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Artscope Magazine | March/April 2021

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activism

SCULPTORS AS ACTIVISTS: TAKING A STAND AT ATTLEBORO ARTS MUSEUM

// March/April 2020

by Suzanne Volmer

Primaries for the national election punctuate politics in the United States with rhetoric ranging from how to reach for the brass ring of prosperity to stumping on national and global policy issues. In this climate, Attleboro Arts Museum director Mim Fawcett said that 75 percent of artwork that she is seeing from artists involves social commentary. That commentary has prompted “Take a Stand: Voices of the New England Sculptors Association.” From April 9 through May 8, the show will weigh in on Zeitgeist with sculptures plumbing topics such as environment, civil rights, racism, Roe vs. Wade, gender equality, gun violence and immigration. Sculptor Ruth Rosner has two artworks in the show from her “Refugee Women” series, which comment on U.S. border enforcement. Disturbing to her are the ongoing herding practices reminiscent of the Holocaust. By phone, Rosner described her practice of … [Read more...] about SCULPTORS AS ACTIVISTS: TAKING A STAND AT ATTLEBORO ARTS MUSEUM

Re-stitching Pieces of the Past: Howardena Pindell’s ‘What Remains to be Seen’ at the Rose

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Featured, Visual Arts

by Olivia MacDonald

Art is an extension of oneself, a release that travels from the mind, through the arm and out the fingertips to pour onto the canvas. After a car crash in 1979 that left New York-based artist, Howardena Pindell, with a dented skull and short-term memory loss, she began to explore her own body and identity, as well as the politically-charged environment that rejected, denied and broke her in the past, just because of her skin color. Art was a way to mend the wounds, both within and outside of herself, a way to heal. It was a way to embrace her blackness, her femininity and her capabilities. Pindell’s exhibition at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum, “What Remains to be Seen,” showcases much more than just what remains, but holds entire stories deep in the threads and paint of each piece. Her 1988 work, “Autobiography: Air (CS560),” incorporates the many parts and layers that … [Read more...] about Re-stitching Pieces of the Past: Howardena Pindell’s ‘What Remains to be Seen’ at the Rose

SAMUEL LEVI JONES: ENCOURAGING INCLUSION THROUGH ART

// 12th Anniversary, Current Issue, Issue Articles, March/April 2018

NATIONAL ARTIST SPOTLIGHT SAMUEL LEVI JONES by Nancy Nesvet In today’s world, the art of the cover-up is being torn apart and exposed. An artist with strong New England ties, Samuel Levi Jones — with his upcoming early-2019 show at Northeastern University, part of “Personal to Political” — is causing waves in the art world as he reveals, tears up, paints over and deconstructs history. In February 2017, Jones told me his work addresses “Systems of power and how we navigate the structure of those controlling. Who can and cannot participate, the way we think about history: who writes it and controls that information, the way we deal with history or not deal with it, processing it and thinking about where we are going.” His artistic practice began when Jones, working at a recycling plant, wanted to find a way to recycle books. “I didn’t limit my process to being in the … [Read more...] about SAMUEL LEVI JONES: ENCOURAGING INCLUSION THROUGH ART

ICE, ICE BABY: EXPEDITIONS AT ESTEY

// Current Issue, Issue Articles, January/February 2018, Visual Arts

GALLERY SPOTLIGHT EXPEDITIONS: FROM ICELAND TO THE GOBI DESERT PAULA ESTEY GALLERY 3 HARRIS STREET NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH MARCH 10 by Brian Goslow “Expeditions: From Iceland to the Gobi Desert,” featuring work by Lisa Lebofsky, Lisa Goren, Will Nourse, Katherine Richmond and David Stone, can be seen from February 1 through March 10 at the Paula Estey Gallery in Newburyport, Mass. “Expeditions” occurs as the gallery nears its fourth anniversary this April. “Over these short years, we have had solo and two-person exhibitions, as well as group shows,” Estey noted. “In the past 18 months, our shows have become much more thematic, drawing upon my own desires to expand my client-base’s exposure to contemporary art, and to open us all to the collaborative nature of art, when curated into a meaningful narrative.” Estey makes no bones about the fact … [Read more...] about ICE, ICE BABY: EXPEDITIONS AT ESTEY