The motion and glint from the mirrors are the first things to catch your eye. Then you see it: a big metal fish — a yellowfin tuna, in fact — with a propeller in its mouth, gently revolving in the breeze in front of the granite monuments, just past the U-Haul place as you drive west on Tenney Mountain Highway in Plymouth, New Hampshire. “It’s sort of an eclectic combination of working with what I have to make something new,” Pete Brown said of his sculptures. “I like to take items that don’t really belong together and put them together. It might be a usable item or not.” Brown grew up mechanically inclined. “I was a mechanic for many years,” he said, adding, “I even had my own shop in Franklin for five years.” Today, his primary career is building street rods, also known as “rat rods.” Brown says these are made from a “conglomeration of parts from different makers — Ford, Chevy, … [Read more...] about FUNCTIONAL OR FANCIFUL? BROWN’S SCULPTURAL CONGLOMERATIONS
September/October 2018
COMPLEMENTARY CONTRAST: BOBACK AND LEITNER AT GALATEA
Two coinciding solo-artist shows, Jo-Ann Boback’s “Revealing the Obscure,” and Rose Leitner’s “Quiet Chaos,” are on display at Galatea Fine Art this September. Both feature abstract and colorful pieces, and each artist’s body of work complements the other’s perfectly in their oppositional ways of mark making. Boback’s work is full of angular lines. When asked about the significance of the marks, she spoke about her background in design and how “horizontal and vertical lines give definition and also create a strong support of connected and disconnected shapes.” Her piece, “4Gats — Barcelona,” is a personal favorite; a peach-colored and sharp-cornered spiral, reminiscent of a seashell, is at the center of the piece, surrounded by mainly teal- and rust-colored markings on a white background. She described the influence of this piece to be a café in Barcelona where Picasso was known to … [Read more...] about COMPLEMENTARY CONTRAST: BOBACK AND LEITNER AT GALATEA
CAUSE AND EFFECT: THREE VIEWS AT GALATEA
This October, Galatea Fine Art presents three concurrent shows featuring members Philip Gerstein, Barry Margolin and Ronni Komarow. Five-time Galatea exhibitor Gerstein will be showing a new series entitled “Sometimes There Is Bliss.” In a collection of minimal abstract paintings produced with an experimental medium — glass bead gel — Gerstein plays with the medium which lends texture, dances with ambient lighting, and produces visual change dependent on the viewing prospective of the audience. The end product results in rich, deep color and a textured finish which, the artist hopes, will be successful in provoking an emotional response to the work. According to the gallery’s press release, the sought-after response “is akin to the harmonious vibrational impact of music.” It’s quite vogue to refer to a work of art as cross-disciplinary and there is always — always — the stated hope … [Read more...] about CAUSE AND EFFECT: THREE VIEWS AT GALATEA
EARTH’S ADVOCATES: UNCOVERED AT CATAMOUNT
Gerry Bergstein and Gail Boyajian have been addressing the complexities of the human condition and threats to our natural world in distinctly different ways throughout their artistic working lives. Now, in “Gerry Bergstein and Gail Boyajian: Uncovered,” running at the Catamount Arts Center through October 27, these longtime Stratford, Vermont seasonal residents serve up what amounts to a state of the union address on our planet. These two are partners in life, and one can only imagine their dinner conversations. The show has been organized by Katherine French, who resettled in 2015 to the Northeast Kingdom after a celebrated career in the Boston area. French had just retired from the Danforth Art Museum and School in Framingham when she was tapped to take over Catamount’s gallery programs. Her commitment to showcasing local artists, as well as her passion for the Boston expressionist … [Read more...] about EARTH’S ADVOCATES: UNCOVERED AT CATAMOUNT
CAPSULE PREVIEWS
Featuring “an accomplished group of professionals who are active practitioners of disciplines ranging from digital media, photography, drawing, painting and sculpture, to printmaking and artists’ books,” “SUMMA: Visual Arts Faculty 2018” features artwork created by full- and part-time faculty members of the visual arts department at the College of the Holy Cross, and will be on view through October 12 at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St., Worcester, Massachusetts. Participating artists include Michael Beatty (associate professor and studio division head); Rachelle Beaudoin (lecturer); John Carney (studio supervisor); Matthew Gamber (assistant professor); Victor Pacheco (lecturer); professors Cristi Rinklin and Susan Schmidt; and Leslie Schomp (senior lecturer). Gordon D. Chase’s “The Insanity of Violence,” which opens on September 4 and continues through through … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS
MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH DONNA DODSON
Sally Eyring is a renaissance woman. She is equal parts studio artist in glass and fibers, innovator of 3-D loom techniques and fibre de verre glass casting techniques, proficient educator in local and national weaving guilds, and ESL teacher and activist. Eyring has always loved to make things with her hands — weaving, sewing and working with clay were her earliest creative outlets. She got her start in life as a high school math teacher but successfully transitioned out of education into a high-tech and much more lucrative career as an IT manager. In 2002, she became awestruck by one of John La Farge’s windows in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston called “Peonies Blown in the Wind,” and she was hooked. That led her to study at the Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York with Kimiake and Shin-ichi Higuchi, both of whom are world-renowned pâte de verre artists. When she retired in … [Read more...] about MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH DONNA DODSON