By Rhiannon Leigh Boston, Mass. - Staying warm this winter by stopping by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to see their newly acquired Frida Kahlo piece? Don’t forget to continue to the photography gallery to see an exhibition featuring works by Manhattan-based photographer Hiro. Born to Japanese parents in 1930 in Shanghai, Hiro spent the beginning of his life in China until eventually relocating to Japan at the end of World War II. Hiro had begun looking at American fashion magazines and noticed photographers Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, becoming inspired by their work and completely enveloped in photography. After moving to New York in 1956 and working under Avedon, it was clear that he had a natural talent for the art. Hiro used this niche as a way to express what he had seen growing up in a war-torn area, bringing “his fear, his isolation, his splendid light, to film” … [Read more...] about HIRO: PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
museum of fine arts boston
The Clock Is Ticking
Marylin Arsem at the MFA by Elizabeth Michelman Boston, Mass. - Tuesday, December 8. I’m attending Day 29 in a series of 100 unique perfor- mances at the MFA this fall and winter by Boston’s leader in performance art, Marilyn Arsem. Arsem has not yet shown up, but I can already hear her disem- bodied voice musing over the previous day’s performance. The wall text before me explains that each day’s performance provides the inspiration for the next. 10:30 a.m. I enter the all-white Towles Gallery, no larger than a college classroom. A paper calendar on the wall reads “Day 29.” I take a seat on a bench along the wall. The artist, wearing a black sweater-dress with black leggings, black socks and black slip-ons, is already at work. A square wooden table, flanked by two wooden chairs and a black-and- chrome floor lamp, occupies the center of the room. Black coats and … [Read more...] about The Clock Is Ticking