Thompson and Scheibler in Newton by James Foritano First things come second at Newton’s New Art Center. Two lives of different length take a turn at mid-career. One from philosophy, the other from medicine, both with the equally large ambition of documenting the other side of the brain, the insistent one not sanctioned by the academy or the workplace. I’m looking at “Triangulation” by Irwin E. Thompson, M.D. It’s a rich impasto of blues, oranges and greens, a fruit salad of oils, so juicy they belie the dry measurement implied by the title and process of triangulation. And they’ll never locate a point by meeting physically, since they all swim at such different depths of the picture plane; the hot colors push forward, the cool ones recede. Adding to this complication, the triangles pictured, though insistently pointing forward, seem to be disintegrating in … [Read more...] about Building On Life Lessons
September/October 2016
Eggert at T+H Gallery
A Moving Commentary by Suzanne Volmer The mission of T+H Gallery, celebrating its first anniversary in Boston’s SoWa Arts District this fall, is to “create a dynamic intercultural dialogue by showing both regional and international artists and providing a platform for experimental projects and ideas.” It aims toward this goal by utilizing an interesting floor plan of two spaces bisected by a semi-public concourse. Inviting and intriguingly visible upon entering 460 Harrison Avenue’s entrance C, an entire wall of T+H’s gallery space is plate-glass. A transparent expanse perched high in a split-level lobby overlooks the main entrance, providing an architectural effect that extends the gallery’s informational flow to breathe interactivity, sparking curiosity and dialogue. T+H Gallery’s sidecar exhibition space works in tandem with the primary gallery and flanks a … [Read more...] about Eggert at T+H Gallery
2016 Biennial at Fuller Craft
Resplendent in Divergence by Don Wilkinson To paraphrase an appropriate Robert Fripp lyric from 1980: “They are resplendent in divergence” — they being the participants in the 2016 Biennial Members Exhibition as selected by guest juror James Lawton, professor of ceramics and director of the Department of Artisanry at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. With over three-dozen member-artists and artisans working in photography, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, fine furniture making, bead weaving, mixed-media work, fiber art, quilt making and other categories, the show highlights the strength, intelligence and passion that grows out of diversity. The participants include “students, emerging makers, mid-career artists and established professionals.” The work ranges from the utilitarian to the contemplative, from soberingly serious to playfully inane, from touching on … [Read more...] about 2016 Biennial at Fuller Craft
Chroma at Montserrat
New England Art Awakens by J. Fatima Martins "A New England Art Awakening” presents a highly eclectic collection of visual art — print, drawing, painting and sculpture — by 40 artists who have been featured in the four volumes of Chroma, an art publication curated by Tryptic Press. As you would expect, the styles and modes vary, highlighting the wide range of material and formal practices explored by regional artists. The exhibition includes multiple forms of illustration and drawing modes, various categories of abstraction and expressive figuration, and design. There is also a set of functional wood chairs. As an exhibition and presentation of visual creativity, it’s a limited but true smorgasbord, with a little of almost everything for everyone depending on taste and interest. In this installation, the artwork is divided into four Volumes reflecting how the work was … [Read more...] about Chroma at Montserrat
Feminine Influence
NAWA at Endicott by J. Fatima Martins “Breaking Ground,” a presentation of 55 conceptually and materially diverse works of art — painting, photography, ceramics, fiber, printmaking, mixed-media, sculpture and bronze — by 46 contemporary women artists of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) asks: “Does being a woman artist influence your style, subject and or medium?” NAWA, the oldest professional women’s fine arts organization in the United States, was founded as the Women’s Art Club of New York in 1889. Its membership has included some of the most prominent, influential and world-renowned female artists, such as Louise Nevelson, Suzanne Valadon, Mary Cassatt and Rosa Bonheur, to name only a few. The exhibition features a sampling of almost everything (except video arts), with styles and modes ranging from traditional, … [Read more...] about Feminine Influence
Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty
Ode to a Modern Master's Legacy by Franklin W. Liu It’s been said that photography walks alone. As a 20th Century fine art medium, it opens our eyes to the world around us, near and far, challenging us to think and inducing us to feel what is conveyed through a singular, compelling moment captured through a discerning eye with the click of a shutter. “Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty” is a major retrospective exhibition presenting 146 striking, stark photographic images made with passion by photographer-artist extraordinaire, Irving Penn (1917-2009). This nationwide traveling tribute was assiduously culled from the prestigious Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection by distinguished guest-curator Merry A. Foresta, who served as the Smithsonian’s curator of photography from 1982 through 2000, when she became the director of the Smithsonian’s Photography … [Read more...] about Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty