FLUX.

Upcoming Events for the Week of September 28th

Walking-A-Long
When: September 08 - October 16, 2009
Where: Foster Gallery
Noble and Greenough School
10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”In this new body of work—two new site-specific installations and a series of drawings—Boston-based artist Daniela Rivera continues to explore the purpose, function, and associated expectations of contemporary painting practice.  In the gallery space, paintings are installed on the floor rather than hanging on the walls; in the adjoining vaulted Arts Center Lobby, strips of sod soar vertically up a wall of windows.  Both offer a compelling visual testimony to the many ways in which Rivera’s preoccupation with baroque ornamentation and minimalism combine in a surprising and subtle series of moments.
The gallery floor is covered with a grid of square paintings of grass seen from an overhead view, each unique and closely observed.  The paintings illustrate Rivera’s interest in paint as a surface or skin and her expertise in creating illusion.  She connects paint and grass as two skin-like media that one can use to change and alter a surface.  Taking cues and inspiration from Richard Long’s performance-based “drawings” created by walking through grass, Rivera has arranged the installation so that the viewer can walk in a series of circles to view the paintings.  The piece becomes performative, as viewers mimic and repeat Long’s gestures.
Using grass as both a medium and a subject, Rivera also addresses the concept of “landscape” from an art historical perspective and from its contemporary social and cultural definition.  Rivera’s second installation, strips of growing grass sod, transforms a common product of the commercial and residential landscape industry, by upending its expected location (an interior, vertical space) but also its function.  Grass, so often considered a necessary part of the exterior function of a stereotypical American house, becomes purely ornamental, adding a flourish to the windows and losing all additional functionality (one can no longer walk on it).”

The Model Project
When:September 25 - October 27, 2009
Where: Sienna Gallery
80 Main Street
Lenox, MA 01240 USA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”The culmination of a two-year long project, this work engages and draws in the viewer through Nessim’s distinctive avant-garde style. Opulent jewels, bold colors, and classic beauty come together in these collages to make permanent an ethereal moment. Working with a photographer and model Nessim began this work as an extension of her recent large black and white figural works. The opportunity to collaborate and extend her vision resulted in a series of large aluminum prints. Precious and sleek, these works exemplify Nessim’s intensity and ability to render and communicate,  appropriating and elevating refined ornamentation.
Respected internationally for her groundbreaking use of the computer in the execution of fine art and illustration, Nessim will be honored September 26, 2009 as the first Artist Laureate of The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA A vital contributor and influential visionary in the art world over the past several decades, Barbara Nessim’s work lies on the cusp of art and illustration. A unique and determined career path has placed Nessim at the forefront of artists traversing these two worlds.  Nessim’s artwork is included in the many private and public collections including the permanent collections of The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C  and the Lund Konsthall, Lund, Sweden among others. Her illustrations have appeared in and on the covers of numerous publications including  Time, Rolling Stone and  Ms. Magazine.”

The Wedlock Project, Part 1 of 3
When:September 25-October 23, 2009
Where: Space 242
242 E. Berkeley St 2nd Floor
Boston MA, 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Artist team TTBaum and Michael Grohall present the multi-media exhibition Engagement that marks the beginning of The Wedlock Project. Engagement includes the photo series Bound To, the performance piece Romeos, and interactive elements. Further, invited guest artists Jay Critchley, Nathaniel Fink, Brian Halligan, Killer Banshee, and Luanne E Witkowski present their own variations on the definition of “engagement” through video installation, photography, graphite drawings and conceptual work.”

The Liberation of Superwoman
When: September 30-October 21, 2009
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Ave,
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Through a series of paintings and large charcoal drawings, gallery artist Gail Martin explores the possibility of self-liberation, albeit by somewhat extreme means.”

A Thousand Little Wishes
When: September 30-October 21, 2009
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Ave,
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”In her installation of miniature drawings and photographs, gallery artist Kathy A. Halamka brings to life the countless wishes expressed by people every day, through blogs, Facebook, poems and graffiti.”

Upcoming Events Between August 24, 2009 - September 06, 2009

Gelah Penn-Clash by Night
When:August 20-October 11, 2009
Where:Real Art Gallery
Hartford Connecticut
Directions
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/why:”Gelah Penn’s work is both sparse and substantial. Her site-specific installation presents jagged, three dimensional lines, shapes, and colors set against stark white walls. The unconventional materials used in her work include vinyl lanyard, monofilament, plastic mesh, rubber & vinyl tubing, plastic & Styrofoam balls, and upholstery needles.
Artist Statement:“In my recent work I explore the linear language of drawing in three-dimensional space using the lexicon of gestural abstraction. By manipulating colored monofilament and other tendril-like materials, I mean to construct a kind of substantive ephemerality, an accretion of marks and their shadows delineating maelstroms of visual noise; a luminous expanse in suspended animation, conjuring microscopic activity, arterial systems, dust, and weather.” “

Image/Imaged/Imaginary
When: August 21, 2009 - September 25, 2009
Where:Fort Point Artist Community
300 Summer Street M1 Boston MA 02210
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/why:”An exhibition of photographs, and objects by Providence artists Lauren Kalman and Millee Tibbs. The work explores the construction of the body through mediated photographic images. “

Jacob Ireland  - What (of Me) Can Only Be Seen by Others
When:September 04 - September 19, 2009 
Where: Gallery Meme
55 Norfolk Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
How: Official Website
Cost:  Free
What/why:”Jacob Robert Ireland, born 1986, Canada. Lives and works in Toronto. Ireland’s interests lie in occult theory, poetic logic, and melding lived experience with secondary sources to destabilize reality.
For the mixed media installation What (of Me) Can Only Be Seen by Others, Jacob Ireland draws inspiration from the life and work of occultist Sylvan J. Muldoon, who at an early age claimed to have began undergoing out-of-body experiences (OBE). Born in 1903 into a family interested in the occult, Muldoon was subsequently introduced to the phenomena known as astral projection. In 1929, Muldoon published the book The Projection of the Astral Body, writing most of the manuscript from his bed due to illness which had plagued him since childhood. As the first full volume on the subject, it details numerous ways to acheive and control OBE otherwise known as astral projection. Along with Muldoon’s writings, Ireland pulls from texts by the French writers Marcel Proust and Roland Barthes to create the central piece of the installation. Synthesizing excerpts from Muldoon’s The Projection of the Astral Body, Proust’s Swann’s Way (1913), and Barthes’ The Neutral (2005), the text presents prose seemingly written by a single author that describes an experience of disorientation, contemplation, and an encounter with the unknown. “

Christy Georg-Nautical Body
When:August 31 - September 30, 2009
Where:The Trustman Art Gallery
Main College Building, Fourth Floor
300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115-5898
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/why:”In “Nautical Body,” created for the Trustman Gallery, Georg, who is known for kinetic sound sculptures and sculptural apparatuses, has launched a new series that links art to maritime culture. Using materials and techniques familiar to sailors of yesteryear, Georg painstakingly knots rope and fashions witty sculptural objects that evoke Boston’s seafaring origins. Georg explains, “I make sculptural instruments and devices that function either actually, or metaphorically. Often created for use in a specific location or inspired by a particular historical account, their meticulous craftsmanship lends them authority as functional objects, but upon inspection may seem quite absurd, fetishistic, alchemical, or otherwise baffling.”

We are Made of Dreams and Bones: New Work by Claire Burke
When:August 31 - October 9, 2009
Where:Lynn Arts, Inc
25 Exchange Street
Lynn, MA 01901
How: Official Website
Cost: Free


Anna Hepler: Intricate Universe
When:August 22 – October 17, 2009
Where:Montserrat Gallery
23 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/why:”Portland-based artist Anna Hepler uses simple materials to create sophisticated prints, drawings, and elaborate three-dimensional spatial constructs. Over the past five years her artistic obsession with the movement of particles suspended in space has taken on impressive proportions. Sources of inspiration include ephemeral natural phenomena such as flocks of birds, fireworks, dandelion whorls. She combines this with an interest in skeletal frameworks either from the natural or built environment. Says Hepler, “I am interested in portraying fleeting moments of suspended or built geometries.” By combining visually cohesive forms, such as the oval or the sphere, and filling them with chaotic structures, Hepler takes on the duality she sees in nature’s systems. The resulting installation is incredibly elegant and filled with a peaceful, Zen-like energy.
”

Upcoming Events for the Week of August 17th

A Forest in Mind: Mixed-media Paintings by Terry Boutelle
When:August 17-September 13, 2009
Where:Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall
Arnold Arboretum
How:Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Terry Boutelle’s vision of trees and forests is shaped by memory, meditation, and imagination. Initially inspired by birch trees in the Arboretum, Boutelle has moved beyond realism into psychological and emotional realms. Using mixed media such as acrylic, pastel, wax, and plaster, and often incorporating natural objects such as leaves, twigs, and seeds, she creates paintings that are at times richly textured and at other times, smooth and veiled. Her images evoke mystery and yearning for things we cannot quite grasp.
Largely self-taught, Terry Boutelle has also studied at the Fine Arts Work Center, Massachusetts College of Art, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is the current president of the Jamaica Plain Artists Association and a painting instructor at the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts.”

Women’s Caucus for Art “Sense(of Humor)” and “Heat Wave”
When: August 17-August 29, 2009
Closing Reception: Saturday, Aug 29, 3-5 pm
Where:Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Ave,
Boston, MA 02118
How:Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Gallery I:Who says feminists don’t have a sense of humor! Juried by Carolyn Muskat of Muskat Studios, this group show includes work by the Boston chapter of the WCA, dedicated to creating opportunities for and expanding recognition of women in the arts.
Gallery II:Hot color, hot vibes, hot flashes. In the spirit of the season, this sizzling group show features members of the WCA, Boston.”

You’ll never return, yet you will go back-New Work by Meghan Bernal
When:August 17-August 29, 2009
Reception:August 28th 6-9pm
Where: Washington Street Art Center
321 Washington Street
Somerville, MA 02143
How:Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”The Washington Street Art Center presents the opening of photographer, collagist Meghan Bernal’s new work, “You’ll never return yet you will go back” on Saturday, August 1st. Using Polaroids, old slides, journals, box collages, and large prints, Bernal explores the way her cameras play a romantic and twisted role in her daily existence. Her relationships with these cameras impact the experiences with her surroundings and human interactions more than she’s ever really let on. “You’ll never return yet you will go back” will be on view through August 29, 2009 with a closing reception on Friday, August 28th.
“Just by opening the shutter of one of my many cameras I am able to release tension in my own body. There also moments when using cameras to get through something creates more of that tension. I am a different person when I am away versus when I am at home. The only constant I have are the ways I document where I am. I am in love running off to a new place while knowing I will eventually return to a comfortable and somewhat stable environment. When I’m in my apartment I can examine what happened while I was away and when I am away I can examine what it is I left behind. The two extremes tend to dance and battle in my head and in my pieces.”
In “You’ll never return yet you will go back” Bernal attempts to shed light on traveling to places in the apartment and city she lives in, nearby cities, and countries thousands of miles away. Using cameras and the interactions with the people met along the way, she figures out what gets her through it all, why she was there, and what makes her want to go back.”

“Simply the Best” 2009
When:August 17-October 18, 2009
Where:Courtyard Gallery
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston
How:Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Each year, “Simply the Best” presents award-winning works from the previous academic year by Museum School students. On view this year are a selection of works that received special recognition in the Boit Awards, Dana Pond Competition, Yousuf Karsh Prize in Photography, and the Sumner Cooper Award.”

Back from London with a new beast in tow.  Meet Sadie-Mae:



A southern belle who has been a time/energy wrangler, but also an inspiration to put more time/energy into the things I love.

Hope you have a chance to check out some of this week’s offerings.

xx

Upcoming Events for the Week of June 29th-???

The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art
When: June 06-September 07, 2009
Where:DeCordova Museum
51 Sandy Pond Rd
Lincoln, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Adults$12.00/Seniors $8.00/College Students $8.00/Youth (6-18)   $8.00
What/Why:”This summer DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum hosts the award-winning traveling show The Old, Weird America, the first museum exhibition to explore the widespread resurgence of folk imagery and mythic history in recent art from the United States. Organized by Toby Kamps, Senior Curator at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the exhibition illustrates the relevance and appeal of folklore to contemporary artists, as well as the genre’s power to illuminate ingrained cultural forces and overlooked histories. The exhibition borrows its inspiration and title—with the author’s blessing—from music and cultural critic Greil Marcus’ 1997 book of the same title that examines the influence of folk music on Bob Dylan and The Band’s seminal album, The Basement Tapes.”


Don’t Hassle Me I’m Local
When: June 29-July 05, 2009
Where: Fourth Wall Project
132 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”From June 27th through July 6th, Fourth Wall Project will be presenting a collection of new work by Nick Z entitled, “Don’t Hassle Me I’m Local.” This exhibition will consist of new paintings, works on paper, objects, as well as a site specific installation.
Nick Z is a mixed media artist who uses his drawings as a foundation to make work that ranges from small scale pen and inks to large scale on site installations.
He grew up in Massachusetts a skateboarding spraypainting teen who also was into exploring abandoned environments and the woods. In college he went on to study painting and printmaking at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Since graduating with a BA in 2001 he has spent time living in the cities of Boston and New York making artwork, traveling, and exhibiting globally from Hong Kong to Montreal, Canada and extensively on the East Coast, most notably a two person exhibition alongside Kai Althoff at Gladstone Gallery in New York.
Nick Z has attracted the likes of commercial clients such as PEPSI co., Converse, and even Neiman Marcus with his eye catching youthful aesthetics.
His work embodies a defiant punk kid-like attitude mixed with subjects of wonder, hope, wants, needs, paranoia, physicality, and love. Nick Z’s work was recently published in the 2009 Northeast edition of New American Paintings.”


Air and Ocean
When:July 01-August 01, 2009
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”In these new paintings, Jennifer Day explores the relationships between liquid phenomena in large-scale oils in black and white.
While Day’s work explores the mystery of natural phenomena, it communicates a vastness of air, water and space that suggests something has just happened, or is about to.
Few elements are solid; most are fugitive. The imposing shapes suggest an infinity which is both elegant and overwhelming.”


Above and Beyond
When: July 03-August 03, 2009
Where: Three Graces
105 Market Street
Portsmouth, NH
03801
How: Official Website
Cost: Free


Art Around Town
When: Friday July 03, 2009
Where: Portsmouth, NH
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”As a thriving community rich in history, Portsmouth retains and honors its past while continuously cultivating an ebullient, exciting contemporary art scene. Within its early-nineteenth century brick facades, cobblestone sidewalks, and urban streetscapes, the collective Portsmouth art galleries represent the work of international and national artists from as distant as Europe, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles and as near as regional New England. The broad scope of these gallery exhibitions offer you the representational and recognizable, as well as the abstract and avant-garde.
Whether it’s your destination for dinner or a summer sojourn, this prestigious community built upon arts and culture will satiate your cravings for original art, food, music, and fashion. The first Friday of every month, downtown Portsmouth celebrates its inspired, intimate urban community with big city style by presenting its Art Round Town gallery walk.


Gardner After Hours: Legends
When: Thursday July 16 5:30-9:30pm
Where: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
280 The Fenway
Boston MA 02115
How: Official Website
Cost: $12 Adults/ $10 Seniors/ $5 College Students/ Free for Members
What/Why:”Explore paintings and works of art of fantastical myths and legends.
Courtyard Music: Soul Clap spins from the courtyard all night long.
Talks: Discover one of the museum’s most mythical paintings - Europa; chat with museum staff about some of the myths surrounding Isabella.
Game: True or False? See how well you know the Gardner - what’s myth, what’s reality?
Sketching: Drop by the galleries and sketch for a while, from 6-9pm.”


Treasures From the Boston Athenaeum: Summer Installation 2009
When: Now through August 28, 2009
Where: Library of the Boston Athenæum
10½ Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”The paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, and manuscripts in this summer installation draw entirely from the Athenæum’s collections and add to the wealth of objects already on display on the first floor of the building.
Over forty artists are represented, ranging from Italian and Scottish to American, and from the 16th century to the present. “


Celebrating Kyoto: Modern Arts from Boston’s Sister City
When: Now through September 07, 2009
Where: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Avenue of the Arts
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
How: Official Website
Cost: Members FREE/Adults $17/Seniors and Students 18 and older $15/Youths 7-17 $6.50
What/Why:”Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston-Kyoto Sister City relationship at this vibrant exhibition focusing on contemporary ceramics and prints created by artists in Kyoto and the surrounding Kansai region. Included are ceramics on loan from private collections, including the magnificent porcelain vase above, Vertical Flower (2007) by Sakurai Yasuko, and ceramics and prints from the Museum’s collection. In addition, contemporary textiles by four Kyoto artists illustrate the rich melding of traditional Japanese textile traditions with innovative processes and methods.
”

……

So, I’m headed to London until the week of the 20th and hopefully will be able to take in the sights and sounds of Europe.  Don’t miss me too much. x

Upcoming Events for the Week of June 22nd

Early Mechanics
When:June 3-June 27, 2009
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Ave,
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Using common materials like sheetrock, found wood, cement, and wool, Finlay creates sculptural events such as a tree branch on wheels sprouting new roots, or a many-wheeled cart fastened to the wall attempting escape. A psychological parallel may exist (or not), as she examines the mechanics of how we make the world work for us.”


Elise Wagner
When:June 3-June 27, 2009
Where:Chase Gallery
129  Newbury Street  
Boston, MA 02116 
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:Elise Wagner-Artist Statement:”Painting has always been a good platform for me to negotiate the tensions between the real and the abstract, chaos and order, the unknown and the factual. I do this with every layer of the surface, making the evolution of the painting its own past present and future. The texture and complexity of the surfaces often represent the great unknown and celestial, while the scientific symbolism suggests the accurate and quantifiable. Daily studio practice and ritual becomes the narrative of the work; a process of making, reflecting researching and making again.
My work explores the relationship between science and art. By combining images of astronomy and physics, my paintings stand as symbols for the seemingly illogical and arbitrary order inherent in today’s uncertain world. My paintings intend to evoke the celestial, the philosophical and the emotional.
Alchemy in both its symbology and physicality also plays a large role in my work. My process has grown to rely mainly on the unpredictable nature of materials thereby coaxing the environment of my paintings to emerge. Always remaining unattached to the outcome, I often work on several paintings simultaneously. This way of working enables me to detach from the work to some extent in order to make way for a dialogue or theme to emerge. The surface, color and composition navigate me, almost as if the body of work is threaded together like the chapters of a book. Ultimately, my work draws from the more romantic notion of being among a lost series of maps whose places and origins are in the eye of those beholding them. “


Waterworks
When: June 4-June 27, 2009
Where:Atlanta Works
80 Border Street
Top Floor
East Boston, Massachusetts
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Karen Kemp’s recent landscape paintings (and etchings) in this show feature her fondness for the shoreline. The deep horizons of the marshes and wetlands conjure a serene and dream-like mood. Kemp is especially keen to ensure that her work is broadly accessible, and for some her work may evoke a recognition of place. Kemp studied fresco painting at Il Laboratoria Per Affresco di Vainella in Italy and received a painting fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center in 2003. She is represented by Danette Koke Fine Art in New York, the Christopher Gallery in Stony Brook, the Boston Drawing Project at Bernard Toale Gallery, and her work is in private and corporate collections, including the Bessemer Trust, New York and San Francisco and Morgan & Finnegan, LLP, NY.
Maureen O’Connor has been called ‘a masterful painter of some of our favorite things’ by Randi Hopkins of the Boston Phoenix and current associate curator at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art. Her new work continues her exploration of ceramic ducks as a subject matter. She combines these ducks with various fabrics such as stripes, polka dots, Marimekko and a 1960’s inspired psychedelic floral print. In her still life paintings, she likes to take an object and explore all the possibilities with it, and the possibilities are nearly inexhaustible. 2 teachers who have profoundly influenced O’Connor’s work are renowned landscape painter George Nick and Jason Berger founder of the Direct Vision Movement. Her work is represented by the Jack Meier Gallery, Houston, Texas and is in the collections of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, Children’s Hospital, Biogen and AOL.com “


Talk To Me
When:June 5-June 27, 2009
Where: Axiom Gallery
141 Green Street
Boston MA, 02130
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”AXIOM presents “Talk To Me”, the fourth annual collaboration with Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Studio for Interrelated Media. As part of Axiom’s mission to extend support to emerging artists working in new and experimental media, this year the show will also include students from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Two classes, the year long Electronic Projects for Artists class through MassArt’s SIM program, and the Kinetic Sculpture class at SMFA, have come together to present “Talk to Me”.
The title “Talk To Me” refers to the common theme of communication, person to person, robot to person and, yes, animal to person, between all of the works in the show. Works in the exhibition are both electronic and kinetic, ranging from interactive to wearable. Sabri Reed’s wearable sculpture is designed to be “signed-out” by gallery goers and used outside the gallery, where the apparatus provides the wearer with directions via an on-board compass. Other works in the show include a video synthesizer played by ants whose work in their colonies plays music, and an animated artificial life environment controlled by human breath. In addition, there will be a live performance including home-made synthesizers at the opening reception on June 5th.”


Trash Menagerie
When: June 06-May 01, 2010
Where: Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square
Salem, MA 01970-3783 USA
How: Official Website
Cost:Adults $15, Seniors $13, Students $11
What/Why:”Trash Menagerie presents over 30 improbable works of art created from things most of us simply throw away. This playful and poignant exhibition challenges visitors to think differently about the creative potential lurking in everyday objects. From an iridescent trout made from 70 different pieces of refuse to a flock of cheery birds made from tin cans, Trash Menagerie explores animals imaginatively made from recycled rubbish. The exhibition features hands-on activities, such as a trash collage magnet board and weekend art drop-in activities, to encourage visitors of all ages think creatively about trash in the museum and beyond. Trash Menagerie is on view in the Peabody Essex Museum’s interactive Art & Nature Center June 20, 2009, through May 2010.”

The Handsome and the Holy
When: June 11-July 11, 2009
Where:Judi Rotenberg Gallery
130 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:Ria Brodell-“I grew up watching musicals and old black and white movies with my grandma. I went to Catholic school (picture plaid skirts and itchy tights). Cary Grant, Gene Kelly, “Curly McLain” from “Oklahoma!” were handsome men with perfect hair and perfect features. I wanted to dress like them, dance like them and look like them. I played with G.I. Joe and He-Man. My aunt told me stories about the saints. Catholicism was a significant part of my childhood. I collected holy cards. I collected baseball cards. I only ever wanted one ‘Barbie’ doll, and it was Ken.
If I was to honor the lives of the saints, how could I possibly aspire to be the handsome man who always gets the girl? This series drawings intermixes how the different figures I’ve identified with or admired, co-exist in my mind, and how I see myself in them.”


Okay, you caught me..none of these exhibitions started this week, but they sounded too good to miss! xo

Upcoming Events for the Week of June 15th

I don’t even want to make long-winded excuses for where I’ve been.  The kid is back, gainfully employed, and looking forward to continuing our relationship.

And to get back in your good graces, a joke:

Q:Why was the strawberry sad?

A:Because her mother was in a jam!

Allons-y!

First Mondays at CAC Gallery
Free Artist Receptions featuring live performance, food, and community.
When: Monday, June 1, 6-8pm Monday, July 6, 6-8pm
Where: CAC Gallery
344 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”In the age of television and the Internet, video is a medium of fast action and short attention spans. What happens when you slow down the medium - make it linger, unfold, bend, and suspend time?
Artist Michael Oatman and his team will transform the CAC Gallery (Cambridge Arts Council, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Fl, Cambridge) into a working video production studio. For two weeks, June 1-12, the artist will be creating 10-minute, ‘still’ video portraits of West Cambridge citizens.
In a nod to 18th-century English portraiture, You are Here will surround these sitters by objects from their daily lives. The portraits will be shot against a green screen - like those used by TV meteorologists - enabling the artist to create a “video collage.” Each sitter will choose a landscape background for their portrait from Cambridge area. In post-production, these two images will be fused, resulting in a new image - a lingering hybrid of portraiture and landscape using video.
The CAC Gallery will be open to the public during these portrait sessions. As the filming progresses, the gallery exhibit will build with collected items, raw footage, and still photographs from these sessions. The results of this process will constitute the gallery exhibition through July 15.
The final outcome of this project will be a permanent public art commission displayed on three large high-definition television monitors in the newly constructed West Cambridge Youth and Community Center/VFW on Huron Avenue. The vertically-oriented screens will feature 20 portraits of local residents - young and old - from all walks of life, entitled The Cantabrigians.”

Between Places
When:June 1, 2009 - September 1, 2009
Where:Singer Editions Gallery
300 Summer Street #44
Boston, MA 02110
617.423.3484
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”The ten Artists in this show have given us their photographic interpretation of the landscape that they have looked upon.
What is landscape?Landscape is inevitably an ambiguous concept; the term itself is a slippery one whose meaning slides between the actual and the virtual, the real and the represented.
Landscape is itself a physical and multisensory medium in which cultural meanings and values are encoded, whether they are put there by the physical transformation of a place in landscape gardening and architecture, or found in a place formed, as we say, by nature.
Landscape is already artifice in the moment of its beholding, long before it becomes the subject of pictorial representation.”


Celluloid Dreams
When:June 02 - July 20, 2009
Where: New England Institute of Art,
10 Brookline Place West
Brookline, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”For decades the movie theater and drive-in has played an important role in the fabric of American life. Sensing years ago that these pieces of American social history would be lost forever; photographer Stefanie Klavens began her quest to capture them permanently on film.
“Celluloid Dreams: America’s Vanishing Movie Palaces & Drive-In Theaters” is a photographic journey of
palaces that have survived and thrived as well as those that have faded into oblivion.
Klavens began her artistic obsession for old movie theaters on the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey
in 1987, when the Strand Theater, with its neon lights shining at night caught her attention. Then a
student at the Museum School in Boston, she captured the image as part of a student project – a
photographic exploration into Americana. “I was glad I got that shot,” says Klavens. “The Strand still
stands, but has lost its former glory.”

Her fascination for the subject matter never left and this one-woman show features, among others, the
Somerville (MA) theater, the last of the city’s original 14 movie houses, the Bruin Theater in Los Angeles
and drive-in theaters across the country, both those still in operation and those that have been closed
and abandoned, their screens now blank and parking lots empty.”


Portals and Paths
When: On view June 1, 2009 - June 30, 2009
Where:80 Border Street Cultural Exchange Center
80 Border St
Boston, MA 02128
How:Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Soft, organic forms of indeterminate origin bulge from windows, ceilings, and walls. Sunlight filters through the forms, causing them to pulse as the light changes when the sun darts behind a cloud and then emerges again. These forms are the creations of artist Brooke Mullins Doherty, and they are part of her June 2009 solo exhibition at 80 Border Street Cultural Exchange Center in East Boston. The show, which is entitled “Portals and Paths,” presents several site-specific sculptural installations that seem to grow from the center’s architecture as well as a series of colorful line drawings.
“Portals” refer to Doherty’s window sculptures, which by transmitting sunlight act as portals to the heavens, and “Paths” refer to her drawings, many of which trace the path of a single line and all of which explore the passage of time and cycles of growth and decay. Using a variety of materials such as pencil, ink, enamel, and paint pen, Doherty’s drawings resemble imaginary plots of data, magnetic field lines, geological strata, and microscopic cross-sections of cells and organs, and she utilizes all of these influences in an often psychedelic way.”


Continuing Education Exhibition
When: Thursday, June 18 - Thursday, July 2, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 18, 6–8 pm in Grossman Gallery
Where:SMFA
230 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115 
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”This juried exhibition features 62 works by 47 students enrolled in SMFA’s Summer 2008, Fall 2008, and Spring 2009 Continuing Education courses and workshops.”



6th Annual Printing Arts Fair
When: June 21, 2009
Where:Letterpress Guild of New England
The Museum of Printing
800 Massachusetts Avenue
North Andover, MA 01845
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Announcing the 6th Annual Printing Arts Fair on Father’s Day, June 21, 2009 at the Museum of Printing located at 800 Massachusetts Avenue in North Andover, Massachusetts just across from the town common. The Fair is free to the public and runs from 10am to 4pm. Co-sponsored by the Letterpress Guild of New England and the Museum of Printing, it’s the perfect time to learn about the book arts and printing, with papermaking and bookbinding artisans demonstrating their craft. Also on hand are stone lithography, intaglio and letterpress printing demonstrations. And for the first time the fair will present Steamroller Printing in honor of the 100th anniversary of the beloved Vandercook Proof Press.
On display in the big tent and upstairs in the Museum are artwork, stationery, prints, books, decorative papers, crafts, posters, type and letterpress printing equipment from such vendors as Albertine Press, B Designs, Brookfield Paperworks, Carta Inc., Sea Dog Press, May Day Studio, Swamp Press, Sun Hill Press, and Zoetropa.
It’s a great way for the family to celebrate Father’s Day with plenty of children’s activities including printing your own Father’s Day card and punching your name out on an old fashioned stenciling machine. Also a wonderful opportunity to witness how the world communicated before the computer, from the hand-pulled iron press of the 1800s to the marvelous mechanics of the linotype typesetting machine and the satisfying kick of pulling your own print off the Vandercook Proof Press.The Museum has a fantastic selection of letterpress items for sale for those wanting to try their hand at printing. Vendors will also be donating items to the raffle that benefits the Museum.”

Happy Fathers’ Day, Dad ♥

Upcoming Events for the Week of May 11th

Alter-Ego-Images Made with Toy Cameras and Alternative Photographic Processes
When:May 11-May 21, 2009
Where: The Nave Gallery
Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church
155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”During times of change, there are always those who rebel. In the current era of digital media, many photographers are reaching for ways to create work that is relevant in the world today, but by using manual processes that have enriched photography since it’s inception. Be it with taped up plastic toy cameras from the 1970s, to making their own pinhole cameras, to creating cyanotypes outside in the sun—these are not photographers who simply want to plug in their memory card and click away to create an image. There is a lot of trial and error, duct-tape and elbow grease in making each of these images.
Many alternative photographers live by the mantra “don’t think, just shoot”. There are minimal options and settings in the cameras, and much is is left to chance, intuition and happy accidents. The process takes on a life of its own—be it light leaks in the camera, one frame overlapping to the next, or variations in environment and chemistry— the intentional loss of control over the medium gives the artist an ability to let go of what might be sacred, as what is being captured through these mediums many times is unknown until the film is processed. It is a balance of give and take between the artist and the medium.
These photographers portray work that is whimsical, nostalgic and engrossed in their respective mediums to create the work that has been chosen to display. With polaroid, cyanotype and other analogue techniques falling to the wayside in this digital age, we hope to celebrate these artists and their unique processes at the Nave.”

Figure and Form
When: May 11-May 30, 2009
Where:Clark Gallery
145 Lincoln Rd
Lincoln, MA 01773
781-259-8303
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Rebecca Kinkead: New Paintings, Janet Rickus: New Paintings and in the New Gallery Annex thru May 23: a Julie Levesque installation:  SIFT”

Mad on Color
Paintings of Nineteenth-Century Venice
When:May 11-August 30, 2009
Where: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
How: Official Website
Cost: Members Free | Adults $17 | Youths 7-17 $6.50 | Youths 6 and under FREE
What/Why:”In keeping with the MFA’s Venetian theme this spring and summer, a display of European and American canvases is on view in the Upper Hemicycle in “Mad on Color: Paintings of Nineteenth-Century Venice.” Works by Renoir, Monet, Whistler, and others show the influence of Venice’s unique combination of water and light on the painting of the Impressionists and their contemporaries.”

Future Arts 2009: Urban Oasis
When: May 16, 2009 6:00pm-11:00pm
Where: The Roxy, Boston
279 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116
How: Official Website
Cost: $17.00
What/Why:”This year’s Future Arts will feature over 20 prolific sound, visual and multi-media artists coming together to create an uplifting evening of urban expression.Event will begin at 6PM and end at 11PM. After-party to directly follow. More details about the after-party will be available soon.
You must be 21+ to attend this event. All art on-site at FutureArts 2009 will be for sale for $200 – $800”

Upcoming Events for the Week of May 4th

Children of Arcadia
When: May 04-May 15, 2009
Reception: May 04, 2009 6:00pm-8:00pm
Where:CAC Gallery
344 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”As part of the Cambridge Science Festival, the Cambridge Arts Council and Boston Cyberarts present Children of Arcadia, created by new media artists Mark Skwarek and Joseph Hocking. This interactive, multi-media exhibition brings a large-scale, 17th century, Baroque-style painting to life. The panoramic painting projected on the gallery wall, accompanied by high-quality surround sound, shifts between a representation of apocalyptic ruin and idealized utopia, depending on real-time local and national news generated from various Internet news feeds.”


SMFA sidewalk sale
When: May 08-May 09, 2009, 10:00am-5:00pm
Where:School of the Museum of Fine Arts
230 The Fenway
Boston MA 02115
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”This popular annual sale features works by SMFA students in a variety of media including painting, photography, sculpture, and ceramics. A percentage of all proceeds benefits a local charity chosen by students.
In case of rain, the Sale will be held indoors. “


Exhibition 1-Opening Reception
When: May 09-June 13, 2009
Where:North Shore Arts Association
11 Pirates Lane
Gloucester, MA 01930
978-283-1857
How: Official Website (I hope you enjoy the looping seagull noise ;) )
Cost:Free
What/Why:”North Shore Arts Association will present the first exhibition of their 2009 season May 9th through June 13th.  Exhibition I will be non-juried and an awards reception will be held on Sunday, May 10th from 2pm to 4pm.  The public is invited to this very special event on Mother’s Day to kick-off what is sure to be an exceptional season at North Shore Arts Association.
In addition to an exciting series of artist member exhibits, NSAA will also present a number of lectures, demonstrations, youth classes, solo exhibits, concerts, art films and an annual auction.  There are also over twenty different fine art workshops being offered through October beginning with a still life workshop May 15th and 16th with Carolyn Jundzilo.”


Fort Point Art Walk
When:Saturday, May 09, 2009 12:00pm-4:00pm
Where:Fort Point Arts Community
300 Summer Street, M1
Boston, MA 02210
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Art Walk is the Fort Point Arts Community’s Spring Open Studios Event. Pick up a map and explore studios of artists working in all media—meet over 60 artists, explore Fort Point, and have a chance to buy art, craft and design directly from artists.
To celebrate Mothers’ Day Weekend we are offering free artist-created flowers to mothers who stop by our information booth over the weekend, as long as they last!”

Happy Mothers’ Day, Mom*

*and all other moms as well(including those whose children have four legs and a tail)

Upcoming Events for the Week of April 27th

Little Islands
When: May 01-May 30, 2009
Where: Walker Contemporary
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Through the conceptual exploration of light and painting theory, Udo Noger uses light - the sole source of energy with the ability to transform matter - as a physical material that transforms his two-dimensional paintings into objects with three-dimensional form.  By cutting into and layering his canvas, Noger creates spaces that hold light from the outside while returning light back into ambient space. “I cut out parts of the paintings to use the light itself to paint light… I don’t have a physical open space like Fontana has… You cannot touch the inside of my painting but you can feel it…”“


Harvard Square May Fair
When:Sunday May 03, 2009  12:00-7:00pm
Where:Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”This annual festival celebrates the spring and the eclectic atmosphere of Harvard Square. Mayfair features over 200 Harvard Square merchants and vendors of artistic crafts, jewelry, clothing, and other gifts from around the world, along with a wide variety of ethnic cuisine and free entertainment for children and adults.

The 26th annual May Fair runs from noon to 6 p.m. in the heart of Harvard Square, featuring six stages of live entertainment, hundreds of street vendors and a host of sidewalk sales and games for kids. It is organized by the Harvard Square Business Association.   

Harvard-grads-turned-pop-stars Chester French headlining the all-day sunshine affair. Also on the diverse bill are ‘BCN Rock N’ Rumble finalists the Luxury, all-female world music orchestra Zili Misik and the morbid performance art sounds of Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys. The full lineup and set times:

Noon: Sarah RabDAU & the Self-Employed Assassins
1 p.m.: Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys
2 p.m.: Zili Misik
3 p.m.: Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents
4 p.m.: The Luxury
5 p.m.: Chester French”



Somerville Open Studios
When: May 02-May 03, 2009
Where: Somerville
How: Official Website
What/Why:”Spring has sprung in the Boston area and that means open studios!
Somerville will be hosting theirs May 2-3, 2009 all over our great city. Stop in, stroll around, and support local artisits. Look for the bright yellow hands that are popping up around town now for additional info.
Over 300 artists in over 100 venues will open their homes and studios for the Eleventh Annual Somerville Open Studios Event on Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3 2009 from noon to 6 pm. During this free showcase for the arts, mid-career and emerging artists working across a broad spectrum of fine art styles and craft media - including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, glass, fiber, jewelry, furniture and ceramics - will exhibit their work to the public.
Visitors to SOS will be treated to displays of art in both traditional and non-traditional spaces throughout the city. Come see how Somerville’s artists and entrepreneurs have transformed garages, real estate agencies, salons, cocktail lounges, and churches into both impromptu and permanent art galleries. Plan your visit by picking up a copy of the Somerville Open Studios map or by visiting our online artist directory.”

Brookline Open Studios
When:May 02-May 03, 2009
Where:Brookline
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Open Studios is an annual springtime event, held in locations all over Brookline, since 1986. Artists working in all media participate by opening their homes and studios to the public for one weekend. This allows viewers to experience the dynamic impact of viewing original artworks within the artist’s creative space. The public connection to the artist nurtures an understanding of the creative process. Much of the artwork is for sale, providing an incredible chance for collectors and the general public to acquire original pieces directly from the artist.”

Upcoming Events for the Week of April 20th

We had a technological tragedy in the flux family, my 6 year old laptop has finally decided to kick the bucket.  We had a really great run.. lots of klutzy drops, occasional wine spills, and harddrive failures whilst abroad. RIP.

Alas, I’m a week behind on the updates, but I tried to dig up some extra special posts for this week to soften the blow. Enjoy! :)

FLOAT
When:April 1-April 30, 2009
Where:Clark Gallery
145 Lincoln Road
PO Box 339
Lincoln, MA 01773
How:Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Artists: Christopher Armstrong, Richard Baker, Jerry Beck, Raine Bedsole, Mark Bercier, Timothy Berry, Carole Bolsey, Paul Bowen. Patricia Burleson, Jim Dow, Dave Fullam, Robin Freedenfield, Bob Harmon Jr, Dave Jordano, Tom Judd, Rebecca Kinkead, Mary McCleary, Catherine McCarthy, Rob Napier, Donald Saaf, Dawn Southworth, Joni Sternbach, Tabitha Vevers and Anonymous Artists and Objects.”

Architecture of Fragments
When: April 12-May 24, 2009
Where:The New Art Center
61 Washington Park, Newtonville , MA 02460
617-964-3424
How: Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”Though distinct in their visual composition, the works of Elissa Cox, Tannax Farsi, and Petra Kralickova depict the landscapes of human forms and emotions connected to personal memory, identity, and the physiological frameworks of the body. “

The Urban Wild
When: April 21-June 5, 2009
Where:The Trustman Art Gallery
Main College Building, Fourth Floor
300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115-5898
617-521-2268
How:Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”In the artist’s words:
Landscape painting is a composite of things seen, remembered and felt. By studying nature’s phenomena, I tie the visual observations to experience. With unpeopled views, scenes and vistas, one can enter a more philosophical, personal and timeless place. I grew up looking outward from the cliffs of the great lakes and the prairies of the northern plains. My world centered around nature and weather. Treetops, bays, rivers, forests, rocks, fields, and the human landscape edging these places fed my imagination. I remain in that world through the paintings and prints of nature close-at-hand.- Nancy Friese”

WSRC Salon of the Arts 2009: Cairns
When:April 23-September 25, 2009
Where:Women’s Studies Research Center
Brandeis University
MS 079, Epstein, 515 South Street, Waltham, MA
02454
781-736-8100
How:Official Website
Cost:Free
What/Why:”The WSRC Salon of the Arts 2009 includes an elegant and eclectic selection of art by WSRC Scholars, focusing on the theme of cairns. The exhibition showcases the range and depth of artistic talent at the WSRC, ranging from painting, photography and sculpture to theater, film and poetry.
Now commonly built as landmarks, cairns – artificial piles of stones – have a rich and diverse history. They have been erected as sepulchral monuments, commemorative landmarks, or for astronomical or supernatural purposes. The work exhibited in the WSRC Salon of the Arts 2009 explores the ancient concept of cairns both literally and conceptually.”

11 Miller Street Open Studios
When:April 24-April 25, 2009
Where:11 Miller Street
Somerville, MA 02143
How:Official Website
Cost:Free

DESTROY YOU,  BOSTON!
When:April 24-May 22, 2009
Where:SPACE 242
242 E. Berkeley Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02118
How:Official Website
Cost:Free(Must RSVP!)
What/Why:”DESTROY YOU, BOSTON! is a joint exhibition by two long-time collaborators, MCA/Evil design and Magmo The Destroyer, who recently exhibited together at Orchard Street Gallery in Manhattan with DESTROY YOU, NYC! This exhibition, however, features new work by both artists, of varied mediums. MCA known for his Evil Ape and other illustrative characters, shows brand new sculptures of said characters, sandblasted of stone in varied sizes. His family business in central Massachusetts (gravestone engraving) afforded him the skill to transfer his kooky faves into long-lasting 3D pieces. Magmo The Destroyer, mostly known for his modern mixed media work, shows a series of new illustrative paintings and charcoal drawings of grotesque characters he calls “Voids” and “Suckholes.””

Art In Bloom
When:April 25-April 27, 2009
Where: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
How:Official Website
Cost:Free(on April 27th)
What/Why:”Celebrate spring at this annual festival of fine art and fresh flowers! See the MFA’s galleries transformed by fifty extraordinary arrangements inspired by magnificent works of art—from Asian sculptures to world-renowned European paintings.
Renowned floral experts lecture, demonstrate, and teach master classes for small groups. Order tickets below!
The Museum opens its doors with free general admission for all to enjoy Art in Bloom on Monday, April 27, from 5 to 9 pm. During the open house, free admission to the special exhibition “Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice” is available on a first-come, first-served basis.”