For two nights, on April 26 and 27, the small city of Broad Brook, Connecticut came together to celebrate art, skateboarding and music as one. The K. Simon Center for the Arts held the show, “Going Places,” where hand-painted and printed skateboard decks lined a wall, New England artists showcased their work in colorful displays for visitors to purchase, and rhythmic beats reverberated throughout the second-story room. Creativity pulsed through the space. Featured vendors included MelRose Denim (@melrose_denim on Instagram), creators of denim jackets with vintage and iconic printed images like Polaroid, Bob Marley and MTV, as well as other repurposed denim items like placemats. Positive State Apparel (@positivestate_apparel) also sold clothing with their signature Positive State name repeated row after row on t-shirts, ending with “have a nice day,” inspired from the plastic grocery … [Read more...] about STREET STYLE: ‘GOING PLACES’ AT THE K. SIMON CENTER; PAINT FOR PREVENTION EVENT ON MAY 11
Graffiti
Put Me In, Coach
HIGH-FLYING MURALS AT NEW ART CENTER by James Foritano Newton, Mass. - January and February are ordinarily months of cabin fever, when walls close in — unless, of course, you’re the kind of athlete who sees sport in snow and ice. For enthusiasts of the “great indoors,” as more and more I count myself, there are always walls begging to be inscribed, emblazoned with intuitions of the heart and soul. Skeptical? Suffering under the illusion that art is for artists and walls are no place to be leaving the untutored effusions of an amateur? Relax. You have The New Art Center in Newton’s Holzwasser Gallery — a modest space of about 300 square feet with walls that soar to an 18-foot- high ceiling — and the sanction of a young program that encourages anyone and everyone with a yen to team up with like-minded participants and, under expert but gentle coaching, make your … [Read more...] about Put Me In, Coach
Percy Fortini-Wright: The Spray Can and the Brush at Nesto Gallery
By Brian Goslow Milton, MA - “Percy Fortini-Wright: The Spray Can and the Brush” opens on May 3 with a Friday evening reception from 6-8 p.m. at Milton Academy’s Nesto Gallery. Artscope managing editor Brian Goslow “cornered” Fortini-Wright, who teaches at the Art Institute Of Boston at Lesley University and Montserrat College of Art, to talk about the exhibition, how he fell in love with graffiti, the four-decade long hesitation by the art establishment to accept the genre, and who’s buying his work. TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WORK THAT’LL BE IN THE SHOW … The show consists of approximately 30 paintings with multiple subject matters ranging from cityscapes to portraiture all the way to 3-dimensional graffiti pieces; some are a melting pot of all the above. Working primarily as a traditional oil painter and a traditional graffiti artist, a portion of the works are more … [Read more...] about Percy Fortini-Wright: The Spray Can and the Brush at Nesto Gallery