March/April 2019
In This Issue
LOCAL CONNECTIONS: PIENE’S ETERNAL FIRE LIGHTS UP FITCHBURG
In 1983, German-born Otto Piene purchased a huge piece of property in Groton, Massachusetts, located approximately 40 miles northwest of Boston. He converted his new home into an “art farm” […]
WELCOME: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
Welcome to the 79th issue of Artscope Magazine, which celebrates our 13th anniversary. It features our annual special section in which we’ve asked our writers which artists they may have […]
DEATH, DESTRUCTION, REGENERATION: MATT BARNEY’S TEMPORARY FORTIFICATION AT YALE
Sculptor and filmmaker Matthew Barney has been pushing boundaries for many years now — and his deeply complex multi-media exhibition, “Redoubt,” created during the years of 2016–2019, promises to take […]
RODIN; MODERNIST GENIUS, 1840–1917: DYNAMIC WORKS PROVE SCULPTOR’S LASTING GREATNESS
Two men, Saint John the Baptist and Honoré de Balzac, separated by 2000 years, by different cultures and languages, by geographical location and physical appearance, are brought to life by […]
A PLACE FOR ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT: EXPANSION ALLOWS THE HOOD SPACE FOR DIALOGUE
The first thing that strikes you upon entering the Hood Museum of Art’s new atrium is the sense of space and airiness, inviting exploration of what lies beyond in numerous […]
A CONVERSATION STARTER: THE DAVIS’ LATIN AMERICAN SURVEY SHOW SPARKLES
James Oles, professor of Latin American Art History at Wellesley and curator of Latin American Art at the Davis Museum, has for the past 20 years been building up a […]
TURNING PLASTIC POLLUTION INTO ART: SMITH EXHIBITION ASKS ‘WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?’
Much of our planet is choking on plastic. Images of swaths of plastic debris crowding the oceans; birds starved with bellies full of bottle caps; massifs of discarded containers climbing […]
EMERGING THEMES: YEAR OF THE WOMAN CONTINUES IN CAA MEMBERS SHOW
Juror Lisa Crossman certainly had her work cut out for her. The Cambridge Art Association’s 2019 Members Prize show features paintings, photographs and sculpture by 60 regional artists. This year’s […]
PROCESS PURISTS: TEMPERA’S SENSE OF SUSPENDED VISUAL MOMENT
“Tempera — Nature and Narrative,” at Attleboro Arts Museum from April 6 to May 4, focuses on paintings by eight artists working with classic egg tempera as a medium of […]
SOFT UNCERTAIN SPACES: SCULLY GIVES ABSTRACTION BACK TO THE PEOPLE
Wadsworth Atheneum visitors are in for a treat: Sean Scully’s exquisite “Landline” series, just off a run at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., has arrived […]
MUTUAL RESPECT SOCIETY: SCHERER AND ABRAMS CREATE A NEW HUMAN TEXTURE
Age, wisdom, the accumulation of experience and its imprint on the human body have attracted fiber artists Deidre Scherer and Jackie Abrams, both pioneers in their media for many years. […]
THINGS ARE HAPPENING HERE: CHALKBOARD STUDIOS CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Chalkboard Studio in Barnstable Village, Cape Cod, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with an open house on April 27. The three core founders, Jackie Reeves, James “Jamie” Wolf […]
VISUAL DIPLOMACY: GLOBAL EMBASSIES OPEN GALLERIES TO U.S. VISITORS
The 35 days of the United States Government partial shutdown in late December through late January left the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. barren and vacant of visitors. Tourists and […]
CRAIG ALTOBELLO: FINDING MARQUETRY’S BEAUTY BENEATH THE BARK
For artisan Craig Altobello of Peterborough, New Hampshire, marquetry, the art of assembling thin slices of wood to form an image, is an act of perfection and serendipity. His perfectionist […]
DAVID ARSENAULT: A LOVE OF TRANSFORMATIVE LIGHT AND LANDSCAPE
It was 1970 when artist David Arsenault first saw a reproduction of a painting by American Realist Edward Hopper. Called “Gas,” it depicted a rural gas station at dusk with […]
MICHELLE BENOIT: VISUALLY COOL AND CRISP TO THE EYE
Although many artists seem to languish or burn out at mid-career, Michelle Benoit is thriving. She has found a way to survive by working constantly, experimenting consistently and along the […]
ROBERT BRODESKY: A SCREAMING SILENCE YOU SEE LOUD AND CLEAR
Whenever I go into a gallery, exhibit or anywhere art is exhibited, I crave enlightenment and I am always full of expectation. I seek, I want, I expect to be […]
BECCI DAVIS: RECONCILING PAST ERASURES THROUGH DIRECT ACTION
Emerging artist Becci (pronounced Becky) Davis explores race and gender identity issues through performance art. I liked the idea of inviting Davis to my studio so we could have a […]
JULIE A. DEROSA: ASSEMBLING HAPPINESS PIECE BY PIECE
Julie A. DeRosa’s mixed-media sculpture, “How to Be Happy No Matter What Happens,” arrives in our physical reality at a poignant time in which the condition of happiness has lost […]
XYLOR JANE: AN EXTRAORDINARY ARTIST WITH A NATIONAL REPUTATION
Through the ages, thinkers and mystics have recognized that numbers speak to the order of things, but artistic visual expression of this discreet order has been historically intermittent. Mathematical constructs […]
JULIA JENSEN: CAPTURING NORTHERN LIGHT IN ALL ITS VARIATIONS
When I moved from Manhattan to a secluded mountaintop house in Vermont, my wonderment at the measurelessness of the landscape surrounding the house was boundless. At night, it was an […]
STELLA JOHNSON: EXPLORING GENERATIONAL FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP BONDS
Photographs by Stella Johnson that focus on her 11-year immersive relationship with Greece are featured at the Leica Gallery in Boston Park Plaza Hotel March 7 though April 21. Johnson’s […]
JEFFREY P’AN: AN AESTHETIC INSTINCT THAT CANNOT BE TAUGHT
“Art as a form of communication takes over where language leaves off.” This assertion by glass artist Jeffrey P’an crystallizes his belief in art’s power. Art, he feels, “is very […]
KYUNGMIN PARK: CERAMIC STORYTELLER SEES THE WORLD THROUGH HER FIGURES
What struck me about a recent conversation with Kyungmin Park was her clarity — clarity in what she tries to convey as an artist and in how she wants people […]
JESS HURLEY SCOTT: HAND-PAINTED TRICKERY IS PICTURE PERFECT
While working for Tommy Hilfiger in New York City, Jess Hurley Scott took her first steps in developing her unique style of painting. Living in Manhattan on the bare minimum […]
FILLING A CREATIVE VOID: EAST PROVIDENCE’S NON-TRADITIONAL HEARTSPOT
Oh, the times they are a changing! Bob Dylan nailed it! The times are always changing. Dylan knew what it meant to change before change changed him. The audience booed […]
SAMURAI WHITE: HEAVY METAL AND MUERTOS NUTCRACKERS FIND LOVE
“It’s basically my brain throwing up — because I have to get it out — I do the ‘thing’ and I feel a lot better afterwards. It’s like I have […]
CAPSULE PREVIEWS
“Renewal” is the theme of this year’s “Annual Juried Members Show” that opened on February 28 at the Copley Society of Art, 158 Newbury St., Boston. The exhibition, which continues […]
MAKING CONNECTIONS WHILE ON AN ART-THEMED VACATION
VACATION TRAVEL FOR ARTISTS: WORK OR PLEASURE? Every vacation I take with my wife (and fellow Myth Maker), Donna Dodson, begins with goals: take a break together, hike landscapes, experience […]
