by Nancy Nesvet MARCH 13, 2019 -- With the headlines changing at the speed of the wind blowing snow around New York and New England this week, it’s difficult for artists to keep up with making work reflecting daily politics. After the emphasis on the possible “wall,” treatment of LatinX at the Miami Fairs last summer and refugees at Art Basel in Basel, art reflecting the “Me, Too” movement addressing abuse of women was in a lot of the work at last week’s New York art fairs. Walking to the VOLTA art fair on Pier 40, a good walk from piers 42 and 44 of the Armory show, I had time to reflect on those pieces that dealt with “Me, Too.” Recalling the Armory show, I cannot put Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Paredolium, 2017, shown by Max Estrell Gallery, Madrid, out of my mind. Though the artist claims the work is about surveillance, as the viewer stares down into a bubbling circular … [Read more...] about VOLTA AND FINAL THOUGHTS ON NEW YORK ART FAIRS, WINTER 2018
art and politics
SAMUEL LEVI JONES: ENCOURAGING INCLUSION THROUGH ART
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