While visiting Bridgewater State University’s Wallace L. Anderson Gallery in mid-September, I discovered Jack Wolfe. His work was being featured in “The Promise of Lincoln” exhibition that ran from August 19 through October 4; upon viewing it, I was immediately intrigued and set out to learn more about this artist. I started by talking to curator Jay Block, the associate director of collections and exhibitions at Bridgewater, who told me that Jack Wolfe was once a promising and highly recognized abstract expressionist painter in the mid-1950s in New York City but, he decided to walk away from it all. He believed the art world was too money-driven and morally corrupt. Rene Ricard, in his seminal article, “The Radiant Child,” in the December 1981 issue of “Artforum” wrote, “Nobody wants to miss the Van Gogh boat. The idea of the unrecognized genius slaving away in a garret is … [Read more...] about A LEGACY WORTH PRESERVING: AN INVALUABLE SECOND LOOK AT JACK WOLFE
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INDEPENDENT SPIRIT: FISKE OWNS IT IN PORTSMOUTH
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” — Pablo Picasso Picasso said it, but American Master Gertrude Fiske lived it. She certainly paid her dues. She learned “the rules,” or perhaps more accurately, she absorbed the societal expectations of New England at the time, and then she allowed herself — encouraged by such mentor greats as Edmund C. Tarbell, Frank Benson, Philip Hale and Charles Woodbury — to carve her own path. Fiske (1879-1961) was born into a prominent Massachusetts family and spent much of her time farther north in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Downeast Maine. Her work was lauded for her ability to “see” a scene or a subject. That ability, that gift, set her apart. A founding member of the Guild of Boston Artists and later the Ogunquit (Maine) Art Association, Fiske was the first woman ever appointed to the Massachusetts State Art … [Read more...] about INDEPENDENT SPIRIT: FISKE OWNS IT IN PORTSMOUTH
JENNIFER VINEGAR AVERY: A PRETTY PARADOX
12 FOR OUR 12TH JENNIFER VINEGAR AVERY FOR MORE INFORMATION: JENNIFERLAVERY.COM by J. Fatima Martins Jennifer Vinegar Avery is an intellectually formidable artist; the joie de vivre and zaniness seen in her art is not contrived entertainment. The name itself, Vinegar, is not a moniker — it’s real, and is a push-back against the “sugar and spice and everything nice” cliché applied to girls. “Clap your hands and say, Jennifer,” she wrote, “clap your hands and say Vinegar, it’s the same thing! A pretty paradox. Avery means wisdom of the elves and it lends itself to emphasis and intensity.” At the time of this writing, Vinegar was living her usual duality, perfectly blended: joy (luxury) and sorrow (imperfection). She was invited to install and perform the theatrical piece “Pupa, Poubelles et Les Bêtes/The Beast Boutique” at the Maison Hermes Le Forum art space in … [Read more...] about JENNIFER VINEGAR AVERY: A PRETTY PARADOX
Sign Painters: a Sign of the Times
By An Uong Worn-down signs adorning factories and buildings may be wondered about from time to time, but rarely are they looked into for their meaning and history. Not much thought is given to those who have painted these signs, nor to the meticulous work that the painters have put into them. Sign Painters, directed by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon, gives depth to the long-standing tradition of sign painting. “It’s only a fucking sign,” or, “I.O.A.F.S” as sign painter Keith Knecht (to whose memory the film is dedicated) and his community like to say, because, despite whatever fascinations stir around sign painting, the painters are aware that their product is still a commodity for clients. Though there is a sense of humility attached to what admittedly is a service done for the benefit of others, it doesn’t mean that painters can’t be proud of their work. In one scene, John Downer … [Read more...] about Sign Painters: a Sign of the Times