While artists may be spending much of this pandemic in their studios working to produce new works, many of us are left without such established art practices to help us make sense of (or escape) our current radical reality. At the same time, COVID-19 has pushed art institutions and organizations to get creative about the ways in which they operate. Many have created resources for the general public, so that we can create, view or in some other way take part in the excitement and depth of art — from wherever we may be. At a time when uncertainties, fear and illness plague our society, art remains a resource and practice which, in its essence, cannot be stamped out. And if we’re going to be quarantined, we might as well use our time at home to engage with that art: to pause, reflect, create and, ironically, participate. While galleries and artists scramble to keep their audiences … [Read more...] about COPING WITH COVID-19: INSIGHTS AND INNOVATION FROM THE ART WORLD
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ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2019 & ART WEEK MIAMI DAY TWO: INSPIRED ARTISTS ADDRESS A THREATENED WORLD
Our second day dawned bright and early on Miami Beach, the morning chill warming up as the day and the dizzying flow of art as we went from one place to another kept the dynamic duo going. It would also hold our first view of the main event, Art Basel Miami 2019, the lollapalooza of art fairs, during its First Choice VIP Preview. Pace Gallery had some great work on display including Fred Wilson’s “Oh! Monstuosa Culpa,” 2013, constructed of Murano glass and light bulbs, that could have been a ringer for Gerhard Richter’s black chandelier painting; an amazing relief sculpture/painting by Loie Hollowell, “Standing in Water,” 2019, oil, acrylic, medium and high density foam on linen over panel; and Lydia Benglis’ “Calypso,” 2017, cast, pigmented polyurethane, looking like a cracked sun that only added to the gothic and sense of impending climatic doom as Venice stands in water and … [Read more...] about ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2019 & ART WEEK MIAMI DAY TWO: INSPIRED ARTISTS ADDRESS A THREATENED WORLD
ROOTED/UPROOTED: TREES AND ARTISTS AT ELGA WIMMER PCC GALLERY
Rooted/UpRooted, curated by Roya Khadjavi and Massoud Nader, which is on view from November 12 through 25 at Elga Wimmer PCC Gallery, New York, New York, connects trees, whose roots are secured deep in the earth with those who come from a place, in this case Iran, whose roots also run deep. Whereas tree roots remain in one place, the Iranian artists whose work is displayed here have been uprooted from their land, but maintain their cultural and historical roots, showing their memories and history in their work. In Omid Mohkami’s “Absence Series, a heart-rending photograph of a curved road with an unoccupied chair in its center and a dress stuck on barbed wire makes us wonder where the road leads and carries those who follow it, as they say in Maine, away. In another of Mohkami’s black and white photographs, a circle of chairs, occupied by no one, looking as if the master and his … [Read more...] about ROOTED/UPROOTED: TREES AND ARTISTS AT ELGA WIMMER PCC GALLERY
ENCAUSTIC CROSSROADS: ADDRESSING ECOLOGICAL CONCERNS THROUGH WAX AT WSU
One of the highlights of any group exhibition opening reception is the taking of a photograph of all the participants together. When “Crossroads: 4 Perspectives,” opened on October 10 at the Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery at Worcester State University, Patricia Gerkin was in Italy on a short vacation with her husband. A few days later, Debra Claffey would be in New Orleans attending Golden Paint’s Artist Educator Training Program, learning about their paints, grounds and mediums, Donna Hamil Talman in Marseille, France, and only Charyl Weissbach was at her normal workspace in Boston. The four make up the Elemental artist collaborative, the members of which first met through New England Wax, a group started in 2006 for New England artists working with wax. Finding a commonality, they set out to find opportunities for exhibitions for just the four of them. “We spent a good deal of time, … [Read more...] about ENCAUSTIC CROSSROADS: ADDRESSING ECOLOGICAL CONCERNS THROUGH WAX AT WSU
DISORIENTATED VIEWS: DANIELA RIVERA’S LABORED LANDSCAPES
Daniela Rivera explores labor, landscape and identity in her exhibition “Labored Landscapes (where hand meets ground)” at the Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM), and with this exploration, Rivera presents the interconnectedness apparent in labor, laborer and what she designates as the labored surface — either the physical ground that is toiled, or the ground or surface of a painting. Born in Santiago, Chile, Rivera moved to the Boston area in 2002, received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, in 2006, and has been associate professor of studio art at Wellesley College for the past 11 years. Her native Chile provides the context for works that are both highly conceptual, visually commanding and intellectually provocative. Organized by FAM curator Lisa Crossman with Terrana Curatorial Fellow Marjorie Rawle, the exhibition is comprised of three … [Read more...] about DISORIENTATED VIEWS: DANIELA RIVERA’S LABORED LANDSCAPES
A Wanderlust Journey Through Eccentric Putnam, Connecticut
As I drove into Putnam, Connecticut in my 1972 Volkswagen Bus, brisk air drifted through my window and crimson gold leaves crunched under the tires. A scenic drive through winding farm roads led me here and Cargill Falls with its cascading river water welcomed me into town. About an hour drive from Boston, shop windows along Main Street were decorated with stacked pumpkins and copper objects and gears in celebration of Putnam’s October 4 Steampunk Festival. Galleries, antique shops and street art give this town an artsy, yet vintage flair, and autumn is the perfect time to explore it. To begin the journey with a coffee, espresso, latte or hot cider from Woodstock Orchards, head to Victoria Station Café located at 91 Main Street. Its draped curtains and spiral staircase give a classic feel to this family-owned establishment and the full skeleton at the bar adds Halloween eeriness. In … [Read more...] about A Wanderlust Journey Through Eccentric Putnam, Connecticut