Welcome to our May/June 2020 issue. The first real clue that this was going to be a different issue – and a totally new way of life – hit me hard on the morning of Friday, March 13. Social distancing to avoid the coronavirus had already moved into our daily lexicon and many colleges were in the process of shutting down for their annual spring break. I had just finished writing a Facebook post encouraging readers to get to Fairfield ...

Photographer Stephen DiRado was preparing for a March 19 book signing for his book “With Dad” at the Davis Art Gallery, whose host Davis Publishing in Worcester, Massachusetts, had just released his collection of images compiled over 20 plus years documenting his late father, Gene, going through the painful stages of Alzheimer’s, when Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker instituted an order limiting large gatherings. Once the governor ordered all nonessential businesses to cease in-person operations and issued his first stay-at-home advisory, ...

Early February in Florence greeted me with calm weather, which augured well for a fine spring. I was to spend my semester immersed in art at Florence’srenowned Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Michelangelo and Bronzino, Cellini and Giambologna belonged to the revered institution, and Artemisia Gentileschi became the first female member), where I would also finish my university degree by completing graduate courses in Italian cinema and sociolinguistics. Spring was approaching. During my long walks to downtown Florence from ...

What are some of the first things that come to your mind when you see an Asian person wearing a mask? Wearing a mask is actually common courtesy in manyAsian countries, similar to coughing or sneezing into your elbow. In Japan, I would see commuters wearing masks on any given day all year round. There is an invisible threat spreading across the globe, and from my perspective, the first visible sign was people’s reactions to me. At the end of ...

When the portraiture project I had been working on was abruptly suspended by the stay-at-home COVID- 19 measures, I began making portraits of essential workers. As a street and portrait photographer, I was comfortable approaching workers doing essential jobs and asking for their permission to make their portrait. I always stood at least six feet from the person. For the most part, I found that though they were busy working, they gave me the time, albeit brief, and wereappreciative of ...

Social distancing is a necessary part of public health policy during a pandemic, such as we are currently experiencing. But for me, the term conjures up all sorts of mixed feelings, particularly when it conflicts with the basic need of art — the shared experience. Virtual tours have become the mainstay of museums and galleries that are now shuttered to the world. While these digital offerings can be informative and entertaining, they can’t replace the in-person, in-situ, serendipitous experience of ...

“Sailing to the Edge,” Andy Zimmermann’s current exhibit at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, is a masterpiece. Rare is the exhibit that explores both life and death simultaneously, with insight, originality and superb craftsmanship. Zimmermann’s show is an important exhibition as we cope with the virus pandemic, struggling with life and facing death every day. Sometimes, everything changes radically and we see things with new eyes and new emotions, and the virus has done that for us. Zimmermann’s exhibit can be ...

There is comfort in finding simplicity during complicated times. As humans facing crisis, we have a need for solace in beauty and unobtrusive art. Sometimes out-of-the-way places and previously unthought of exploration can lead to fulfillment in the form of a new discovery and calmer perspective. With most arts venues temporarily closed, we can be reassured that the work of creating art continues. Master glassblower Robert Burch combines structural elements of traditional glassblowing with bold, innovative design. Working from his ...

It was supposed to be the big one. “A Wild Note of Longing: Albert Pinkham Ryder and a Century of AmericanArt” was scheduled to open at the New Bedford Whaling Museum this summer. Ryder, best known for his mythological and allegorical paintings and dark moody seascapes, was born in New Bedford in 1847. With that other Albert (Bierstadt), the great landscaper of the American West, Ryder is one of the most beloved, visionary and storied native-son artists of the Whaling City. ...

Ever since COVID-19 became a household name, the art world has gotten much quieter. Galleries and museums have closed indefinitely, and artists can no longer travel to their studios or teach in-person art classes. But just under the new quiet is a low rumble, the rumble of the art world adjusting to this new — and hopefully temporary — normal. Online exhibits and art classes are cropping up, and artists throughout the country are converting their garages and living rooms ...

My studio is a think tank, an exhibit site for the artwork of one person, and a place in which to realize 2D and 3D projects. When I develop large pieces, an assistant or assistants will sometimes help me; however, with recent events, creation has become a solitary pursuit. For over 20 years, I have enjoyed the tranquility of my studio environment. It is a sanctuary akin to Monet’s refuge at Giverny or the enveloping safety of Shangri-La. The first ...

Perhaps the main pleasure of covering the New England art scene has been the community behind it. As a Bostonian, the ability to hop on the Green Line or Red Line or bus, show up at a perspective gallery or museum, and be totally immersed in the world of one or many artists whose works hang or sit, is a reward I’ve cherished since arriving in the city nearly a decade ago. The archipelago of culture that dots the Metro-Boston ...

This is a story of resilience, as many are these days. This one began in 2018, with Brain Arts Organization’s incorporation of the Dorchester Art Project (DAP), a restorative justice and arts equity focused community arts center in Field’s Corner. On March 8, I spoke with Emma Leavitt, creative director at Brain Arts Org and gallery director at the Dorchester Art Project. Easygoing and passionate about what she does, Leavitt energetically described the work of this growing organization, whose mission ...

After an extended career as a graphics designer, Tony Andrade shifted his focus onto art full-time, devoting his attention to exploring his love of both art and photography. Artscope Magazine editor Brian Goslow first saw Andrade’s work in the Copley Society of Art’s “Winter Members Show: Full Spectrum” exhibition, which he reviewed in Artscope’s March/ April 2020 issue. While he was fond of “Evidence of Growth,” a painting of Andrade’s that captured the exploding color and harvest of a botanical ...

On the East Coast of a western country with a globalized economy, slow is not the default setting of most New Englanders. But aside from the praiseworthy parents now having to work, homeschool and parent all at once, this pandemic has given most of us the opportunity to be still. This is a truth arguably most important for those of us who are millennials, and younger, to hear. In the core of our youth, in touch with — and in ...

The parties are over. The art fair is dead. As during the Black Plague, worldwide travel and commerce has abruptly stopped. Museum tours and artists’ talks are virtual. The latest buzzword, “viewing rooms,” showing artists’ work online, are the new art fair. We save the work we like, and “trash” the rest. Technology has been valuable in visualizing the virus and making it “real.” The virus cannot be seen as were the buboes of Black Plague. When we cannot visualize the virus, ...