REVIEW
ANNA VON MERTENS:
COLOR: A LOVE STORY
UNIVERSITY GALLERY AT UMASS LOWELL
MAHONEY HALL
870 BROADWAY STREET
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS
JANUARY 22 THROUGH MARCH 3
by Greg Morell
There are two divergent roads of aesthetic departure for New Hampshire artist Anna Von Mertens. In one direction, we discover works of popular whimsy — a lighthearted exploration of the emoji. Fanciful, playful, vibrantly colorful and deliciously cute, it’s art candy you just want to eat.
However, the other path that Von Mertens explores is far different.
Both will on view in “Color: A Love Story,” an exhibition running from January 22 through March 3 in the University Gallery at UMass Lowell.
In the main gallery, Von Mertens will present two beds, side by side, in the open expanse of the gallery floor. It is not the beds themselves, but what is on the beds that is the point of the piece. Two hand-dyed, hand-sewn cotton quilts cover the beds, in what the artist perceives as conversation. It is basically a conversation of color, but how those colors got to where they are is the mystery in the stew.
This is hip-deep, highly intellectualized conceptual art. Each of these quilts is an exacting marathon of execution that includes hand-dyeing small squares of white cotton to the desired shade and the actual precise, mathematical construction of the quilt, in addition to the convoluted process of coming up with the motivation for the color, which boggles the limits of credibility.
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GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE: ARTS RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE
COMMUNITY
ARTS RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE
82 PRESCOTT STREET
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS
THROUGH FEBRUARY: SELECTED WORKS OF JESSICA TAWCZYNSKI
FROM HER RECENT ARTIST’S RESIDENCY IN AKUREYRI, ICELAND
by Flavia Cigliano
Founded in 2009, the Arts Research Collaborative (ARC) in Lowell, Massachusetts quickly established itself as a cultural presence in the heart of the city, committed to working with the arts communities of both Lowell and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML).
The concept for a professional workspace and gallery came from three colleagues in the Art and Design Department: Jim Jeffers, Denise Manseau and Stephen Mishol, who explained, “We wanted to create a hybrid space where our students could have more direct interaction with professional artists.” Both Manseau and Mishol were quick to acknowledge the critical role Jim Jeffers played in developing ARC. “It was Jim who found this space, and we would not be here without him. He was really the straw that stirred the drink. I know we are indebted to him to this day and he remains a great friend,” Mishol said.
According to Manseau, establishing the Arts Research Collaborative was first and foremost in response to the need for a professional studio space for the three co-founders. “We started by looking for a place to work, but also with the idea of bringing UMass to the down-town by having small shows and student events,” she said.
“Early on we held a postcard fundraiser downtown — people loved it, it was very successful. The community’s reaction to the postcard show sealed the prospect of establishing ARC in downtown Lowell,” said Manseau. “We continue to help out with fundraising events for the students — whether a postcard show or silent auctions, we find a way to incorporate fundraising events for the students into our programming.”
The founders’ vision was to give the students experiences that could not be accommodated in a classroom setting or within the curriculum of the university. “We try to make a difference, to make a difference to our students and to the city of Lowell,” stated Mishol. “By expanding their lessons down here, giving them a chance to think like professional artists, allowing them to exhibit in a professional space, having them interact with the community and the city, you provide things that really can’t be replicated in the classroom.
“Nothing could be more experiential than making a painting or drawing, and an extension of that is when artists put their work into the world. That was the thinking originally – we could really offer more experiences not only to the students, but to the Lowell community as well. It gives opportunity for discourse that students miss once they leave school. That’s significant. ARC has become a hub as students are able to come here for these shows, meet the artists, see their colleagues, and reconnect with each other. It gives them an opportunity for a continuing, ongoing dialog. It’s all part of a larger process.”
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