, TELL ME … WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE OF AMERICA’S FOREMOST EXPERTS IN NEW MEDIA ART … [Read more...] about Cornered: Michael Mansfield