The color green is one of healing, growth and renewal. It is the color of plants, youth, good luck, camouflage, money and even envy. After a long winter, Brickbottom Gallery’s new exhibit “GREEN” invites viewers into their white wall gallery fully immersed in the color green through the artwork on the walls. Developing and established artists showcase their work together, providing their own interpretations and visions about this color that surrounds our everyday lives. Many reach towards nature for inspiration, crafting their pieces with various materials. As spring brings rain to the New England area, this exhibit provides a small retreat to feed our creativity and imaginations. On three vertical canvases, Pauline Lim’s acrylic and gold metal leaf painting, “Leave No Trace,” carries viewers atop forests dabbled with lime and olive greens. In the first canvas, a small girl in a red … [Read more...] about THE COLOR OF SPRING: GREEN MEMBERS’ EXHIBITION AT BRICKBOTTOM
culture
ESTELLE DISCH: MEMORY AND JUSTICE AT THE S & G PROJECT GALLERY NEW BEDFORD
“Memory and Justice: Impressions of Disappearance in Argentina,” an exhibition of photography by Estelle Disch at the S & G Project Gallery in the Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford’s north end, captures her experience and witnessed perspective of the aftermath of Argentina’s historic tragedy of Los Desaparecidos (The Disappeared), those who vanished after the March 24, 1976 coup when the military junta seized power in Argentina. The Junta launched a campaign to wipe out left-wing terrorism resulting in thousands of dissidents and, innocent civilians unconnected with terrorism, who were arrested. Many of them vanished or, disappeared, without a trace. They became known as los desaparecidos and fell victim to a methodic use of torture and murder. Disch’s exhibit, which runs from April 20 to May 15, explores the space of one of the sites of the tragedy of the disappeared that … [Read more...] about ESTELLE DISCH: MEMORY AND JUSTICE AT THE S & G PROJECT GALLERY NEW BEDFORD
PERFORMANCE: BOSTON BALLET’S FULL ON FORSYTHE AT THE BOSTON OPERA HOUSE
The Boston Ballet’s world premier presentation of “Full on Forsythe" opened on Thursday, March 7 and will run through March 17 at the Boston Opera House. Madeleine, my wife and partner in this critique, sat beside me for the full two hour and 30-minute performance with two intermissions. Madeleine was restive during the first of the three pieces, which I could sympathize with, since this first work, titled, obscurely, “Pas/Parts 2018,” is packed with so much raw energy, helicoptering dancers, electronic bonging and shearing and vibrating that I too sat back in my seat feeling the ice in my veins from the outside temperature begin to boil and bubble. And yet, as avant-garde a choreographer as William Forsythe is, he is also a performer, and knows when to slow down, just as the month of March proverbially “roars like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” The second piece, titled … [Read more...] about PERFORMANCE: BOSTON BALLET’S FULL ON FORSYTHE AT THE BOSTON OPERA HOUSE
New York Armory Show (PART ONE): Mother Earth
With global warming and general chaos due to facts emerging and infrastructure literally falling apart, it is not surprising that artists exhibiting at the Armory Show in New York are acting and reacting by using strong, but not shiny, materials to create work that seems domestic in nature. Escaping the outside world creates an emphasis on the home and the arts and crafts that are created and situated there. On my first day at Armory, I saw this emphasis on domestically influenced art and craft in work by male and female artists. This theme crossed borders of ethnicities and groups, including “Trouble Don’t Last Always.” Jeffrey Gibson’s 2019 acrylic on canvas with glass beads at Kavi Gupta, New York is supported by the North American Arts and Culture to reflect diverse voices. Ali Banisadr’s “Stardust,” oil on linen, 2011, at Blaine Southern (Berlin and London) left behind the glare … [Read more...] about New York Armory Show (PART ONE): Mother Earth
THE BUSINESS OF ART: DOCUMENTA-ECONOMIC DEBACLE, POLITICAL WIN
By Nancy Nesvet As Globalism and Nationalism dominate current world news and politics, economic disparities of the Global South and northern Europe causes verbal and policy battles across all markets. We hinted in the last Business of Art blog at the consequences for documenta 14, but here provides an update on its future policy decisions. Splitting the fair between Kassel and Athens has been cited for the 5.4-million-euro loss. Documenta’s director, Adam Szymczyk, took the job on the condition that the exhibition be split between Athens and Kassel. Half of Kassel’s 2017 documenta was financed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office and the City of Kassel. The other half came from private funds: Volkswagen and Sparkasse Finance Foundation and Kassel’s daily entrance fee. Originally, 10 percent of the budget (2 million euros) was to go to Athens, … [Read more...] about THE BUSINESS OF ART: DOCUMENTA-ECONOMIC DEBACLE, POLITICAL WIN
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2017: CHECKING THE ART WORLD’S PULSE
EVENT ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2017 CONVENTION CENTER SOUTH BEACH, MIAMI, FLORIDA ART BASEL HONG KONG MARCH 29-31, 2018 ART BASEL SWITZERLAND JUNE 14-17, 2018 ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH DECEMBER 6-9, 2018 ARTBASEL.COM by Nancy Nesvet For this writer, Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, the world’s biggest art show — in space, sales, artist and gallery representation — provided a giddy week. The crowded fair, full of technology, dazzle and shine, featured work from the big names in contemporary art. Anish Kapoor’s vertical swoosh of steel, “Non-Object (Door)” (2008, stainless steel, Lisson Gallery), reflected people who posed in front of it admiring their reflection. Barry X Ball’s “Perfect Forms (after Umberto Boccioni)” (2010-14, Connersmith) upped the ante by using 24-karat gold in another aerodynamic, futuristic form. Older paintings and sculptures for sale included Marc … [Read more...] about ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2017: CHECKING THE ART WORLD’S PULSE