The first dictionary entry for “queer” defines the word as meaning “strange; strange.” As we know, this word has taken on many other meanings, depending on who uses it and what it is intended for. Two galleries are currently showing work that gives us the opportunity to contemplate the manyRead More →
Click to enlarge Pamela Polston ©️ Seven days “The Wayward Bench” by George Sawyer; “Mud Season 9 Patch” Quilt by Rosalind Daniels Writing about the annual Art at the Kent exhibitionRead More →
Art teacher Shauna Merriman showed her work at the Munro Gallery at an event held at the Bobbitt Visual Arts Center. The pieces featured were “Jam”, “Leggings”, “Keller” and “Legs”, while some of Merriman’s greatest works were shown through photos (Photo by Madison Wycoff). From 3-6 p.m. Friday, the BobbitRead More →
My late summer reviews focused on two centuries of Maine artists. But a pair of museum exhibits look further. “Surrealist Play Gone Astray” at the Portland Museum of Art (until October 23) is a gem of a show about this emphatically eccentric movement, which was concentrated primarily in Europe butRead More →
For Carolee Schneemann, the process of creating art was just as important as the finished product, a notion that connects more than 50 years of the artist’s work captured in the new Barbican retrospective Carolee Schneemann: The Politics of the Bodyuntil January 2023. From brushstrokes on his first canvases toRead More →
Landon Newton, “Ordered Liberty”. Photo by Carolyn Wachnicki, courtesy of Space Two Portland institutions are commemorating anniversaries this year: Space and the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design. “Assembly” at Space reaffirms the collaborative and experimental approach to art that has characterized the organization forRead More →
The early Church gathered in the homes of members to share the meal at which Christ is received. Although first-century houses looked very different from the archetypal house drawn by Western children, Richard Woods’ 2D cartoon of a terraced house, built to scale (7.5 meters high) and spanning the largeRead More →
Ellen De Mejeir, “4th Generation Bill” (2020), oil on canvas, 19.7″ x 15.7″ Courtesy of Unix Gallery It is often said that there is nothing new in art, and it certainly can seem that way at times. But there’s a lot of value in revisiting familiar genres if you haveRead More →
Posted on August 12, 2022 By Harold C. Ford “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” is the current exhibition at Mott-Warsh Gallery (MW), 815 S. Saginaw St. (corner of Court and Saginaw Streets), Flint. The exhibition ends on August 20. According to Stephanie James, Director and Curator of the Mott-WarshRead More →
Installation view of “ENCHIRIDION: driveway, spline, station” at PICA. Image by Evan LaLonde, courtesy of the artist Otherwise for the grand entrance to the sidony o’neal exhibition “ENCHIRIDION: alley, spline, station” (“E: ASR”), I don’t know where to start this story. And even though I’ve decided to start with theRead More →
RESEARCH has demonstrated associations between religious beliefs and patriarchal attitudes. Higher religiosity is apparently associated with stronger patriarchal beliefs. Although no religion condones violence against women, religions have been and are a powerful source of patriarchal orientations. If this is true, the British Museum exhibition “Feminine Power: The Divine toRead More →
Milton Avery was “a colossus of twentieth-century painting”, said Cal Revely-Calder in The Daily Telegraph. Although his name may not be familiar to many Europeans, he was a prominent figure in American art. Avery (1885-1965) began his half-century career as an Impressionist and ended it as an Abstract Expressionist. InRead More →
Evaluation: 9/10 ? 1 – Absolute hot waste 2 – A kind of lukewarm waste 3 – Severely flawed design 4 – Some advantages, many disadvantages 5 – Acceptably imperfect 6 – Good enough to buy on sale 7 – Great, but not best in class 8 – Fantastic, withRead More →
Amid the explosion of vibrant summer flowers, larger-than-life animal topiaries, and extensive collection of Chihuly glass, it might just be a little too easy to overlook the art exhibit. in progress in the gallery of the Franklin Park Conservatory. Don’t. It is fair to say that in many ways DialogsRead More →
Carlos Gamez de Francisco, “Flowers for Fasting”, Chromaluxe aluminum print, 45 by 30 inches Images courtesy of Portland Art Gallery When Cuban-born artist Carlos Gamez de Francisco was a young student, he, like many aspiring artists, copied masterpieces by other painters. It started with Monet. But a prescient professor toldRead More →
“Struts” sculptures by Lynn Duryea. Photos courtesy of Corey Daniels Gallery The first summer exhibitions at Corey Daniels Gallery in Wells offer an intriguing and idiosyncratic mix of media, genres and styles that, in one way or another, are all part of a holistic vision. Two shows – “13 Ceramists”Read More →
At the 1929 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Glyn Philpot showed his portrait Lady Lloyd of Dolobranplus three previously unseen depictions of a Jamaican male model: two paintings, The Triple Epiphany and Balthazarand bronze sculpture Jamaican man walking. In the 1920s, the RA was not known for the diversity of itsRead More →
LIFTING the lid off a familiar music box, but finding the figure, movement and music radically changed, is the feeling of seeing “Masterpieces of Bergen”. Gone is the image of Munch as a master of melancholy. Instead, a range of works borrow from Post-Impressionism and Pointillism, before moving on toRead More →
Installation of Duncan Hewitt’s “Ten Cardboard Pieces” at the Buoy Gallery in Kittery. Photos by Lauren Zito “I’m not sure what it is,” admits Duncan Hewitt in his artist statement about the sculptures in “nearby invisible,” his solo exhibition at Buoy in Kittery (through August 6). “I know what isRead More →
Placeholder while loading article actions Anyone taking the most direct route through the American University Museum to “Caribbean Transitions” will first encounter a mobile in Joiri Minaya which hangs several photographic cutouts in the breeze. The individual pieces are shaped like body parts, with images of women on one sideRead More →
Harold Garde, “Nude Woman” (2001), acrylic on canvas, 44-1/2″ x 55-1/2″ Photos by Dave Clough Photography Two years ago, I wrote one of my first art reviews for this article on the painter Harold Garde. The works then on display at Waterfall Arts in Belfast, where Garde maintained a summerRead More →
Click to enlarge Courtesy of the Hall Art Foundation “White Squad X” Opening the door to the old cowshed Hall Art Foundation in Reading, a visitor is confronted with – there isRead More →
“Dozier Bell” at the Sarah Bouchard Gallery in Woolwich. Photo courtesy of Sarah Bouchard Gallery Let’s be clear: Dozier Bell is a great artist. By this I mean a master, such as one whose work will be discussed and analyzed in art history curricula a century from now, just asRead More →
Installation view of Amelia Clark’s work Degree Exhibition 2022, Edinburgh College of Art **** The pandemic and its lockdowns have been difficult for everyone and tragic for too many. Nevertheless, one must have compassion for the students who have seen their education so severely disrupted at a critical time inRead More →
Click to enlarge Pamela Polston ©️ Seven days “A distance that draws us” Standing in a gallery surrounded by paintings by Bonnie Acker is highly recommended. You may find that youRead More →
Detail from Can You See My Disguise Part II by Ruby Kuye-Kline Diploma Exhibition 2022, Glasgow School of Art **** With the loss of its glorious Mackintosh building, the Glasgow School of Art, architecturally speaking, has come a long way down. In Look Back in Anger, Jimmy Porter bitterly recallsRead More →
Welcome to Wet Paint in the Wild, an extension of Annie Armstrong’s gossip column in which she gives art world insiders a disposable camera so they can give us a glimpse of their mad industry corner. I’ve long suspected that my old friend Jameson Johnson might be the most dynamicRead More →
Placeholder while loading article actions Long before ragas, chicken tikka or Bollywood films were exported from India, international demand for textiles from the subcontinent was strong. These items did not simply move from local bazaars to distant markets involuntarily. Many decorative fabrics were made expressly for customers in places asRead More →
Placeholder while loading article actions The kind of person depicted in the National Portrait Gallery’s “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today” is quite different from those typically depicted in such institutions. The subjects of the show’s 42 portraits are not rich, famous or politically powerful, and are less likely toRead More →
Thaddeus Radell, “Prodigal Son”, 2022, oil pastel, graphite and wax crayon on Bristol paper, 18 x 24 inches Photo by Erin Little It’s always surprising to me how people rank art genres (or almost anything) as good or bad or better than – especially when it comes to abstraction versusRead More →
Click to enlarge Courtesy of Kelly Holt “Gratitude in Time of Loss #1-611” by Daryl Burtnett While some recent arts have reveled in an ex-pandemic ethos – there’s more to life thanRead More →
Natasha Mayers, “Oil Wars”, acrylic on canvas, 18″ x 24″. Photos courtesy of Station Zero Satire is a powerful weapon that can cut like a knife. It deploys ridicule to expose the absurdities at the very foundation of our ideas, carrying the potential to cut through illusions and propaganda andRead More →
Click to enlarge Pamela Polston ©️ Seven days “Thomas Armory I” by Kehinde Wiley The narrative is now familiar: the museum closes during the pandemic, takes stock of itself during itsRead More →
Deputy Landis, “mp13.14” Photo by Gary Lowell There are many well-known art venues in Portland that regularly appear in this column. But smaller, quieter spots off the beaten path are also worth seeking out. Two of them have been around for a while, but have new shapes. Ocean House GalleryRead More →
Click to enlarge Pamela Polston ©️ Seven days “Cardboard slave kit, mix of freedmen” by Roberto Visani When the pandemic arrived in 2020, Roberto Visani didn’t just lock himself in withRead More →
New to the Indigo Arts Alliance? So run – don’t walk – to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design. The vitality this organization brings to our community and to the Maine art scene is vividly displayed in the exhibit “Visions of Our Future;Read More →
New to the Indigo Arts Alliance? So run – don’t walk – to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design. The vitality this organization brings to our community and to the Maine art scene is vividly displayed in the exhibit “Visions of Our Future;Read More →
Thirty people standing in a room all look different. The abstract portraits of 30 people from the Nuquist Gallery of the TW Wood Gallery are also all unique. Instead of physical characteristics, these abstract portraits consider what lies inside their subjects – layers of emotions, stories, dreams – through color,Read More →
In his brilliant 2012 book ‘Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity’, Andrew Solomon offers a theory of ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ identities. Vertical identities are inherited down the line; i.e. parental expectations, culture and ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc. But, especially for children with physical, mental andRead More →
Thirty people standing in a room all look different. The abstract portraits of 30 people from the Nuquist Gallery of the TW Wood Gallery are also all unique. Instead of physical characteristics, these abstract portraits consider what lies inside their subjects – layers of emotions, stories, dreams – through color,Read More →
Click to enlarge Installation view of ‘The Return’, an exhibition by Romina Gonzales at the Visitor Center in Newburgh. On the right, “Sibilant III” (on the ground) and “Desert Spring” (on the wall). ArtistRead More →
Click to enlarge Courtesy “Nine Pins” by an unknown maker The pandemic has had at least one good result: accessibility to museum collections. Shelburne Museum is among the institutions that have successfullyRead More →
For centuries, artists have used series as a way to explore the phenomena of nature, light, time, space and color. From 1890 to 1891, Claude Monet related his perceptions of light on 25 canvases representing haystacks in the fields surrounding Giverny. Josef Albers began painting hundreds of variations on theRead More →
It really isn’t hard to grasp the gist of “Nyeema Morgan: Soft Power.” Hard margins. (until May 14), the show that kicks off the spring art season at the Grant Wahlquist Gallery in downtown Portland. At least superficially. Even those unfamiliar with art history will recognize iconic paintings such asRead More →
By Charles Giuliano Strict beauty: prints by Sol LeWitt is an irresistible opportunity to immerse yourself in an important aspect of the artist’s work Strict beauty: prints by Sol LeWittat the Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, until June 11. “In conceptual art, the idea or concept is the mostRead More →
In 2016, Quartz, an economic analysis organization made up of journalists, surveyed 20 museums in seven countries to determine how much work by 13 major artists was on display and how much remained in storage. Among their finds? “Overall, only 44% of the artworks included in the survey were onRead More →
As I get older, I wonder more and more about the place of family in my life. When I was younger, I was sure the purpose of being young was to escape where I came from, to become something bigger. Now, the more I distance myself from my family, theRead More →
The new Burrell collection will be open to the public on March 29. The Burrell Collection, Glasgow **** On March 29, the Burrell Collection reopens after a £68.25million refurbishment and six years of closure. The operators of Glasgow Life hope the new Burrell, repaired, relocated and fitted out for theRead More →
The word “garment” comes from the Old French word “guarantee“, a single garment, which derives from the Old French “garnish”— arm, arm, protect. Jump into 20th century Manhattan and the term “garmento” appears, slang for someone who works in the garment industry in the Garment District, the 1930s west ofRead More →
Many artists that the “Art World” has never heard of are only as good as the artists who take the trouble to make themselves known. To satisfy yourself, check out the exhibition of 20 paintings by Evanston artist Joan McLane. Artist Joan McLane. (Photo by Rebecca McLane) McLane’s paintings, representingRead More →
The moment you walk into the Bates College Museum of Art’s Lesley Dill exhibit “Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me” (until March 26), you’re engulfed in a torrent of words. They fill banners that span entire walls and adorn clothing with ghostly sculptures standing or hanging in the gallery, not toRead More →
The idea of a fabric-based show was in the air, says Laura Hughes. But it was an old photograph posted to Instagram by the Springfield History Museum – an image of people gathered around a quilt – that sparked the idea for “Quilt Bloc”, now on display at Ditch ProjectsRead More →
I Enjoy My Food, 2022, by Stephanie Dulson RSA New Contemporaries, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh **** Two major events feature in the Royal Scottish Academy’s busy calendar: the Annual Exhibition and New Contemporaries, which features works by artists selected by Academy members from the degree exhibitions of the five artRead More →
The current exhibition at Alice Gauvin Gallery, Portland’s newest commercial art gallery, is titled “Human/Nature” (until March 26). As with its last release, Gauvin brings together the work of multiple artists under one grand theme: nature’s ability “to threaten, comfort, nurture and impress – and through it all, somehow possessRead More →
Click to enlarge Pamela Polston ©️ Seven days Excerpt from “How I Met My Grandfather” Every culture is a tribe, a pack, and within it are repressive factions that discourage, legislate,Read More →
Art museums are often seen as a reflection of the society/community in which they exist. This interdependence has many aspects. If it is a collecting museum, the values of the community in which the institution resides can be informed and reinforced by the objects the museum chooses to collect. MaintainingRead More →
I can’t remember what social media platform I was on when I first saw Pat Boas’ installation of wallpapers and paintings. The work is at Oregon Contemporary as part of the exhibition “Hallie Ford Fellows in the Visual Arts 2017 -2019”. Yet the moment I saw the abstract patterned wallpaperRead More →
By Claire Crittendon & Rachel Shepard – Co-editor and editor-in-chief Less than 10 minutes from Lasell is Frida Kahlo’s sketchbook in the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. With free entry, a simple online reservation system, and the presentation of a vaccination card, visitors can access each wing and seeRead More →
Kurt Cobain at MTV’s Live and Loud, Pier 63, Seattle WA, December 13, 19931993 printed 2010color photographyAlice WheelerAmerican, born in 196127 x 40.5 in.Gift of Clinton T. Willour in honor of Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom.Courtesy of Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle.© Alice Wheeler Before leaving for the opening of kurtRead More →
Dana Schutz, The autopsy of Michael Jackson2005.Oil on canvas; 60 x 108 in.Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan.© Dana Schutz.Courtesy of the artist and Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York. The possibilities of painting Like the Denver Art Museum concurrent exhibit, Become Van Gogh, Dana Schutz: If the face had wheels,Read More →
Click to enlarge Pamela Polston ©️ Seven days On the wall, from left: “Portrait #158” by Charles Lysogorski, small untitled portraits and “Condor” by Ann Young, and “Study in Blue Light” by August Burns. Front: “Voices”Read More →
“Flowers 1-12”, eteam (Franziska Lamprecht and Hajoe Moderegger), 12 channel video, 2020 In this hyper-connected digital age, the multidimensionality of video seems to play an increasingly dynamic role in our perception of reality, especially in theRead More →
Urban construction sites have a longstanding (and often ignored) ban on affixing advertisements and leaflets to the temporary construction barriers and plywood barricades surrounding them. This ban usually boils down to the simple directive, POST NO BILLS. In his latest exhibition at the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center in Worthington,Read More →
What could a house on fire, a silhouette of a pumpkin and a hypnotic spiral have in common in a gallery? These amusing elements find root not just as occult curiosities, but as seminal tropes in twelve new paintings by Portland-based painter Olivia Faith Harwood. Currently playing on Fuller RosenRead More →
Back in the stunned wake of September 11, 2001, Graydon Carter, then editor of Vanity Fair, was lambasted for declaring “the end of the age of irony.” His argument was that after such an inconceivable and profound tragedy, flippancy and snark were no longer acceptable. More than two decades later,Read More →
DANCE: Drawn from within, ‘Unveiled’ touches the soul Katakali Jana | Published on 19.02.22, 00:36 As dancer-choreographer Srijaini Ghosh (pictured, left) chose to assert her individuality while forging connections between epic, legend and her own classical training, one experienced the exquisite joy of watching a visceral performance which looked likeRead More →
The line is arguably the most fundamental tool in art, the cornerstone of drawing and painting, and an indispensable device for conveying perspective, depth, and dimension. Abstract expressionism is a possible exception, although even some of this depends on the line for its rhythm and energy (see Jackson Pollock). PaulRead More →
IN 2020, as an in-demand muralist, Lakwena Maciver (Features, August 28, 2020) created large-scale paintings on two public basketball courts in Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Working with the main forms of the components of the court, its bold and vibrant design combines geometric patterns with acidRead More →
Lea Gray has been making beautiful paper flowers for over nine years. All of his creativity, paper folding experiments and appreciation for nature are now on display at the Franklin Park Conservatory in his collection titled ‘Bringing respect to nature: an exploration of paper plants‘. All the pieces presented inRead More →
“Sculpture 1” by Kenn Hetzel is on display at “Thinking Large, Working Small” at Summit Artspace. The process of creating art is often one of the greatest mysteries for anyone studying the work of a particular artist. The who, where, when, why and how of artistic creation can be elusiveRead More →
Like a ghost from a past life, the short film by Jen LaMastra Reduce by half seems to rise from the depths to haunt both viewer and subject. Barely visible in the midday sun, the film swings between scenes of a woman in a large royal dress walking slowly throughRead More →
It is no coincidence that Ladies First opens with a series of political cartoons promoting women’s suffrage. After all, this year marks the centennial of the ratification and passage of the 19th Amendment. You can think of no better way for the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum to celebrateRead More →
Click to enlarge Catherine Opie, Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul “Untitled #9 (Swamps)” Since the time Catherine Opie asked for and received aRead More →
“The task of perception is to pulverize the world, but also to spiritualize its dust.” -Gilles Deleuze, The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque This passage, highlighted in the gallery notes accompanying Catalina Ouyang’s current exhibition three betrayalsserves as an excellent point of reference for navigating Ouyang’s rich and fragmentary works.Read More →
It’s hard to know whether or not one should recommend an episode of a television program that features an unredacted screening of Martin Creed’s Sick Film – a film of sick people. For what it’s worth, I gagged and looked away. Personally, I’d rather watch Question Time 2015-2021, Peter Jackson’sRead More →
by James Kroner Twilight half-life (SF) depicts a rainy city street just before dark. Gray tones dominate the oil painting on panel. The colored spots represent the light produced by humans: emitted by a bus, cars, street lamps and street signals. Our view is from the middle of the street.Read More →
One way to get through the harsh reality of winter in northeast Ohio is to try something new, or for those of us who love the visual arts, to go see something new. . “FRESH,” the 18th annual juried exhibition at Summit Artspace, is curated to “push the boundaries ofRead More →
“In anything that can be called art,” Raymond Chandler wrote in a 1944 essay, “there is a redeeming quality.” This is certainly true in the work of Lewiston native Charlie Hewitt. But his luminous paintings and sculptures, a selection of which are on display at Elizabeth Moss Galleries on ForeRead More →
The art movement of surrealism was born from revolutionary and consciousness-transforming roots just after the First World War. Although it no longer has the counterculture, anti-colonialist sayings it once espoused, Surrealism retains its intent to provoke deeper meaning and reflection through a twist or even a sideways take on howRead More →
I like to think of myself as someone who behaves with a minimum of decorum in public places. But that self-image evaporated when I walked into the Maine Jewish Museum’s current exhibit, “Enter the Space: Oliver Solmitz” (through February 25). I gasped as I exclaimed “Holy cow!” out loud. LuckilyRead More →
The art movement of surrealism was born from revolutionary and consciousness-transforming roots just after the First World War. Although it no longer has the counterculture, anti-colonialist sayings it once espoused, Surrealism retains its intent to provoke deeper meaning and reflection through a twist or even a sideways take on howRead More →
There is good old-fashioned photography, and there will be plenty more. By old-fashioned I mean no gimmicks or fancy techniques or digital manipulation (at least for the most part) – just color, black and white and cyanotype images done the old fashioned way, by a photographer working alone with aRead More →
By Mark Faverman Both of these exhibits are examples of the artist as a 21st century shaman – a prophetic and creative force. Interrogative Design: Selected Works by Krzysztof Wodiczko at the Druker Design Gallery, Harvard University, through February 20. In collaboration with Krzysztof Wodiczko: Portrait at the Harvard ArtRead More →
If I ever find myself thinking about paper or printed art, my mind hardly ever wanders off to ghosts. However, as I browsed through Stelo’s group exhibit, “Coalesce,” I couldn’t get the ghosts out of my mind. On each piece of the show hangs the ubiquitous and disturbing spirit ofRead More →
Click to enlarge Courtesy Kate Gridley’s “Bittern” In this journal, we usually make lists of seven, rather than the more typical 10. Admittedly, the smaller number makes it more difficult to sort out favorite shows from, in this case, a whole year of viewing art. Thus, some selections are basedRead More →
Don’t be surprised if you think you hear tunes from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” as you approach 100 Fore Street, the address of the new Old Port outpost of the Elizabeth Moss Galleries. Moss does not actually show the opera in the gallery. But it is not necessary. Paintings from “LynneRead More →
“There’s a Woman of All Colors: Black Women in Art” has been on display at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art since mid-September and runs through January 30. If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth it, both for the way it fills one of the most gaping holes inRead More →
Captain American hurls his shield in this illustration by Alex Ross from the cover of the 2018 book “Marvelocity.” We are a celebrity driven company. We are held captive by the star factor that we imagine we see before us in everyone, from the people we elect to public officeRead More →
Clear mist by Jackie Stevenson RSW Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh **** With over 300 works on display, the 141st exhibition of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolor (RSW) occupies the main galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy. It hangs elegantly and with a light and spaciousRead More →
There are so few sculpture exhibitions in Maine that the very appearance of an exhibition is a special occasion. This is certainly reason enough to go to the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland where “Spatial Relations” (until January 9) occupies the main gallery. But it also turns outRead More →