There has always been a strong thread connecting the arts and social justice. From satire via the political cartoon to the enigmatic works that expose the human condition, the tradition of awareness through visual means has always been a strong branch of art history. It is no surprise, then, in these extremely volatile times, that volumes of current exhibitions are focused on the experience of racial injustice in this country. Several Berkshire museums are a vortex of visual information this summer. At the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, there is a monumental and comprehensive exhibition entitled “Imprinted:Illustrating Race” co-curated by Robyn Phillips-Pendleton, Professor of Visual Communications at the University of Delaware, whose extensive research motivated this collection, and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the … [Read more...] about A TIMELY CALL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: ROCKWELL, WILLIAMS & CLARK SHOWS CELEBRATE IDENTITY
Issue Articles
WELCOME July/August 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
Welcome to our 99th issue! We hope you’ll find the stories within encourage you to take to the roads of New England to see some of the exhibitions featured inside and get a better understanding of the artists and reasoning behind the work they’ve created. Noting that “there has always been a strong thread connecting the arts and social justice,” Marjorie Kaye takes an in-depth look at exhibitions at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Williams College Museum of Art and The Clark Institute that are focused on the experience of racial injustice in this country and in the process, gives us an invaluable historical walk-through of artwork originating in the early 20th century, made during the Civil Rights Movement and created by today’s younger artists. Rachel Flood Page brings the conversation into the present with her preview of “The Long View: What Do You See (Do You See Me!)” exhibition … [Read more...] about WELCOME July/August 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
WELCOME May/June 2022: From Brian Goslow
“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
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