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Artscope Magazine | March/April 2021

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SOWA

Step into the Studio: SOWA September 21-22

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, News, Visual Arts

by Olivia MacDonald

A variety of art from over 200 artists resides in SOWA, the South End’s art district and this sunny weekend, the artists open their doors for an excursion that the whole family can experience. Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm marks the start of the fall season of open studios, where visitors can wander through old factory buildings which have been renovated into artists’ studios. This is a unique event to meet artists behind their craft, whether it be painting, wire art, jewelry making, or repurposed natural materials. Visitors can observe artists in their creative environments and discover the process of a piece’s creation or purchase a piece that speaks to them. In studio 219 of 450 Harrison Ave, Ann Strassman, displays realistic acrylic paintings on corrugated cardboard that reflect everyday portraits of street life. She recycles cardboard in her own way in her wide open studio … [Read more...] about Step into the Studio: SOWA September 21-22

AMERICA REVEALED: LIE OF THE LAND AND STRENGTH IN UNITY AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Visual Arts

by J. Fatima Martins

Christopher Abrams’ “Lie of the Land” and Christina Zwart’s “Strength in Unity” arrive out of our collective anxiety and offer a question: how did we as an American people get ourselves into the political, cultural and economic situation we are in now? For Abrams, the answers are in American history. His mini-dioramas spotlight the elements of American nation-building and the transformation of a constructed identity. For Zwart, the answers are found in cultural understanding, core values, and civilizing actions. Her monumental bundle of painted tree branches function as a communication tool — a warning, telling us how we should behave if we want to survive. Together the two artists encourage an examination of important keywords: Lie and Strength, and Land and Unity. “Lie of the Land” is an installation of five, skillfully crafted, mini-dioramas: “State of the Union,” … [Read more...] about AMERICA REVEALED: LIE OF THE LAND AND STRENGTH IN UNITY AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY

SHOOTING THROUGH THE FOG: MARY LANG WANTS YOU TO STAY FOCUSED

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Featured, Featured, September/October 2019, Visual Arts

by Brian Goslow

While Mary Lang’s latest exhibition at SoWa’s Kingston Gallery, “Here, nowhere else,” could have featured a strong collection of images from her travels to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California and the isles and highlands of Scotland, she decided to also include more localized works that seem to hold personal importance to the Auburndale, Massachusetts-based photographer. The show serves as a valuable exercise at a time we’re asking ourselves, more and more in the Instagram age, what makes a great photo — and a great photographer. “I struggled with whether I could build a show out of such disparate images, and vaguely considered showing the travel ones — Anza-Borrego and Scotland — in the main gallery and putting the backyards in the center gallery, but in the end, I rejected that,” Lang said. “I wanted to show that there is a through thread which links all of our experiences, … [Read more...] about SHOOTING THROUGH THE FOG: MARY LANG WANTS YOU TO STAY FOCUSED

Clockwise from left: Elizabeth Pogor, Morning View; Laura Fischman, (Un)Still Life; Bredt Handy, Trace.

NEW ENGLAND COLLECTIVE IX AT GALATEA FINE ART

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Jacob Cutler

For its ninth annual juried show, “New England Collective IX,” Galatea Fine Art, located in the heart of Boston’s SOWA District, enlisted the expertise of Marni Elyse Katz to jury the show. The show features over 50 artists including Bredt Handy, Elizabeth Pogor and Laura Fischman. Katz is a freelance design journalist, a consultant and an art curator that sources art for private collectors; she is the main blogger for stylecarrot.com and is a contributor to The Boston Globe, Design New England and Boston Home. In this exhibition, Katz does a stellar job of selecting pieces that are not only strong in their own right, but are complementary to the other works hanging on the walls of the gallery. In this exhibition, one can observe that Katz was drawn to works that are slight abstractions on everyday objects and scenes. Each piece deals with subject matter tied to daily life, but … [Read more...] about NEW ENGLAND COLLECTIVE IX AT GALATEA FINE ART

Tracey Hayes at the Bromfield Gallery.

CORNERED: TRACY HAYES DISORDER/REORDER AT THE BROMFIELD GALLERY

// Cornered, Interview, Visual Arts

Boston, MA - Tracy Hayes’ first Boston solo show takes place this November at the Bromfield Gallery in the SoWa District. In her artist statement, she notes that her current work explores connections and the emergence of patterns in the intersections of lines, textures and values in her attempt to comprehend the contradictions and stressors of daily life. “In an increasingly complicated, varied and noisy environment, I am concerned with role of individual voice,” she notes. On the eve of her opening reception, Artscope managing editor Brian Goslow “Cornered” her to discuss her successful 2017 (which included exhibitions at the Milton Art Center, Three Stones Gallery, Amherst (NH) Town Library, Cambridge Art Association, Fort Point Arts Community Gallery, Derryfield School and the Nashua Art Walk) and how those experiences helped her prepare for her first major show. YOUR WORK HAS … [Read more...] about CORNERED: TRACY HAYES DISORDER/REORDER AT THE BROMFIELD GALLERY

Jeannie Motherwell: Pour. Push. Layer. at Rafius Fane Gallery

// Exhibits, Featured, Visual Arts

By James Foritano https://youtu.be/KJAkFb9NwNM Boston, MASS. -- Jeannie Motherwell’s, fluid, shape-shifting exhibition, “Pour. Push. Layer.” at the Rafius Fane Gallery through October 22, stands in piquant juxtaposition to its, solid, four-square surroundings at 460 Harrison Ave. The gallery is located in the eastern end of a long, grey, brawny stone building in the very heart of Boston’s SoWa district. Like its mate, 450 Harrison Ave., which sits just across a wide pedestrian alley filled with art watchers and people watchers, it is, block by block, dedicated to a Victorian love of heavy lifting and solid foundations. One can almost hear the grunts of the workmen as they unload railroad cars bearing laboriously quarried granite from near and far when it was first built; you almost sense the satisfaction of architect/engineers dusting off their hands to pronounce: “Well, that’s … [Read more...] about Jeannie Motherwell: Pour. Push. Layer. at Rafius Fane Gallery