On February 15, Brett Abbott became the new Director and CEO of the New Britain Museum of American Art; during his first week in office, Artscope Magazine’s Suzanne Volmer exchanged questions and ideas with him as he was stepping into the job. SUZANNE VOLMER: Welcome back to New England. Congratulations on becoming the new Director of NBMAA. BRETT ABBOTT: Thank you. SV: Your background includes a Master’s Degree from Williams College and then onward to Stanford and Museum Leadership training at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It’s a combination of influences that makes me think of the exhibit “Now Dig This!” that originated from The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time Series that I saw at Williams College Art Museum. I wonder what cross-pollination, inclusive of your museum directorship at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, do you plan to bring to … [Read more...] about “A DYNAMIC CONTINUUM”: Cornered with Brett Abbott
Issue Articles
WELCOME March/April 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
Welcome to our 16th Anniversary Issue! We have reached this milestone thanks to the longtime support of our readers and advertisers and the devotion of a writing staff dedicated to promoting the artists, art organizations, galleries and museums of New England and others who inspired them from throughout the world. Since the pandemic caused a landslide of exhibition and venue closings in March 2020, we’ve remained committed to providing that support, adjusting as they’ve adjusted, each of us searching for the best way to stay in touch with our audience, adapting to the latest safety guidelines and judging from the phone calls, letters and conversations we’ve had, you feel that we’ve delivered fresh and timely issues filled with stories on a period we’ll not soon forget. Traditionally, our March/April anniversary issue has spotlighted artists our writers had wanted to write about, … [Read more...] about WELCOME March/April 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
WELCOME January/February 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
As we were going to press with this issue, a few days prior to Christmas, all of the exhibitions that are reviewed and previewed were scheduled to run as planned. If you plan on seeing any of these shows, as part of your preparations, please check with each venue’s website prior to leaving and consider contacting them on the day of your trip to confirm they’re open or if there are any specific arrangements you need to make (especially pre-ticketing). Keeping in mind that these artists, curators, gallery owners and museums have spent months, and in some cases, years planning these exhibitions, in a worst-case scenario of shows being postponed or cancelled, please check out their websites to learn more about their work and offerings. I received a strong education in how intense the juror process can be last fall after Bromfield Gallery manager Gary Duehr invited me to jury its SOLO 2020 … [Read more...] about WELCOME January/February 2022: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
CAPSULE PREVIEWS FOR ARTSCOPE 96
“Straits of Magellan,” an exhibition featuring paintings of the southern tip of South America by Lola Chaisson, takes place from January 5 through February 12 at 6 Bridges Gallery, 77 Main Street, Maynard, Massachusetts. The show will feature sketches, photos and memories in which Chaisson captures the spirit of a voyage taken shortly before the pandemic. "Rather than focus on being 'stuck at home,' I picked up my brushes and looked back to the open vistas where mountains stretched up to the clouds and down to the sea, in my mind, switching the view of my living room back to the views along the passage from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia via Cape Horn." An opening reception is scheduled for January 8 from 1-3 p.m.; the exhibition will also be viewable online at 6bridges.gallery. In curating “Passing the Edge,” Leonie Bradbury has put together a show that “celebrates artists’ mark making as a … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS FOR ARTSCOPE 96
A MELTING FLOW OF COLOR: NFTS, EARLY SALES, KEPT MIAMI ART WEEK 2021 UPBEAT
The sky was blue all week, with nary a raindrop falling to mar the art world experience of Miami Art Week or keep visitors from the many outside installations on the beach. This Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week was different than those of years past. The crowds were thinner but determined to obtain work and bring it home. Most galleries sold out their work within the first two VIP days, as buyers did not know when the next opportunity to obtain artwork at a fair would be. The art was generally upbeat, with the crowds ignoring the coming storm or Covid strain, with artists rivaling each other to produce the most beautiful scenes or portraits or abstract forms. The question posed by all was how do we create beauty that rivals the gorgeous colors and land and waterscape outside the doors of the Miami Beach Convention Center or the tents on the beach? The answer seemed to … [Read more...] about A MELTING FLOW OF COLOR: NFTS, EARLY SALES, KEPT MIAMI ART WEEK 2021 UPBEAT
LIGHT & LAYERS: SUSAN WAHLRAB’S “GARDEN IN THE FOREST” OFFERS RESPITE
Mark and Angie Setevdemio, founders of Creative Connections Gift Shop & Gallery in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, have known Vermont artist Susan Wahlrab since she was their art professor at Framingham State College 30 years ago. Fast forward, and they are now hosting her exhibition, “Garden in the Forest,” in their second-floor gallery space. “We’ve been admirers of Susan’s work since we were in college,” Mark said. “We were taken with her printmaking at the time, and later her dramatic use of light and overlapping swirls of color in layered concentric circles that use an unusual visual technique of varnished watercolor on archival clay board.” It’s a labor-intensive method that Wahlrab developed over time, requiring a good deal of patience, as layer upon layer dries before each subsequent layer is added. The result is engaging color and form on works that range in size … [Read more...] about LIGHT & LAYERS: SUSAN WAHLRAB’S “GARDEN IN THE FOREST” OFFERS RESPITE