Cassandra Klos' Abductees by Emily Avery-Miller "Photos or it didn't happen." Cassandra Klos, a 25-year-old fine art photographer from Boston, calls that mantra into question by following it to its next logical step. If there are photos, did it happen? And what was “it,” exactly? In Klos’s “The Abductees,” on view at The Griffin Museum of Photography this summer, “it” appears to be an encounter with another kind. The story seems to start with “U.S Route 3 II,” as a mid-century Chevy climbs a mountain road. “The Arrival” shows the backs of a man and a woman silhouetted against a white oblong vessel in a forest clearing, skirted with a green glow. “Betty” shows the woman face-on, wearing the blank shock of one who, like the viewer, has seen something she does not quite understand. There are crumpled typewritten documents. A view of the night sky in autumn. An … [Read more...] about Photographic Evidence at Griffin
Exhibit Openings
Museum of the Massachusetts Landscape
The Trustees' Public Art Initiative by Meredith Cutler World’s End … The Old Manse … names that ring of landmarks on a fictional map. Look at a map of Massachusetts, and you’ll discover that these are very real destinations. Located in seaside Hingham and historic Concord, respectively, World’s End and The Old Manse are just two of 116 properties managed by the not-for-profit conservation and preservation group, The Trustees of Reservations. In celebration of 125 years of land conservancy and historical site stewardship, The Trustees have launched a two-year public art initiative titled “Art and the Landscape.” The project is curated by Boston-based independent curator Pedro Alonzo in the “museum of the Massachusetts landscape — wild nature herself,” as described by Trustees President and CEO Barbara Erickson at a launch event and public art forum held in early … [Read more...] about Museum of the Massachusetts Landscape
ARCK’s Inspirational I Am/We Are Mural
By Kristin Wissler Boston, MA — On June 14, I stood among a group of people eagerly awaiting the reveal of a mural. “I Am/We Are” stood sandwiched between Fenway Park and Yawkey Station, covered by a blue tarp. The crowd buzzed with excitement. One artist, Mark Cooper, had already arrived, but the rest were still en route. When they finally arrived, it was a school bus that dropped off the young student artists from Gardner Pilot Academy, a school in Allston, Massachusetts. The mural’s development was headed by the Art Resource Collaborative for Kids (ARCK), an organization dedicated to bringing art programs to Boston schools. ARCK had been working with Gardner Pilot Academy since 2012, when the first sixth-graders enrolled in the school. Lauren Lafferty, director of extended services at the school, is the person who facilitates the partnership. ARCK’s mission is important to … [Read more...] about ARCK’s Inspirational I Am/We Are Mural
Cornered: Letterpress Printmaker Chris Fritton
By Brian Goslow “Contemporary Works In, On, and Around Music,” the first exhibition at the newly renovated Sharon Arts Center gallery, highlights photographers, videographers and other visual artists who have supplied their work as backdrops for or documented past Thing in the Spring performances. This year’s Thing in the Spring — a vibrant collection of visual and performing arts and DIY music — runs from June 9 through 12. Artscope managing editor Brian Goslow exchanged emails with letterpress printmaker Chris Fritton, whose work is part of the Sharon Arts show, earlier this spring. HOW DID YOU COME TO SHOW YOUR WORK AT THE SHARON ARTS CENTER? I’ve known Mary Goldthwaite-Gagne (co-founder of the Glass Museum for some time — she met my partner at the Savannah College of Art & Design; they struck up a friendship and we came to Peterborough, N.H. for The Thing In The Spring … [Read more...] about Cornered: Letterpress Printmaker Chris Fritton
Farzaneh and Bahareh Safarani: Presence at Northeastern’s Gallery 360
Living in the "Presence" By Kristin Wissler Boston, MA - When I first heard about “Presence,” the newest exhibit at Northeastern University’s Gallery 360, I had no idea what to expect. The exhibit, created by sisters Farzaneh and Bahareh Safarani, is comprised of “six video-paintings,” according to Gallery 360’s webpage. What was a video-painting? An animation? An optical illusion of some kind? The description also noted that these video-paintings toe the line between fantasy and reality, depicting a world where time is slower and almost still. If nothing else, I knew that these works would challenge me, and perhaps captivate me. It turns out that video-paintings are a sort of mixed media, one-part oil painting on wood panels, and one-part video streaming from a projector. The videos and paintings combine seamlessly to create quiet yet powerful images of the subject — a woman — … [Read more...] about Farzaneh and Bahareh Safarani: Presence at Northeastern’s Gallery 360
Untangled
Percy Fortini-Wright: Entangled Lines at the Copley Society of Art by Shem Tane Using acrylic or spray paint, the art style of Percy Fortini-Wright’s, whose “Entangled Rhymes” exhibition opened last Thursday, Oct. 8, at Boston’s Copley Society of Art, focuses on the background of the urban environment. His latest works are heavily rooted in black and white contrast and how each color interacts with each other; graffiti has been one of his main influences in his catalog of work. In creating one piece, “My Left Hand Stuck in the Matrix, I'm the Apex I steal Science off Spaceships,” he said that he strived to combine, “the feeling of order and chaos.” The perspective of the piece is slightly distorted, with the diagonal border between the cityscape and the checker floor. The perspective itself also creates the image to be compressed, yet expansive with the collection of … [Read more...] about Untangled