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Artscope Magazine | January/February 2021

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lesley university

PHOTOGRAPHY AS POWER: ART PRC SHOWCASE CONFRONTS VIEWERS’ PERCEPTIONS

// March/April 2020

by Isabel Barbi

There’s no way to distinguish how many years passed make a specific time period history. In “Present Histories Redefined,” history lies within the last two calendar years. The photographs of Feda Eid, Jonathan Mark Jackson and Joanna Tam document the everchanging stories of the present, focusing on marginalized voices. Curated by Jessica Burko, photography as “Power Art” is showcased at Lesley University’s VanDernoot Gallery by the Photographic Research Center. Feda Eid’s photography brings an immediate sense of familiarity, depicting a recognizable setting. Although her artist statement reveals the setting, the captions beside the photographs don’t disclose the location. That familiar place is behind-the-ropes, so to speak, of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As a luminary of the museum, Eid was granted access to use the museum in an intimate manner for her “Reflected” series. … [Read more...] about PHOTOGRAPHY AS POWER: ART PRC SHOWCASE CONFRONTS VIEWERS’ PERCEPTIONS

WELCOME STATEMENT JAN/FEB 2020

// Current Issue, Issue Articles, January/February 2020

by Brian Goslow

What percentage of what you do is performance art? I asked myself that question on December 15 as Art Basel Miami Beach 2019 was coming to a close. Earlier that morning, Artscope’s national correspondent Nancy Nesvet suddenly woke up around 4 a.m. realizing the reality behind the strange performance built around the global reaction to the sale of two — and eating of one — banana that composed Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” installation on the wall of Galerie Perrotin’s booth at the Miami Beach Convention Center. “Whether appropriation or inspiration, Samuel Beckett’s single-actor play, “Krapp’s Last Tape,” is clearly the motivation,” Nesvet wrote. “With representation of failed work and an illusion to repressed sexuality often cited as the theme of the Beckett play, the banana held and used for gesturing throughout the one act is a phallic shape resembling a microphone, a … [Read more...] about WELCOME STATEMENT JAN/FEB 2020

WELCOME: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW

// Current Issue, Issue Articles, May/June 2019, Welcome

by Brian Goslow

As we were putting the final touches on this issue, our 80th, our publisher, Kaveh Mojtabai, told me, “The fashion work on our cover harkens back to an era of family, honor and Sufi creed (compassion, love, patience and peace with all religions and people) to keep unity within tribes and clans for the betterment of future generations. It reminds me of one the most popular shows in the world on Netflix, Diriliş — or ‘Resurrection’ in Turkish, taking place in the 13th century during the founding of the Ottoman Empire.” The storyline follows a nomadic Kayı tribe caught “in the designs of a violent world that has lost its way,” with different tribes pitted against one another and innocent villagers being plundered in the process. “Eventually, the tribe can settle and create a new era based on its cultural humanitarian values.” It doesn’t sound too different from how today’s arts … [Read more...] about WELCOME: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW

Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Untitled, from the series “Bollywood Satirized.” Courtesy of the artist and sepiaEYE.

Not Remaining Silent: Confronting Gender Violence at Lesley

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Suzanne Volmer

It is a damning statistic how often women are harassed, attacked or raped in today’s world. The current exhibition at Lesley University, “1 in 3: Comparative Perspectives on Gender Violence,” delves into that statistic. It examines prejudices that condition cultures to overlook the subjugation of women. In 1969, in a NOVA Magazine interview, Yoko Ono said, “Women are the Niggers of the World.” Today, 40 years later, like gunpowder shot over the bow of misogyny, the shocking salvo still meets with an audible gasp. A human tragedy is that everybody knows a woman [or is that woman] that has experienced sexual violence or harassment. The exhibit rides the wave of the #MeToo movement, which has kept violence against women at the forefront of public attention through media. The exhibition was organized by Lisa Fiore, Meenakshi Chhabra and Sonia Perez-Villanueva. “We share a determination … [Read more...] about Not Remaining Silent: Confronting Gender Violence at Lesley

EXPOSURE 2018: PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOURCE CENTER’S FIRST SHOW AT THE VANDERNOOT GALLERY AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY

// Artscope Online, Visual Arts

by Jacob Cutler

With the recent move of the Photographic Resource Center from its original home at Boston University to Lesley University.  The PRC was eager to present its first show in its temporary space in the VanDernoot Gallery in Porter Square, . “Exposure 2018” is a juried group exhibition featuring the works of photographers from Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and beyond. Each artist has their own distinct style while complimenting the others. The show was juried by the acclaimed photographer, curator, editor and educator, Christopher Rauschenberg. While Rauschenberg has not revealed his requirements for the art that he chose, one can see distinct connections between the majority of the 11 photographers’ work that were chosen. Each artists work heavily featured humans or a human element. Upon looking at the work, one can see how each artist is making work that deals with their own identity … [Read more...] about EXPOSURE 2018: PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOURCE CENTER’S FIRST SHOW AT THE VANDERNOOT GALLERY AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY

ROBERSON JOSEPH’S “HAITI IN CONTEXT: THE DAILY LIFE” AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY’S SHERRILL LIBRARY

// Exhibits, Featured, Visual Arts

By Sabrina Garvin CAMBRIDGE, MASS. --– A little bit of Haiti has appeared in the quiet atrium of Lesley University’s Sherrill Library through “Haiti in Context: A Daily Life,” a collection of large, vibrant paintings by Roberson Joseph depicting Haitian life that currently adorns its walls. Holding an enormous presence, the paintings are teaming with dramatic colors and are heavy with fantastical realism. Depicting love, family, fun, tragedy, sadness and everyday life in Haiti, these paintings combine realism-centered images of the common people with the glorification of nature and dizzying backgrounds of romanticism. This exhibit must be seen in person, as neither pictures nor words can do justice to the pure magnitude of these paintings. Joseph’s “Hurricane” (acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”) presents the scene of a flooded town after a hurricane. The painting centers on a man … [Read more...] about ROBERSON JOSEPH’S “HAITI IN CONTEXT: THE DAILY LIFE” AT LESLEY UNIVERSITY’S SHERRILL LIBRARY