A Hive of Artistic Activity by Greg Morell A grand vestige of New Hampshire’s industrial past, Dover’s One Washington Center, a glorious old red brick mill of enormous size and height, is being re-invigorated as a hive of entrepreneurial enterprise and creative invention, serving as the new home of the RiverSea Gallery and headquarters of its companion organization, ArtDover-NH. The genesis of this new arts endeavor is the partnership of Rebecca Proctor and John Arens, long-time tenants at One Washington Square. Proctor ran her RSP Studio Custom Framing shop in one unit of the building while Arens had a fine arts studio, Frederickson Fine Art, on the fifth floor. They combined their resources earlier this year and rented out a 4,000-foot space on the third floor that serves as their gallery, art laboratory and office space. Proctor and Arens have a shared vision to … [Read more...] about RiverSea and ArtDover-NH
September/October 2016
Gallery Voyeur Reaches Out
A New Idea Pops Up in P-town by Brian Goslow There is a new way to reach new audiences: pop-up galleries. For more than a decade, Johniene Papandreas has featured her own large-scale, eye-catching paintings at her Commercial Street storefront in Provincetown. Located just a few doors down from the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, it’s as prime a location for an artist looking to showcase their work as you could ask for. This year, Papandreas decided to do things differently. “I’m now showing at other galleries and thought I could use more concentrated time in my studio in New Hampshire to paint,” she explained. “Since I’d been researching opportunities where I could show my own work in different cities for a week at a time, it suddenly occurred to me that I could offer that opportunity to fellow artists with my gallery. To read more, pick up a … [Read more...] about Gallery Voyeur Reaches Out
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
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
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
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