FLUX.

It’s Not Goodbye, It’s Cya!

After a month hiatus, I have decided to shelf flux for a bit.

Why?

-Life happens.  Lots of changes, lots of growth, lots of development.  I realized I post about all these interesting things in the city and then I don’t even get to go to half of them myself.  I need to start getting out there, start living, start painting more, start coding less, start emersing myself in the city and the culture.

I need to start picking up new skills and “diversifying my portfolio”(I’ve been in finance too long) so that when I open up an art gallery someday, which I will-I will feel equipped to make it a successful and healthy one.

ps. did you know there is a flux community in California, and a collective in Rhode Island?! jfc.-sigh-You try and be creative…..

Anyway-I’ll be back. Not in a creepy terminator cyborg kind of way, but I’ll be back tinkering on flux or in some other creative incarnation. promise.  Now, don’t shed a tear—I’ll be that (STUNNING) doe-eyed girl double fisting wine* and talking your ear off at the next open studio.

Xo-Liz.

*make sure to say hi and that i get home safe. ;)

Upcoming Events for the Week of December 7th

Baby It’s Cold Outside
When: December 05- December 19, 2009
Where: Washington Street Art Center
321 Washington Street
Somerville, MA 02143
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: ““Baby It’s Cold Outside” presents curator and artist EL Putnam’s vision for a new type of feminist discourse in the arts that involves a variety of media, from painting to performance, a multitude of viewpoints, and works by men, women, or anygenderwhatever.
This show is about how each artist does/does not define, dismiss, despise, and/or devote her- or himself to “feminism.” This show is about creating a dialogue concerning gender in art, with emphasis being placed on ambiguity and confusion. Instead of creating a series of vagina monologues, the works in this exhibit presents a cacophonic version of gender discussion in all of its messy glory. Artists were encouraged to offend, but to “just be mindful as to whom you piss off.” “

Tocsin
When: Deccember 05-December 20, 2009
Where: Engine Company 40 Firehouse
260 SumNer Street,
East Boston, MA 02128
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “(tok-sin)
n. 1. a. An alarm sounded on a bell.
n. 1. b. A bell used to sound an alarm.
n. 2. A warning; an omen.

A non-narrative multimedia installation based on the
simple tone as basic and effective means of communication.”

Fountain Street Friday Stroll
When: December 11, 2009 - 6:00-9:00pm
Where: Fountain Street Studios
59 Fountain Street
Framingham, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Meet artists and view their work during these informal strolls. Please contact individual artists for their schedules. “

Paper and Fabric
When: December 12- December 13, 2009
Where: Michelle Willey
8 Union Park Street
South End, Boston
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Italian-born Angela Liguori is an accomplished artist with a love of typography, design and quality materials. She will be at our store selling letterpress holiday cards, hand bound and limited edition books, as well as fine Italian cotton ribbon and twine.
Native New Englander, Jill Bent, designs bags and pillows from vintage and all natural fabrics. All items are designed and sewn by Jill in her studio and are one of a kind. Her work incorporates simple design and unique fabric. Each season, Jill offers a small collection of unique handmade items and postcards created exclusively by her.”

SOWA Holiday Market
When: December 12-December 13, 2009
Where: Cathedral HS Gymnasium
74 Union Park Street, Boston MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “A unique holiday gift show featuring 80 artists and designers from around New England”

Upcoming Events for the Week of November 30th

Sorry last week was a no-go for event updates, and next week may prove to be a bit sparse as well.  With the holidays coming up, my JOB job has been more hectic and flux has been left in its wake.  Again, so sorry.

BUT—on the bright side, lots of fun happenings these next few weeks in terms of Holiday Art $ales and the likes that I thought I would share.

Hope you get to make it to some, buy me something nice!

Patterned Tactic(s)
When: November 30-December 11, 2009
Where:
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Patterned Tactic(s) brings together the work of Megan McNaught, abstract painter, and Christina Pitsch, sculptor. Both artists are linked by their use of pattern and repetition both in the process of making and in the finished imagery of the work.”

*note: not a Holiday sale, just thought it was a rad not-to-miss event

12x12 Holiday Show
When: December 02-20, 2009
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Contemporary artwork, 12 x 12” or smaller, by Bromfield gallery artists and guest artists from the Greater Boston area. Priced from $100-$500, the work ranges from painting and drawing to printmaking and photography.”

The December Salon-Affordable Art Sale
When: December 3-6, 10-13, 2009
Where: The Nave Gallery
Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church
155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Featuring the work of over fifty artists, this annual exhibit provides a unique opportunity to add to or start your own art collection while supporting one of Somerville’s most innovative art spaces.
This year’s artists include: June August, John Bailey, Susan Berstler, Kelvy Bird, Carol Blackwell, Pilar Botawa, Claire Bowers, Louise Briggett, Ron Brunelle, Matt Carrano, Richard Chase, David Columbo, Ira Cummings, Stan Czesniuk, Cathleen Daley, Michelle Fiorenza, Jen Flores, David Fox, Joerg Fraske, Melissa Glick, Elizabeth Goodnow, Edith Green, Stephen Horne, Nadia Widawski Irish, Jenny Jope, Karine Kadiyska, Charlotte Ellen Kaplan, Alexis Kochka, Zoe Langosy, Alvina Laudani, Maureen Liberatore, Wen Xzong Lin, Keith Maddy, Lee Mandell, Ricardo Maldonado, Sarah Meyers, Ted Ollier, Christopher Poteet, Susan Rice, Anne Russell, Margaret Ann Ryan, Rani Sarin, Annie Smidt, Lisa L.Sears, Rachel Silber, Annie Silverman, Cynthia Staples, Tim Stigliano, Mark Teiwes, William Turville, V Van Sant, Martha Wakefield, Laura E.White, Timothy Wilson, and more …”

Small Works
When: December 03-30, 2009
Where: Galatea Fine Arts
460 B Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA. 02118 
How: Official Website
Cost: Free

Pet Aristocracy Cocktail Party Opening
When: December 04,2009 / 7:00pm
Where: 251 Newbury Street
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “A collection of Pet Aristocracy pet portraits will be on display for a few weeks in December at BLVD. Get yourself dressed up and come out for wine, snacks, music and paintings. Dave Curry and Jonah Sacks will be playing viola and cello as Empty House Cooperative. Original paintings and prints will be for sale.”

Fort Point Arts Community Holiday Sale
When: December 4, 5 and 6, 2009
Where: 12 Farnsworth Street
Fort Point, Boston
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “The Fort Point Arts Community Holiday sale is a unique
opportunity for artful holiday shopping, or to just treat yourself!
All in one convenient location, at Made in Fort Point/Art at 12:
***20 talented local artists will be set up, displaying their wares over the three-day event.
***The newly expanded FPAC Store will be open featuring works of art, craft and design by over seventy-five fort point artists.
***Art at 12 presents SMALL WORKS: artworks by Fort Point Arts Community members from December 4th through the holidays.

Find jewelry, paintings, prints, pottery artists’ books, photography, handcrafted clothing and accessories, furniture, lighting, prints, holiday ornaments, cards, and much, much more! Something for every budget.”

Rifrákt Holiday Art Sale!
When: Saturday December 05, 2009 / 3:00-8:00pm
Where: 345 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Rifrákt will host a Holiday Art Sale featuring work by Boston’s most promising emerging artists:
Siobhan Bledsoe, Nick Day,Colby Drasher, Amanda Gallagher, Sarah Gay, Stephanie Goode, Carolyn Hulbert, Jessica Lewis, Heather MacLeod, Aaron Morris, Chris Oneil
Pieces, $10 each!”

Upcoming Events for the Week of November 16th

First Exhibition at Gallery Benoit
When: November 06- November 30, 2009
Where: Gallery Benoit
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Gallery Benoit is pleased to present the first exhibition with the gallery by acclaimed artists Magne Furuholmen, Tim Kent, Robert Merton, Wilson Parry, Madeleine Paternot and Mette Tronvoll. This exhibition will coincide with the launch of Gallery Benoit in Boston’s premier art district SoWa, with a public opening reception from 6-9 pm on Friday, November 6.
Norwegian artist Furholmen’s monotypes and sculptures are on display throughout Europe and Asia. Based in New York City, Kent is a visual artist who recently completed a mural commission for the new Matteo Thun-designed Hugo Boss Concept Store in New York’s trendy meatpacking district. Merton’s abstract and gestural paintings, with their chalky, organic hues and thick impastos, are impressionistic and calming in appearance but contain undercurrents of melancholic introspection. Boston’s Parry concentrates on multi-media to create vibrant oil and acrylic paintings with a recent series focusing on men with masks and fragmented bodies. Swiss artist Paternot’s paintings are mainly in charcoal, Chinese shellac (crushed beetle shells) and gold pigment, delicately staining the canvas, while the main themes are figurative, revolving around the female face and body. Tronvoll, also based in Norway, has studied art in New York, Berlin, Paris and Cologne. She specializes in photography and has shown her work in museums and festivals globally.”

Streaking- Carrie Gundersdorf & Melissa Oresky
When: November 07- December 05, 2009
Where: The Distillery, 516 E. 2nd Street
South Boston, MA 02127
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Proof Gallery is pleased to present Streaking, an exhibition of works on paper by Melissa Oresky and Carrie Gundersdorf.
A flash: of insight, of flesh, of color, of image. Streaking engages forms of movement both physical and perceptual. Exploiting the indexical nature of drawing as a document of movement, the works in Streaking locate the artist and viewer in a historical continuum of the ultra-present and evident past. Resolute abstraction as well as an investment in color to convey transcendental meaning are the hallmarks of this conversation.
Gundersdorf’s colored pencil drawings reference the paths traced by stars in their travels across the sky from earth. The presence of her gestural mark collapses the space/time of the image and the making of it into a singular composite space.
Oresky’s large series of collaged drawings, Variant, acts as a streak of disjointed animated moments. The collaged fragments which range from images of muscle cells to trompe l’oeil shadows are constructed into radial disturbances, implosions, or explosions on a linear, grained field, creating a series of analog low-fi moments. Each drawing a muscular twitch, neural firing, or tiny cosmic event, the sequence becomes an exercise in rhythm and syntax- a sequence of wordless thoughts. “

A Very Beautiful Art Show for You
When: November 09- November 21, 2009
Where: Meme Gallery
55 Norfolk Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Jeff huckleberry received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is the son and grandson of far more practical people, which he tries to express in his art. His spirit animal is a chicken crossed with a bear.
“For this “show” at MEME Gallery in Cambridge, MA I will try to come up with something to do…no, that isn’t right. I will make a few performances for a few individual people, for video and then I will “show” these videos to whom ever would like to see them. So the “show” is really at the end of the show, on November 21st at 7pm. But then again, there is also the showing of the making of the “show” which I very much believe is just as relevant as the “show” at the end of the showing of the making of the show…I’ll post a schedule for the work times so that if you would like, you may come down and watch that part of the process.”

Icons and Altars
When: November 13-December 13, 2009
Where:The New Art Center
61 Washington Park
Newtonville , MA 02460
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “icons + altars features work by 106 regional artists who have created work specially for this exhibition + sale to benefit the New Art Center. Artists respond to the themes of “icons” + “altars” in many media including painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, ceramics, + sculpture.”

Diane Ayott: Upstream
When: November 17- December 19, 2009
Where: Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery
23 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Ayott’s paintings integrate lush, vivid colors in sophisticated structures of dots, dashes, lines, circles, ovals and loops. Describing her most recent work, the artist says, “the intensity of color relationships has deepened, generating stronger spatial depth within the images.” In addition, the rich colors and evocative depth of field conjure emotional responses and even, with the assistance of titles and occasional collage elements, hints of narrative. Ayott’s paintings and works on paper engage viewers viscerally, with textured paint application and persistent repetition, and intellectually, with considerations for relationships of color and form. “


Henry Schwartz: The Eternal Footman
When: November 21, 2009 - February 28, 2010
Where: Danforth Museum of Art
123 Union Avenue
Framingham, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “The Danforth Museum of Art continues its commitment to Boston Expressionism with this important exhibit of complex works that depict human emotion by Henry Schwartz. This along with shows by Gerry Bergstein and David Aronson are part of the Museum’s on going exploration of work by Boston Expressionist painters, beginning with Jack Levine: Political Discourse in 2005, Hyman Bloom: A Spiritual Embrace in 2006, Arthur Polonsky: Thief of Light in 2008, and Jason Berger: Directed Vision in 2009. Visit the Museums Boston Expressionism page (here) to learn more about this important artistic tradition in Boston painting. “

Inside Out Art Sale 2009
When: November 18- November 22, 2009 (times vary)
Where: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
230 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “InsideOut, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s celebrated annual sale. Once a year we let the public in and the artwork out. Thousands of pieces of fine art from one of the best art schools in the country. Student pieces intermingled with works by SMFA alumni and affiliated artists including Mike and Doug Starn, Nan Goldin and Ellsworth Kelly among others.  Besides being an exclusive opportunity to add these works to your collection, InsideOut is the largest fundraiser for the SMFA. Every purchase will support scholarships, making it possible for students to forge new directions in art.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see such a large breadth of original work. You’ll find paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, new media and more. And maybe even a new outlook on life.”

Upcoming Events for the Week of November 9th

John Randall Nelson, Candace Walters, Arthur Simms
When: November 01-November 30, 2009
Where: Clark Gallery
145 Lincoln Road
PO Box 339
Lincoln, MA 01773
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Clark Gallery is honored to announce the exhibition of recent work by John Randall Nelson, sculpture by Arthur Simms, and new paintings and mixed media works by Candace Walters from November 3 through 28, 2009.  This will be the inaugural exhibition of Nelson and Simms’ works in the Boston region, and Walters’ first solo exhibition at the gallery in nearly a decade.  All are welcome to join the artists for an opening reception on Saturday, November 7th from 4-6pm.
John Randall Nelson has worked within the traditions of American Folk Art since the early 1990’s.  Pursuing painting and drawing with mixed media collage materials, Nelson combines and melds identifiable imagery with text and opaque abstract surfaces and textures.  In Nelson’s hands, iconic American forms (white diner coffee cups, candy kisses, and fruit-laden trees) are transformed into contemporary and conceptual windows into Nelson’s ironic and often humorous compositions.
Nelson’s work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the country and abroad.  His work is included in the collections of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Tamarind Institute, and numerous corporate collections.  He earned his MFA from the Herberger College of Fine Arts, Arizona State University in 1995 and resides in Tempe, Arizona.
Arthur Simms creates compelling sculptures influenced by his personal experiences, provoking viewers to contemplate memory, cross-cultural exchange, and spiritual and physical transitions.  Simms was born in Jamaica and now lives in Brooklyn, where he collects the skateboards, bottles, toys, and other cast-off materials used in his work.  Seemingly precariously stacked objects are obsessively wrapped in knotted wire or twine, applying an element of abstraction and sense of sophistication to what may otherwise be mistaken as a heap of junk.  Critics have noted that Simms integrates elements of modernism, Australian Aboriginal art, and the domestic crafts of the Caribbean.”

Glyphs / Constructions and Works on Paper
When: November 04-November 28, 2009
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: ” Based on doodles in her son’s high school notebooks, these paintings and wood constructions by gallery artist Adria Arch recreate a secret, indecipherable language that she found crammed between lecture notes. An installation of wall constructions—rich with color, in playful juxtapositions—fills one gallery, while 10-foot-tall paper scrolls festoon the second space.”

New Gallery Alert!-Galatea Fine Art Gallery
When: November 04-November 28, 2009
Where: Galatea Fine Art
Galatea Fine Arts,
460 B Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA. 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Boston’s newest contemporary cooperative art gallery in the SOWA district at 460 B Harrison Ave. , promoting and exhibiting a variety of artists based in and around the Boston area.
Join us for our grand opening celebration Friday, November 6th, 6 to 8pm 2009!
The inaugural members’ exhbition will be on view in the gallery from November 4th through the 28th.”

Mosaic Voices
When: November 05-December 13, 2009
Opening Reception: November 08, 2009 4:00-6:00pm
Where: Somerville Museum
1 Westwood Road, Somerville, MA 02143 
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “10 artists. 10 voices.”

No Man’s Land - Bonnell Robinson | Dana Mueller
When: November 05-December 05, 2009
Where: The AIB Gallery at University Hall
1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
How: Official Website
Cost: Free

CLOUDCUCKOOLAND
When: November 06-December 18, 2009
Where: MFJ
65 Thayer Street-Garden Level at 450
Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “MFJ is pleased to present the work of Los Angeles based artist Mark Schoening.  Since leaving Boston just over a year ago for the west coast, Schoening returns with a new series of work that embodies his experience while working in Southern California.
Cloudcuckooland refers to an unrealistic state where everything seems to be perfect.  The concept is at the center of the works construction.  A palette of neons and metallics distracts, attracts, and separates multiple layers of an information explosion.  Instability and chaos have become the norm.  Creating a world in which one must remain partially unaware of reality in order to exist.”

Natural Light
When: November 06-November 28, 2009
Where: Walker Contemporary
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “My work illustrates a fantastic landscape. It represents nature’s subtle way of dealing with the peculiar aspects in its relationship with mankind. A giant glow-in-the-dark heart, or a pile of precious gems tells us that we are loved, just as blood squirting from an oak tree trunk says, all is not well. I am inspired by my conversation with the landscape, I imagine long monologues when pine forests make me laugh and mountains test my patience.
My paintings are created with a photochemical process known as cyanotype. The cyanotype is a civil war era process that when exposed to sunlight and developed gives a vibrant blue image. I paint with this light sensitive medium directly on paper or canvas. With everyday items such as baking soda, bleach and peroxide I am able to achieve a range of colors and textures thru controlled chemical reactions. I repeat this process adding many layers until the image is fully realized, often finishing with watercolor painting or a collage element.
It’s not as nerdy as it sounds. “

Upcoming Events for the Week of October 26th

South Boston Open Studios
When: October 31-November 01, 2009
Where:”Public transportation is easy, take the Red Line to Broadway and walk East, or take the #7 City Point bus from South Station to Elkins St.”
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Artists and craftspeople of South Boston will open their doors to the public Saturday and Sunday, October 31st and November 1, 2009, as part of the annual South Boston Open Studios event. Visitors will be able to talk to and make purchases directly from the artists while touring the creative environments in which the artwork is produced. The weekend-long event also provides a great opportunity to sample many of this historic neighborhood’s restaurants, cafes, pubs, and retail shops.
Numerous disciplines will be represented throughout the dozens of participants, including: sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, photography, video, jewelry, ceramics, woodworking, fabric and performance art. Much of the work will be in-process and the artists will be on hand for questions and conversations. Participating organizations and galleries include The Distillery (which will showcase three galleries and over 50 artists) located at 516 East 2nd Street, King Terminal at 110 K Street & 570 E 1st Street, and Norman Crump Studio at 793 East Sixth Street.
The event is free to the public, rain or shine, noon to 6pm each day. “

The Shadow of Italy
When:October 29-November 28, 2009
Where:Rolly-Michaux Gallery
290 Dartmouth Street
Boston MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”“Italy - rich with artisanship, splendor and beauty - is part of my heritage, and has cast its influence upon my life and family. In this series, I have focused on the elusive shadow to accentuate and counterpoint the color, texture and feel of my photographic images.”

Fixed Chaos
When: October 30, 2009-January 23, 2010
Where:Montserrat Gallery
23 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:” In Fixed Chaos, ceramic sculptures embody contemporary ideas of provisional form and ambiguous content. The works allude to traditional ceramic forms, but break down the relationship with alternately blunt and surreal qualities.  A blue-and-white ware vase bloats in exaggerated lumps and saggy handles. Fu Lions with humorous grimaces flirt with tiny damsels in distress.  A Buddha head balances upside-down with a rose garnish, and a hobo clown’s eyes open in continual bloom in a claymation video.  The exhibition includes figural and abstract pieces by Mark Cooper, Ryan Mitchell, Saya Moriyasu and Allison Schulnik.”

Contemporary Outlook:Seeing Sounds
When: October 26, 2009-February 21, 2010
Where:Museum of Fine Arts
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Avenue of the Arts
Boston, Massachusetts
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Technology has rendered music more accessible and pervasive than ever before. MP3 players are omnipresent; every cell phone can make a statement about the owner’s musical taste. Music is everywhere, and in the process has become both more public and more private. We all travel through life with our own soundtrack—sometimes others can hear it; sometimes it’s ours alone.
Visual artists, however, have been inspired by music throughout history. They have responded by transforming something that is arguably intangible, into visual, physical form. “Seeing Songs” presents an eclectic mix of work—mainly from the Museum’s collections—that draws on music as inspiration, focusing on abstract as well as representational art and connections to musical forms as varied as classical, jazz, and pop. From lyrical works on paper by Wassily Kandinsky and a painting by Stuart Davis that depicts music as gesture and improvisation, to recent videos by Gillian Wearing and Candice Breitz that explore the relationship between pop stars and their fans, this exhibition brings together an international group of artists in whose work we see songs.”

Ben Norris: American Modernist, 1910-2006
When:October 26-November 14, 2009
Where:Childs Gallery
169 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”This retrospective spans the career of the artist, from his early impressions of Paris to painterly California landscapes and abstracted Hawaiian vistas, wrapping up with figurative works and dreamscapes painted in New York.”

Upcoming Events for the Week of October 19th

Where are We?
When:October 15-November 04, 2009
Where:The Chazen Gallery at Wheeler
228 Angell Street
Providence, RI 02906
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”The Chazan Gallery at Wheeler is showing an exhibition of figurative work entitled Where Are We? by artists Clara Lieu, Eric Sung, Julie Gearan and Brian O’Malley from October 15 to November 4, 2009. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Gallery Night, Thursday, October 15, from 5 – 7 p.m. The public is invited.
Clara Lieu’s large drawings are done in lithographic crayon on multiple translucent layers to “investigate ways to visually represent the emotional and physical experience of individual isolation in groups. The drawings depict figure groups wading in water to portray loneliness as the experience of feeling unseen and unknown within a group.” Lieu has an MFA degree from the New York Academy of Art and a BFA from RISD. She has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and The Art Institute of Boston, and more recently been a critic and lecturer at Wellesley and RISD and has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Eric Sung sees his images as “photographic relics, captured as the participant enacts a prescribed ceremony. Influenced by Taoism and Buddhism, the interaction of ritual performances, matter, and location describes the act of transformation. The long exposures ensure both the suspension of sequenced movement and the disappearance of other elements.” Born in Korea, Sung has been a resident of the US since 1993 and has exhibited his work in several solo and group exhibitions. He holds an MFA from Indiana University and is currently an Asst Professor of Photography at Providence College.
Julie Gearan’s recent paintings “explore and visually define the liquid nature of the human experience… My subjects are drawn from life and memory, and it is often the observation of a small domestic moment that will inspire a greater theme.” Gearan holds a BFA from Tyler School of Art and an MFA from Indiana University with studies at Yale, Temple and the Art Students League. She has shown her work in numerous exhibitions and she is the recipient of several grants, including a Rhode Island State Council of the Arts fellowship in 2007.
Brian O’Malley’s small ink drawings are part of a larger series entitled Survey of Human Activity. The drawings “engage with human activities, gestures, emotions, fantasy” and explore “how these elements illuminate stories/narratives.” O’Malley holds an MFA from the University of Miami and a BFA from the University of Rhode Island. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and he is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Rhode Island.”


Second Nature
When:October 16-November 29, 2009
Where:Provincetown Art Association and Museum
460 Commercial Street
Provincetown, MA 02657
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Vico Fabbris, Susan Lyman, Michael Mazur, and Nathalie Miebach-The four artists in this exhibition explore contemporary responses to nature, re-interpreting Hans Hofmann’s dictum, declared in 1950: “The creative process lies not in imitating, but in paralleling nature-translating the impulse received from nature into the medium of expression, thus vitalizing this medium.”“


Mechanical Migration; A Flight of Fancy
When: October 16 - November 22, 2009
Where:Gallery 263
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Miniature cranks, pulleys and music boxes bring to life the images and characters in these mechanical collages; Erica von Schilgen’s artworks are intended to be played with. The works stir a silent awe that quickly blooms to audible joy, and while hinting at Victorian collages, Cornell’s assemblages, surrealism, and early stopmotion animation, the works are their own imaginative contemporary creations. By using vintage magazine images, many works in the show tend to bring back memories of a place, person or time that no longer exists.
The title piece of the show, “Flight of Fancy”, features a young girl climbing on piles of huge green peas and flying a living kite while birdlike creatures beckon her kite in unison. The largest piece is a family portrait of sorts in which five siblings and various animals come alive amid a dream-like landscape as they engage in the task of catching fully articulated mechanical butterflies. Please come in and join us on this mechanical migration, on this flight of fancy… “


Make A Wish
When: October 20-November 14, 2009
Where: 119 Gallery
119 Chelmsford St
Lowell MA 01851
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”A three-channel video projection, Make a Wish combines images of thunder storms and water with an accompanying soundtrack of voiced concerns to envelop the gallery in an electrical storm of uncertainty. Watery surfaces spill with a myriad of visions that form a layered collage of contemporary troubles. Mixing real and virtual imagery, Dumas creates multiple points of view that redefine domestic, political, ecological, social, and economic ideas.
“My work addresses psychologically charged situations, while exploring the language and its inventive uses, to visually translate aspects of human behaviour and consciousness. This takes form in the metaphorical situations I create, in which I perform, film, or use my sculptures as theatre or as actors.” — Dumas
Dumas’ installation is intended to empower us eliciting our resolve in the face of real and conjured threats. Like the artist, we are to summon our own sense of individual identity as a rudder to navigate through confusing circumstances and environments.
A Canadian sculptor and multi-media artist, Denise Dumas investigates boundaries and identity. As an immigrant, she is keenly aware of the borders and intersections of cultural, social and political interaction. Dumas believes that reality changes according to the environment and social context that we inhabit. She finds that current economic ills and political fears have created an insidious climate of insecurity that permeates our daily lives. Dumas’ video installation is a metaphor for this troubled climate, her stormy environment mirroring the unsettling times in which we live.”


‘Geomorphics’-Changing Art for a Changing Landscape
When: October 23-November 22, 2009
Where:Nave Gallery
PO Box 43600
Somerville, MA 02143
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Nave Gallery presents the work of 13 contemporary artists investigating landscapes and their changes. The effects of human activity on these fragile spaces is questioned and depicted. The exhibit includes abstract painting, photography, and installation. Curated by Karl Gustafson. Artists: Joan Barker, Jason Burch, Kay Canavino, Cathleen Daley, GroundView, Julie Jankowski, Sarah Meyers, Ted Ollier, Christopher Poteet, Doug Purnell, Alicenne Reid, Blake Roberts, Noah Wilson.”

Upcoming Events for the Week of October 12th

Queer Animals
When:September 17-November 13, 2009
Where:13 Forest Gallery
167A Massachusetts Avenue  
Arlington, MA 02474
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:” Writer Charles Mortimer got it right in his 1947 book of children’s verses Some Queer Animals and Why when he declared “I think by now it’s pretty clear, most animals are somehow queer.” The work selected for the show ranges from Bren Bataclan’s cozy cartoon characters to Ann Smith’s whale constructed with the detritus of the modern age including old windshield wipers and typewriter parts.
Resa Blatman will be among the artists in Queer Animals who depicts animal personalities. In her large-scale painting Aphrodite’s Garden, two great herons sit atop an abundance of plant life, looking off to the side with regal detachment from the viewer. Calm and quiet, the painting captures the assured soul of one of North America’s greatest birds.
In stark contrast to her work are a number of personifications. In the drawing Brotherhood of the Powdered Wing, for instance, Joe Keinberger evokes the spirit of Egon Schiele with his image of an oddly solitary insect. Bundled in fur and holding a candlestick, the subject makes its way through the dark with the apparent trepidation of humans who, unlike insects, have an innate fear of the night.
Book artist and printmaker Peter Madden’s work Icarus, retells the myth of the man and his son who plunged to their death while attempting to fly on wax-and-feather wings. This strongly vertical and delicately stitched work presents a dispassionate sun, a torrent of waves and, between them, telltale feathers drifting silently downward. But all is not lost, painter Scott Chasse reminds us. In his work Burt Reynolds the subject is captured in his youthful glory. Hairy and smug yet still approachable, here the celebrity is a wolfen archetype as much embraced as feared by American culture.”

People, Places and Horses
When:October 01-October 22, 2009
Where: The Distillery Gallery
516 E 2nd St., first floor
Boston, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”The Distillery Gallery presents “People, Places & Horses,” a straight-forward exhibit of four Boston-based painters individually consistent in their chosen subject matter.
People:
Nick Ward’s close-up portraits reveal exaggerated elements of facial characteristics mixed with sparse use of text or vivid color as a backdrop. Each work is an uncontrived study of texture and form punctuated by the suggestion of everyday routine.
David Wooddell exhibits a clear appreciation of his predecessors and a mature, diligent work ethic by painting live models in a modernist manner. The focus of his rich, heavy-bodied figure studies balances between the subject and the individual brush stroke, resulting in luminous portrayals of the human form.
Places:
Aimee Belanger blurs the lines between imagination and reality with landscapes based on photographs, memories, and dreams. Her juxtaposition of stark architectural elements with colorful organic settings results in imagery of places that may or may not exist.
and Horses:
Monica Nydam’s “Horse Series” entertains the viewer with painterly renditions of snapshots involving the subject. While some pieces use thick linear brush strokes to create “pixelated” visions of the mare or stallion, others involve hints of distortion or motion. Each work shares a candid, stolen-moment quality with the next.”

Leslie Wilcox:Canniballistic
When: October 09-November 08, 2009
Where: Boston Sculptors Gallery
486 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Canniballistic carries dual connotations in the hands of Leslie Wilcox. While utilizing a sculptor’s prerogative to mutate
a previous sculptures’ materials onto new work, she simultaneously realigns the scale, bulk and opacity of each piece with
the sole purpose of locating its essence from within. Each of these unseen and incomplete works becomes drastically
transformed in the process. And rather than building from scratch or removing the unnecessary bits, she re-works each
piece until she finds the works’ only and best possible configuration; its’ guts or soul or essence.
The show’s installation also facilitates Wilcox’s intentions by showing both a “before” and “after” for each piece. Her wall
line drawing of the unseen work (the “before’) is juxtaposed near the finished new work (the “after’) to clearly follow her
thought process and compare incomplete idea with finished thought.”

Rebecca Chamberlain
When: October 15-November 14, 2009
Where:Judi Rotenberg Gallery
130 Newbury Street,
Boston MA 02116
How: Official Website
Cost: Free


Arlington Open Studios 2009
When: October 17-October 18, 2009
Where: Gibbs Center
41 Foster Street
Arlington, MA 02474
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Featuring 80 artists from Arlington & surrounding communities.
Artforms include: blown glass, collage, fiber arts, handcrafted paper and books, jewelry, mosaic, mixed media, oil painting, original poetry, photography, sculpture, sumi-e brush painting, watercolor, woodcuts, wood turning, and more…”

Upcoming Events for the Week of October 5th

Elements
When: October 02-October 29, 2009
Where:Montserrat College of Art Gallery
23 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”California-based sculptor Margaret Realica will be on view at Frame 301 during the month of October. Inspired by the transformative effect of contrasting elements, these sculptures repreent both modern technology and nostalgic imagert. These works are grounded in their ultra-modern characteristics: steel rods, gears and electrical parts, complemented by porcelain elements, in which Realica pursues the purest of organic forms.”

Making Connections: Contemporary Cuban Printmakers
When: October 02- November 22, 2009
Where:Laconia Gallery
433 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:” These prints offer humor, pain, honesty, truth. They show the ingenuity and dedication of 93 contemporary Cuban artists making outstanding art under difficult conditions. Continuing its history of international collaboration, the Boston Printmakers is proud to celebrate the richness of Cuban culture in conjunction with exhibitions at the Fuller Craft Museum and the Massachusetts College of Art. “


Pixilerations [v.6]
When:September 24- October 11, 2009
Where:RISD’s Sol Koffler Gallery
169 Weybosset St.
Providence RI
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Now in its sixth year, Pixilerations returns to showcase the work of an international array of cutting-edge new-media artists, animating Providence with interactive gallery installations, surround-sound electronic media concerts, experimental nightclub jams, special guest artist talks and video art screenings.”

This Comes from Within
When: October 05-October 16, 2009
Where:Medicine Wheel Productions
110 K St # 9
Boston, MA 02127
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Upon entering the gallery one is stuck by the power and emotion of the piece. You enter this dark world through a membrane of tulle and find yourself at the base of a glowing, larger than life dress of eggshell and papier-mâché. As your eyes adjust, the rest of the fecund environment reveals itself”

H.E.A.P. HQ
When: October 05-October 16, 2009
Where:Godine Gallery
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
621 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”H.E.A.P. HQ will acquire, archive, assemble and arrange every free object that can be found on Craigslist, in dumpsters, and on curbs for the duration of the two week exhibition. We intend to visualize the immense waste of our material wonderland by accumulating the often transient and invisible byproducts of the consumer world. This process-based installation will evolve each day and culminate in a closing reception in which each item will be reposted on Craigslist and offered free to the public.”

Mothers Expressing: Sharing the Work
When: October 6th - October 31st, 2009
Where: Axiom Gallery
141 Green Street
Boston MA, 02130
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Mothers Expressing: Sharing the Work is a creative process made visual. Nita Sturiale and Amber Davis Tourlentes share many things: the love of young motherhood, the sweat of taking care of others, and an indignation for the low value this job earns in the culture. This binds them to the histories and futures of caretakers everywhere. This exhibit is an introduction to their collaboration as well as an invitation to re-value the work and beauty of feeding, nurturing, cleaning, teaching, and scolding. Mothers Expressing: Sharing the Work presents photographic work by both artists, launches their social networking efforts, and invites you to sit down and talk to an expert about the work of caretaking.
Mothers Expressing: Sharing the Work asks how can online communities and social educational networking provide resources for “working” mothers as well as make the labor of raising children visible and valued; how can photography illuminate and build momentum; where can these discussions and interactions between care providers grow; and how can political action overcome differences in socio-economics, education and ethnic diversity?”