“Artists for Ukraine: Transforming Ammo Boxes into Icons,” a powerful installation of three Ukrainian icons painted on the boards of ammunition boxes by Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova, a husband-wife artistic team from Kyiv, Ukraine, will be on view from November 3 through February 13, 2023, at the Museum of Russian Icons, 203 Union St., Clinton, Massachusetts. They’re part of the ongoing “Buy an Icon — Save a Life” project originally created in response to Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine after Klymenko found empty wooden ammunition boxes from combat zones and noted their resemblance to icon boards (doski). By repurposing the panels, the project strives, in the artist’s words, to “transform death (symbolized by ammo boxes) into life (traditionally symbolized by icons in Ukrainian culture). The goal, this victory of life over death, happens not only on the figurative and … [Read more...] about CAPSULE PREVIEWS: November/December 2022
September/October 2022
DISPATCH FROM ALASKA: ANCHORAGE MUSEUM GETS INDIGENOUS MESSAGES HEARD
I stand on the traditional homeland of the Eklutna Dena’ina, now known as Anchorage, on a temperate day in mid-June, about to enter the largest museum in the largest state in the United States. The Anchorage Museum is huge. As a point of comparison, at 247,000 square feet, it is almost 30,000 square feet larger than the Whitney Museum of American Art. This museum of art, history, ethnography, ecology and science is in this city of 5,000 only a few generations ago and now nearly 300,000 — 40% of the state’s population. Situated on the Cook Inlet in in the south central part of the state, the city is a cultural hub, and the museum is a center of art and culture, and one of the most visited destinations in the state, and for good reason. With significant collections, a dynamic exhibitions and programming schedule, a vision of the significance of the north now and in the future, and … [Read more...] about DISPATCH FROM ALASKA: ANCHORAGE MUSEUM GETS INDIGENOUS MESSAGES HEARD
A WELCOMED RETURN: DIVERSE DANFORTH ANNUAL CONTINUES TO BREAK GROUND
An annual tradition upended by a move to a new home on the Framingham Center Common, an April 2018 merger with Framingham State University and a worldwide pandemic, the 2022 return of the Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition is much needed both as a place where artists can show their work and as a place for both artists and art lovers to get out and see each other again. Featuring 72 works by 72 artists, the show was juried by Jessica Roscio, director and curator of the Danforth; Brian Bishop, professor of art at Framingham State University; and Juliet Feibel, executive director of ArtsWorcester. Most of the entries came from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The show is a diverse collection of artists and styles that took three days to install until it had the right feel, so it’s only right to give installers Tim Johnson and Frank Graham a shout-out, because the end result is an … [Read more...] about A WELCOMED RETURN: DIVERSE DANFORTH ANNUAL CONTINUES TO BREAK GROUND
TEXT MESSAGES AT CCP: A CONVERSATION ON PRINTMAKING WITH KIMBERLY HENRIKSON
Kimberly Henrikson, the executive director of The Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP), curated its autumn exhibition “Text Messages,” that opens on September 11 and runs through October 30. I recently spoke with Henrikson about her curatorial choices for this show and the blue chip and emerging artists that reflect today’s text-based trends including Ben Beres, April Bey, Mel Bochner, Robert Cottingham, Lesley Dill, Shepard Fairey, Glenn Ligon, Edie Overturf and Lucas Samaras. Two of the names are of past CCP Resident Artists: April Bey (2019) and Edie Overturf (2021). “I am always scouting fairs and galleries to see what’s current, who is doing what — and to bring new ideas and artists to the community at CCP,” said Henrikson, talking about the excitement of first seeing prints by Ben Beres at Satellite Print Fair in New York City in 2019. “Davidson Galleries had the … [Read more...] about TEXT MESSAGES AT CCP: A CONVERSATION ON PRINTMAKING WITH KIMBERLY HENRIKSON
BETWEEN THE SPEAKERS: CETILIA BRINGING SOUND AND VISION TO CHAZAN GALLERY
“Pretty Meaningless Things,” a solo exhibition by Providence- based multimedia artist Mark Cetilia, will be presented from September 15 through October 15 at Chazan Gallery at Wheeler. Recently, I had a series of conversations with the artist about artwork for the show and his career. He had finished the 3D graphic modeling for visuals to be included in the exhibition and was in the midst of completing the analog/digital sound compositions he planned to incorporate into the show. Cetilia said that he expects to create a relationship between the external sound recordings and each video. His plan is that the gallery will be darkened with the only light being that of his large-scale video projection. He expects that the overall feel will be immersive. Cetilia’s 3D computer generated imagery (or CGI forms) were created using Rhino and Cycling 74’s Max software, which he designed and coded … [Read more...] about BETWEEN THE SPEAKERS: CETILIA BRINGING SOUND AND VISION TO CHAZAN GALLERY
CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT: DEFINITION OF GLASS ART STRETCHED IN SANDWICH SHOW
Glass: utilitarian, sensuous and decorative. Glass can be blown, molded, melted, fused, cut, sanded, carved, slumped and polished. We can drink out of it, see through it, wear it — and we couldn’t live modern life without it. Have contemporary glass artists/artisans pushed glass- making technological experimentation so far that their work is no longer “glass art?” This question is raised in the brilliant small exhibit, “Innovations in Glass,” at the Sandwich Glass Museum. Wayne Strattman’s construction, a glass pillar with LED lights bolting through it, comes close to eliminating glass as the main component of his work. His glass cylinder is merely the container for the light-bolts. Strattman’s “Dream Engine” is the most extreme example of technology overpowering the sensuous qualities of glass-art. “Unbroken Hands of the Vine” is another example. In a tour de force of … [Read more...] about CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT: DEFINITION OF GLASS ART STRETCHED IN SANDWICH SHOW