Stephen Pace will have his first solo exhibition, “Stephen Pace in Provincetown,” posthumously at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum from July 5 through September 1. During his lifetime, Pace journeyed through styles from representational through pure abstraction to Abstract Expressionism to a merger of figural with expressionism — finally creating his own minimalist, Post-Impressionist, representational mode. Provincetown was a huge influence on him; he was in group shows at PAAM throughout his years. Recuperating from hospitalization during World War II where he served first in the infantry and then as a designer of chemical-proof clothing and war posters, he was drawing by the Seine when Gertrude Stein invited him to meet Pablo Picasso. Pace had already been practicing art, and architectural drafting and drawing under the tutelage of a WPA (Works Progress Administration) … [Read more...] about STEPHEN PACE AT PAAM: POSTHUMOUS SHOW LAVISH WITH PAINT AND ENERGY
Milton Avery
Michals and Avery at Bennington
Making Their Own Rules by Marguerite Serkin DUANE MICHALS Duane Michals has never played by the rules. Almost exclusively self-taught, his storied approach to photog-raphy has grown out of years, now decades, of hard work and experience. On view at the Bennington Museum, “Duane Michals: Photographs from the Floating World” represents the photographer’s more recent work, from 2005 to the present. “A great wave of melancholy swept over Tanya” portrays a young woman in traditional Japanese garb, appearing in sharp deꔀnition against the softer focus of the trees and brook behind her. By contrast, in “Vincent Van Gogh,” sun똀owers dominate, with an almost incidental ꔀgure carrying a ladder, making his way among the blooms. This balance and counterbalance between human form and natural surroundings invite the viewer to look more closely, drawn in by the artist’s riveting … [Read more...] about Michals and Avery at Bennington