Article Excerpts
WELCOME November/December 2023: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
Dear Artscope reader, It felt too familiar, too similar to December 14, 2012, when the events at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, unfolded as we were putting our first issue of 2013 to press. The October 25 shooting in Lewiston, Maine took place, for us, under similar circumstances, the Artscope staff pulling together this issue that includes a preview of the “Native Exploding Inevitable” exhibition that was scheduled to open a few nights later at the Bates ...BOSTON PRINTMAKERS AT 75: A BRILLIANT LEGACY CELEBRATED AT BU’S 808 GALLERY
In celebration of their 75th year, the Boston Printmakers 2023 North American Print Biennial at Boston University’s 808 Gallery is a spectacular exhibition of the works of 121 contemporary printmakers and a wide variety of styles and techniques. Chosen by juror Elizabeth M. Rudy, the Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints at the Harvard Art Museums, the show is cleverly and beautifully curated in the newly renovated 808 Gallery, full of natural light and well- arranged space to interact with ...A HARMOANIOUS FUSION: ENTRANCING MODERN NATIVE AMERICAN ART AT BATES
Imagine, if you will, having lived in the lands which are now America for thousands upon thousands of years. Then aliens from across the sea spread over your land like blood from a wound, bringing smallpox and cholera, diseases for which you have no resistance; cheating you out of your land, using it for settled agriculture as a commodity, not for sustainable self- sufficiency; bringing noisy and pol- luting railroads, telegraphs, mining, industrialization; destroying your game animals; coming after you ...RELEVANT AND UNIVERSAL: ARTISTS, BORN ELSEWHERE, FIND HOME AT UMASS AMHERST
In a time when mass migration is increasing, and the right to immigrate is dramatically contested, the individual experiences of immigrants are often absent from the discussion. “Artists, Born Elsewhere - Selections from the UMCA’s Permanent Collection” at The UniversityMuseumofContemporaryArt,UMassAmherstillustrates both individual narratives through imagery, and culturally specific expressions of the effects of displacement and relocation which resonate as being universally shared. Drawing from a collection of varied media pieces by artists whose work incubated within such diverse cultural backgrounds ...REFLECTING ECOLOGIES: EXPLORING THE NATURAL WORLD AT MCLA’S GALLERY 51
Nestled on North Adams’ Main Street, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ intimate exhibition space, Gallery 51, is lit brightly, with a combination of artificial and the natural light emanating from the large windows in the front of the building. For its current exhibition, Gallery Director Nicholas Rigger has overseen a deeply personal investigation into the language between six artists and their relationships with the natural world. “Reflecting Ecologies: Artists in Nature” reads as a medley of song, timeless and ...AN OPEN DIALOGUE AT FAM: WHERE ARE ALL THE BLACK PEOPLE AT’S POWERFUL RESIDENCY
It’s unexpected to visit Fitchburg, about 50 miles from Boston, with a very large Spanish-speaking population, and within its art museum, experiencing a seven-artist exhibition that explores and presents varied views of Africa. Fitchburg Art Museum’s (FAM) partnership with artist collective Where Are All The Black People At (WAATBPA) has opened “Dialogues, Diasporas, and Detours Through Africa,” featuring the work of seven artists, curated by multi-disciplinary artist Dell Marie Hamilton with FAM curator Lauren Szumita. These artists in residence mark ...“A NEW ARTISTIC REALITY”: DEB MELL’S FANTASY FIGURATIVE ART AT BERTA WALKER
Part sci-fi, part figures from “primitive” mythology, part cartoon, always humorous, slightly macabre, surreal, and offbeat, Deb Mell’s mixed media paintings and sculptures are wildly unique totemic chimeras. Like walking into a lodge where a ritual will begin, or a theater where you will watch a post-apocalyptic exorcism. There is something so alive, joyful, inventive and mysterious about her work, that you want to adopt it like a new pet, make it part of your family, study and make inquiry ...RECONSIDERING PASTELS: INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE AT MAINE’S BRICK STORE MUSEUM
Perhaps, you wonder, what could be a unifying theme for an expansive show of pastels by 60 artists who hail from 14 states, Canada and China? I certainly did. The answer is simple. There is none, beyond superior art and a desire to educate the public about the lesser-known medium of pastels. But that’s enough. This show was organized by the Pastel Society of Maine’s Exhibition Committee. Its host venue, the Brick Store Museum, is in the seaside town of ...THE SUPERHERO WE NEED: BRANDON CABLE’S RAT KNIGHT COMIC ART IN ROCHESTER
Well, this is a twist! How many comic book artists have you encountered in your life? When I heard of this exhibition, I thought it’d be fascinating to explore — because it’s so different from what we usually cover. Brandon Cable is a New Englander who hails from Connecticut and has drawn and executed art all his life. Even when he was quite small, the standard gift he received was paper, markers and lots of encouragement. He eventually found his ...THE ESSEX EXPERIENCE: ARTHOUND GALLERY ENCHANCES VERMONT’S CREATIVE ECONOMY
When John and Jennifer Churchman opened the ArtHound Gallery in Essex, Vermont in the Fall of 2019, it was one of the largest in New England. Since then, they have added more gallery space and with 13,000 square feet of light-filled interior, it is ‘the’ largest. That kind of space makes it possible for them to include more than 350 Vermont artists — including painters, sculptors, glass blowers, potters, woodworkers and many artisans. The roster includes well established names as ...THE JOY OF THE SPIRIT: CORITA KENT’S LEGACY SHARED AT HOLY CROSS
“Always Be Around: Corita Kent, Community, and Pedagogy,” on view at the Cantor Gallery in the Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross, is a rare exhibition in which viewers are encouraged to become part of the presentation. While the artwork of Corita Kent is the main attraction, it’s the example she sets in encouraging everyone to make art, the creations of numerous artists who took that challenge as inspirationand the various participatory installations at the ...STILL TEACHING: FAITH RINGGOLD’S LIFE STORIES IN WORCESTER
While featuring only 16 artworks, don’t let the size of the “Faith Ringgold: Freedom to Say What I Please” exhibition stop you from making a trip to the Worcester Art Museum during its six-month run. Each piece has its own intricate story and, judging by the audience reaction to its first month on exhibit, each person attending brings their own personal experience with Ringgold’s art to the space. The show was organized by Samantha Cataldo, the museum’s Associate Curator of ...STOLEN MOMENTS AT RIC: AMY MONTALI’S MOVING IMAGES AT BANNISTER GALLERY
I recently visited photographer Amy Montali at her Providence, Rhode Island studio where we sat with each other discussing her art. She had purposefully arranged on a table between us a scale-model, or miniature version, of her upcoming solo exhibition, “Amy Montali: Thief,” that will be on view from November 9 through December 8 at the Bannister Gallery at Rhode Island College. Using the scale-model as a tool, Montali was in the midst of making placement decisions among the included ...CONSTANTLY REIMAGINING OUR WORLD: THE ART WORLD SHINES IN NYC, MIAMI BEACH & SÃO PAULO
Is every artwork inherently political, and has this always been the case? Can the interpretation of the same artwork be dependent on the political climate, the era or the geographical location in which it is being presented? Does art possess a timeless quality? In contemporary art fairs and biennials, these questions can work as platforms for introducing new artistic approaches, emerging talents and for reintroducing past works that now may hold different significance. Artists constantly reimagine our world, offering fresh ...SITKA’S VIBRANT ARTISTRY UNVEILED: THE JOURNEY FROM TEXTILE DESIGNER TO MASTERFUL PAINTER
In a splendid fusion of colors, cultures and artistic evolution, the Sitka Home Art Gallery on Newbury Street, Boston, welcomes art enthusiasts to an extraordinary exhibition that transcends the conventional boundaries of creativity. Sitka, a name once synonymous with textile design excellence in the world of high fashion, continues to thrive as an artist of profound versatility. The mesmerizing exhibition, titled “My Hand Behind Ralph Lauren Prints: 1990s-2015,” on view from November 14 through 30, not only unveils the hidden ...ABANDONED NO LONGER: ARTIST HOUSING SEEN AS ANCHOR FOR FITCHBURG’S FUTURE
On an October Saturday, I drove from Dorchester, where our #ARTSTASYSHERE Coalition was born from years of volunteer advocacy to prevent Humphreys Street Studios and its 45 plus studio artists from displacement, to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, about 50 miles northwest of Boston. Fitchburg, like other Massachusetts “gateway cities,” once was a thriving home to the industrial manufacturing of tools, paper and firearms, with the companies’ machinery powered by waters of the Nashua River. In eastern Massachusetts, the #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition is helping ...CAPSULE PREVIEWS: November/December 2023
Honoring Jhumpa Lahiri’s book of the same title “Unaccustomed Earth,” inspired by a Nathaniel Hawthorne quote about the resilience of migrants and their descendants, features the work of Boston-based, Caribbean-born artists Emily Rose and Beatriz Whitehill and can be seen from November 3 through January 14, 2024, at Beacon Gallery, 524B Harrison Ave., Boston, Massachusetts. “Working in a variety of media, the artists reinforce the notion that there is no single answer for resilience and learning to flourish in one’s ...