So honored that the lovely ladies at Directory B, who gave FLUX. a facelift many moons ago, invited me back into their hearts office for a Blogger Q+A all about the site.

Learn more about why I do what I do, where I’m going with all this, and why pigeons are my fine feathered friends here. ♥

“The epic life of a world-class artist, jammed into six minutes. Narrated by Tom Waits.”

I will not make any more boring art. ♥

I couldn’t resist posting this video from Hennessy Youngman about “guidelines for the age old ritual of ye olde studio visit.” It may be crude, but it’s a refreshing look at the awkward yet necessary experience as an artist of having strangers walk through your home or studio.

This is my favorite video of Hennessy’s to date, but I’m also a fan of his Damian Hirst rant.

Enjoy! ♥

Happy Wednesday. You’re almost there. ♥

(film by Mike Chew)

An inside look at the world of sign painting and the renaissance of this traditional craft via the obscenely talented Josh Luke of Best Dressed Signs, located in Jamaica Plain.

Support your local sign painter ♥

colossus x you don’t deserve me x from olympus x after dark x emergence 

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12th Annual Fort Point Art Walk

(The work of Shona Macdonald)

When: Friday May 11th, 4-7PM, Saturday May 12th-Sunday May 13th, 12-5PM

Where: Fort Point neighborhood,Boston, MA / List of participating artists here

How: Official Website 

What/Why: “Visit Fort Point as we celebrate the return of warm weather with a spring open studios event. The Fort Point Arts Community’s 12^th annual Fort Point Art Walk will be held on Friday May 11^th from 4-7pm and Saturday and Sunday May 12^th and 13^th from 12 noon-5pm.

 Art Walk features more than 75 artists opening their studios in Boston’s Fort Point. Pick up a map at any of the participating building and explore the studios of painters, jewelers, ceramicists, photographers, sculptors, textile artists, and more. Talk with artists in their studios and discover new works and treasured favorites. Visit Fort Point’s art galleries and creative design shops. Explore Boston’s changing Fort Point neighborhood and see the unique waterfront warehouse district that is one of New England’s largest and oldest arts communities. Enjoy the opportunity to purchase works of art and fine craft directly from local artists. Art Walk will be held on Mother’s Day Weekend, making it the perfect place to shop with or for your family. “

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Studios without Walls Presents ‘Real Art?’

(Mission #2, prior work of Milan Klic)

When: On view through May 27th, 2012

Where: Brookline between longwood T Stop and Park Drive, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Featuring the work of Muriel Angelil, Karen Klein
Milan Klic, Bette Ann Libby, Lyn MacDonald, James Paradis, Kerri Schmidt, joan schwartz, Jim Wright”

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Friends With Benefits

(prior work of Marion Bolognesi)

When: On view through May 31st, 2012

Where: The Distillery Gallery, 516 East Second St., Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: Friends With Benefits collects the individual and collaborative work of artists selected by members of Project Super Friends (SF). Collaborations between the artist and respective member of SF serve as a visual essay on the curatorial process.

Featuring the work of Marion Bolognesi, All Chrome, Pat Falco, Jay LaCouture, MCA, Peter Pracilio, Preys UPS and collaborations with Project Super Friends: Josh Falk, Evoker, Stephen Holding, Fish McGill, MRNVR, Dana Woulfe and Matthew Zaremba

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About & Engaged

 (Blue Light 1-3, prior work of Rinat Harel)

When: On view through June 29th, 2012

Where: Godine Family Gallery, 621 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “About & Engaged features work in the Godine Family Gallery by Genara Banzon, Kathleen Bitetti, Gail A. Burton, Michael Dowling, Rinat Harel, and Mario Quiroz.

The dates of the show are May 8- June 29th 2012 and on May 8th: 5 to 7pm is the Reception; 6:30pm is a performance, Ancestor Walks by Gail A. Burton; and 7pm is the Artist talk. The exhibition is part of ENGAGED a collaborative project by Boston-Based artist & activist Kathleen Bitetti, Mass College of Art and Design’s Godine Family Gallery and the Center for Art and Community Partnerships. The project is highlighting socially engaged art practices and entails free monthly community events from February – June 2012.”

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Artrageous 26! Auction Party

(Artichoke 1, Olivia Parker)

When: Saturday May 12th, 6-11PM

Where: 300 Jubilee Drive, Peabody, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: All proceeds benefit financial aid for students.

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Emergence

(Boatside Meadow I, JJ Long)

When: On view through May 27th, 2012

Where: Loading Dock Gallery, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, Massachusetts

How: Official Website

What/Why:  “Sculptor David Crane and painter JJ Long tackle “emergence” in their joint show at the 

Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell May 2-27. Their works celebrate the strength and mystery of form in dialogue with gravity, of potential realizing itself. “We’re looking at  metamorphosis,” Long says. “Forms break through their wooden molds as if they are  born from the earth, shedding their bark skin and coming to life.”

Long, a Melrose native now living in Lowell, paints in oils, laying down layer after layer  of color almost as a watercolorist might. The result is smooth, subtle, and depthy. He  says that, although his normal style is quite realistic and based on observation, “The  work in this show is heavily surreal, with the focus on something new emerging. I’ve  been dying to paint a series ‘out of the ordinary’, and outside my comfort zone. Sharing  this show with David gave me the opportunity.”

Crane, of Westford, creates wooden sculptures that celebrate the organic truths of the  wood. “My work for this show is largely large carved pieces of cherry,” he says. “The  wood came from a great tree in the Hudson River valley. I met the tree over 40 years  ago, fallen on a friend’s land. My friend sent me sections of the tree and I carved three  pieces from it in the 1980’s. The rest of the wood has been waiting for my chisels until  now.” “Respecting the natural grain formation,” Crane continues, “I work to tease out human forms, both male and female, that the wood suggests.” Long added, “David’s sculptures were key in helping me develop my work for this show.  The sculptures are so raw and emotional: studying them, I found inspiration for painting  emerging, evolving forms.” Long also drew inspiration from the dreamscapes and color  palette of Salvador Dali.”

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From Olympus to Alderaan

When: On view through May 27th, 2012

Opening Reception: Saturday May 12th, 7-10PM

Where: Gallery X, 169 William St. New Bedford, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: More information here.

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Art on the Marquee – Reception

When: Wednesday May 16th, 6:30-8 pm

Where: Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, 415 Summer Street, Boston

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Boston Cyberarts and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority have teamed up to create “Art on the Marquee,” an ongoing project to commission public media art for display on the new 80-foot-tall multi-screen LED marquee outside the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston. The largest urban screen in New England, this unique digital canvas is one of the first of its kind in the U.S. to integrate art alongside commercial and informational content as part of the MCCA’s longstanding neighborhood art program.”

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Park After Dark

(King, Ken Landauer)

When: May 12th, 2012 – 9:30pm-12:30am

Where: deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln, MA 01773

How: Official Website

Cost: $75

What/Why: “This year deCordova has added a new component to its annual benefit and auction: Park after Dark. DeCordova invites you to enjoy a DJ, drinks, and dancing in the Linde Gallery from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am. Experience Party for the Park in its entirety, or come just for Park after Dark.

Tickets are $75 and include drinks, desserts, and a chance to win unique artwork in a raffle featuring emerging artists! If you choose to join us for the entire evening, tickets to Party for the Park include complimentary tickets to Park after Dark. For Park after Dark guests coming from the Boston area, round trip transportation is available from 28 Degrees restaurant and bar.”

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Discord + Harmony

 (Logan, Sean Boyce)

Reception: Saturday May 12th, 5:30-8:30PM

Where: Apex Fine Arts, 162 Newbury Street Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The exhibition will feature paintings by two musician artists; Karen J. Sander and Sean Boyce. 

This exhibition will portray an impressionable contrast within urban environments showcasing the fun and playful nature of the city as well as the serious impact that it has onour natural environment and the detrimental causes of that impact. 

Sean’s work is an exploration of vibrant city-scenes in a playful and organic sense, bringing color and excitement to ordinary circumstances. His art depicts city life and the built environment from an almost hallucinatory semblance of order, a reminder of the mysterious messages that fill our surroundings. 

In Karen’s work we see a vivid and colorful depiction of the devastating effects nature can have on our delicate infrastructures, and a poignant underlying statement reflecting the importance of the balance and harmony in our natural and urban environments. 

Indicative of the indomitable human spirit, even when our cities are swept away there is a functioning community and infrastructure no matter how stressed it may be. Conversely when the weather is clear and planes are on time, no matter of efficiency and “security” can dissolve feelings of boredom, loneliness, and uncertainty.”

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Tag You’re It

 (You Can’t Catch Me, Amy Keller)

When: On view through

Opening Reception: Friday May 11th, 2012,  7-9PM

Where: 13Forest, 167A Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02474

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Please join us on Friday May 11th from 7-9 pm for the opening reception of Tag (you’re it), our two-part summer show. 

Eager for summer, we chased down ten artists to play a little game. Tagging them “it,” they were each invited to make a piece for a group show.

But a round of tag never stops there and we challenged them to continue the game by tagging ten more artists to take their spots midsummer.

With all this running around, 13FOREST will soon become a playground where twenty artists take over home base. Come see how nicely we all play together!

The first group of artists include:Resa Blatman, Pilar Botana, David Colombo, Susan Jaworski-Stranc, Amy Keller, Bénédicte Lassalle, Josh Luke, Vanessa Ly, CW Roelle, Lisa Scollan”

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Cambridge Open Studios

(there sat down once a thing on Henry’s heart (Matt), Candace Corbin)

When: May 12-13th, -East and Central Cambridge,  May 19-20 North + West Cambridge

Where: Cambridge, MA |  List of Participating Artists here.

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Artists throughout Cambridge open their doors to the public for the fourth annual city-wide Cambridge Open Studios (COS) during two weekends in May. Meet local artists and discover unique paintings, jewelry, fiber arts, ceramics, film, mixed-media, literary works, and more!”

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You Don’t Deserve Me

When: On view through July 21st, 2012

Where: Samsøn | 450 Harrison Ave. / 29 Thayer St. | Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Sitting down to write this essay, on recent works by Boston-based artist Steve Locke, I am repeatedly engaged by an overwhelmingly tangential force. In his 2nd solo exhibition, you don’t deserve me, at Samsøn, an array of textual signifiers—including distinctly truncated titles, painted portraits, and sculptural forms, rendering the figure in both two and three-dimensions—intersect with and diverge from the discourses of painting and sculpture; signifying a mediated relationship between the subject and the artist. In the past, Locke portrayed the results of looking. In his single and group installations of portraits of men we look at them, they look at us, and at each other. In his version of the portrait, subjects aspire to be the objects of desire. In this desire-seeking network of looking we often leave ourselves behind. Locke’s new series of portraits liaise with the self-set pace of a tangential passage—the urge to look at, desire, lust after, and wonder about the other in a wandering state—creating the potentiality of intersections within the matrixes of glances, gazes, stares, suppositions, propositions and gestures—in the present..”(read the rest of the essay here.)

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Mass Art Spring Sale

 (piece from “The Medicated Teacher” series by Andrea Newland)

When: Going on through May 12th, 2012

Where: MassArt, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The Annual MassArt Spring Sale located at 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, is a festive event eagerly awaited each year. This year the sale is being held May 7-12, 2012 , 10am-7pm in the lobby of the Tower Building.

This is a great opportunity to find that perfect gift for Mom! Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13th, so make sure to purchase handmade, quality artwork by students and alumni at this year’s MassArt Spring Sale! Savvy shoppers can pick up unique gifts – from hand-blown glass, ceramics, oil paintings to handmade jewelry, these items and more can be found at the MassArt Spring Sale. Sales support financial assistance to students.”

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Rifrákt @ Pavement

When: On view May 15th-June 30th, 2012

Where: Pavement Coffeehouse, 44 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Rifrákt will be exhibiting at Pavement Coffeehouse on Gainsborough Street from May 15 – June 30, 2012.  Reception details to come.  Please come down and check out new work by Boston’s great nomadic collective. “

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Cynthia Maurice: Colossus

(Hyacinth)

When: On view through May, 2012

Where: Galatea Fine Arts, 460-B Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: “My starting point are cut flowers. I seem to be attracted to shifting relationships, complexities of the everyday. I choose materials that are quick, dirty and impossible to erase.

“In Cynthia Maurice’s exhibit, Colossus, one enters a mythical world where nature is not to be trusted. Her orchids and coleus plants are excessive, greedy in their urges to survive. Ms Maurice uses shifts in scale, combining her interest in clusters with architectural forms. Her drawings confront? allure? provoke? entice? pervert? even the most innocent of viewers with their ravenous beauty.”

Masha Obolensky. Director, Playwright. First prize by Boston Theatre Works and recipient of Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship.

“Cynthia Maurice’s drawings appear to be caught in the eye of a storm, balancing energies of quiet, meditative observation and emotional offerings. They are at once sensuous and blatantly powerful.”

Marjorie Kaye, Director, Galatea Fine Arts”

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SMFA Sidewalk Sale

(quartz cluster ring by Lauren Coulson)

When: Friday, May 11, 10 am–5 pm// Saturday, May 12, 10 am–5 pm

Where: SMFA, 230 The Fenway Boston MA  02115

How: Official Website

What/Why: “SMFA’s popular Sidewalk Sale is back May 11 + 12. Shop creative and original works by over 70 artists including paintings, jewelry, drawings, T-shirts, ceramics, prints and much more.

In effort to give back to the community, 10% of all proceeds are given to a local organization chosen by students. This year’s sale will benefit Mobius, a non-profit, artist-run organization, whose mission is to generate, shape and test experimental art.”

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The Ceramics Program at Harvard Spring Show

(work by Alice Abrams)

When: Friday May 11th – Sunday May 13th, 2012 10 am – 7 pm

Where: 219 Western Avenue, Allston, MA

How: Official Website 

What/Why: “The Ceramics Program of the Office for the Arts at Harvard will present its annual Spring Show and Sale May 10th – 13th at 219 Western Avenue, Allston, MA.

The Ceramics Program provides a creative learning environment for Harvard students, staff, and faculty as well as designers, artists, and scholars from the greater Boston and international communities. This spring, more than fifty artists will present an extraordinary selection of ceramic work. From functional dinnerware to sculptural masterpieces, this popular exhibition has something for everyone and attracts several thousand visitors each year.

Thanks to generous donations and previous fundraisers, the studio recently constructed two new gas fired kilns which will be on view to the public during the Show and Sale. A silent auction and raffle will be held to raise additional funds to purchase new electric kilns.”

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Untitled: Gregory Crewdson

(Untitled 1)

When: On view through May 25th, 2012

Where: Montserrat College of Art, Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery, 23 Essex Street Beverly, MA 01915

How: Official Website 

What/Why: “I have always been fascinated by the poetic condition of twilight. By its transformative quality. Its power of turning the ordinary into something magical and otherworldy. My wish is for the narrative in the pictures to work within that circumstance. It is that sense of in-between-ness that interests me.” – Gregory Crewdson

Known for his narrative photographs of America’s suburban homes and neighborhoods, Crewdson’s images are produced with a cinematic aesthetic. His process, similar to that of a Hollywood film, consists of carefully constructing the worlds he is photographing both before and after shooting the image. The final product is a composite of many views of the same scene, every aspect equally in focus. The artist presents us with a hyper-real moment of truth.

For his latest project Sanctuary, Crewdson’s photographed the back lots of Cinecittà, the famous Roman film studio. This location is a symbol of Italy’s cultural productivity, both ancient and modern. Crewdson’s photos record the faux-ancient Roman backgrounds that directors use to romantically visualize Italy’s history. The monochromatic photographs are both historical and contemporary at the same time. By documenting the fictive, the artist again plays with notions of perception versus reality. 

In both series Crewdson elicits contemplation and quiet.”

Also on view..

Cash for Your Warhol

What/Why: (Frame 301 Gallery) “Inspired by the “cash for your house’’ signs he saw on telephone poles during the worst of the economic collapse, Geoff Hargadon’s Cash for Your Warhol project offers to assist art collectors in these trying financial times by buying their original art works by the artist Andy Warhol. The artist skillfully combines aspects of street, installation and conceptual art with popular advertising techniques. The project includes plastic signs, billboards, posters, stickers, a website and a growing number of gallery exhibitions.”

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♂/☺/♫

This wrap-up is dedicated to my mom who still loves me even though I was a teenager at one point.

Happy Mother’s Day, thank you for birthing me ♥

Recently I have been seeing blips around the internet about the “much buzzed about” Brooklyn artist, Dain.

I was surprised I hadn’t heard of him and figured I must be out of the NYC graffiti loop.

“He’s made a name for himself by hijacking images of classical beauties and creating urban, deconstructed portraits of 50s Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly. The artist’s style is deeply cross-genre: he mixes street art references and graffiti with drawing, collage and varnish. Some pieces are pasted and finished in the street, others are destined to canvases.” (via Elle)

I have fallen in love with his work. It reminds me so much of my favorite street art duo, Miss Bugs.

But, who is this guy?

Curiosity got the best of me and after a bit of googling, I discovered just HOW out of the loop I was..

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Dain has been creating street art since the 1940′s.

Blown.away. I was anticipating the above interview to feature a 20 something kid with a voice changer and an obscured face a la Exit Through the Giftshop.

(via boccelli)

Good for him. I can only hope I’m still killin’ it in tube socks when I’m a Golden Girl.

Consider me inspired.

Interviewer: Is there a message behind your work?

Dain: For me it is not so much about the beauty of a particular actress. Fame, celebrity status and beauty all disappear over time. What I love about the old black and white films or photos was that you tried to fill in the emptiness that was there. My mother always said that ‘todays women leave nothing to the imagination’ … I think often that is so true..

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See more of Dain’s work here.

Read an interview with the artist here.

♥

“The Remodeling  Project  is a performative micro-environment that investigates ideas of public versus private activities in daily life, shared ideas of home, and boundaries between social and personal identities. Throughout the month of May, a small floating platform located between the Summer Street and Congress Street bridges will become a home base for an evolving narrative of constructed reality.

The floating platform will be continually ”remodeled” into familiar environments such as an office, home, fitness center or backyard. Artist Heidi Kayser will kayak  to the platform to carry out a month-long series of unscheduled guerilla interventions. Crowd sourced survey data will be analyzed to present shared ideas of “home” and “social identity,” while the use of video blogging, surveillance video and social media create an environment that is at once documentary, voyeuristic, and participatory. The Remodeling Project takes influence from perspectives on the blurring of art and life from the Fluxus and Happening movements in performance art, and situates constructed reality (private life made public) within a larger life context.”

Learn more about the Remodeling Project here and see it for yourself in Fort Point Channel basin throughout the month of May. ♥

cave dwellers x the light in me x i was a warrior x passage

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When: Friday May 4th, 2012 6-9PM

Where: Anthony Greaney, 450 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: Ian Jeffrey – “The photograph is of my friend Dan’s shoes. Converse high-tops, off-white, and spattered with blood. He is standing on a grey linoleum floor with his right foot positioned just in front of his left.  For some reason, if I am thinking about this picture, I imagine him standing with his feet apart in a wide v-shape. Athough after looking at it again, if anything, they are pointed slightly inward. The frame ends just above his ankles. I don’t think I actually took the picture myself, I think I asked his girlfriend to take it for me. We had been out all night, and had just gotten back to his apartment where we were standing around in the kitchen, talking.

The club had been packed with people. The dance floor was really more of a long corridor, a digestive tract, connecting the bar up front with the toilets in the back. All night, it was body pushing past body, moving back and forth to drink or piss.

When the DJ played Bigmouth Strikes Again, he built it up slowly, repeating the guitar intro over and over again, cutting it in-and-out rhythmically with a Latin percussion break. The anticipation stretched, and then it broke, causing one of those rare moments when the night peaks, when everything is perfect, and you can sense this burning metallic energy being shared by everyone dancing together. The room was in a frenzy. Everyone was singing along, “Now I know how Joan of Arc felt!” In the midst of this, there was a girl who wouldn’t stop dancing, even though she had a piece of broken glass stuck in her foot.  She didn’t care—she just kept dancing—bleeding all over the crowded floor.

Later, back in the kitchen, Dan was saying he had seen her right as it happened. He had noticed the girl on the other side of the room. She was missing one of her sandals, and was standing elegantly on one leg like a flamingo, her bare foot propped up against her knee to protect it from the broken glass on the floor. She was scanning around for it using the dim light of her phone, but then, as she heard the intro toBigmouth, she slapped the phone closed and mouthed an exaggerated “fuck it,” slamming her foot down right as the drums came in.”

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Cave Dwellers

When: On view through May 27th, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday May 4th, 5:00 – 7:30 pm

Where: Kingston Gallery, 450 Harrison Ave. #43, Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Over the past eight years, Barbara Moody’s work has focused on animal imagery, piles of debris, and unusual ecosystems. For her most recent solo show, opening in May, 2012, she has combined these interests to explore the dark world of caves, caverns, and tunnels. This new series includes large-scale cave/graffiti drawings, paintings, and collages printed on vinyl. Manipulating and collaging old animal engravings, Moody subtly offers clues to the history of the caves’ former inhabitants. Bits of fur, skin, teeth, and claws suggest predators and prey snaking through tunnels and cohabiting in a confined space. The layers of mark-making suggest memories once etched into cave walls and still present.”

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Passage

(Untitled)

When: On view May 6th-July 7th, 2012

Where: Peregrine Gallery, 150 Waterman St #6, Providence RI

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Peregrine Gallery is pleased to present “Passage”, a solo exhibition by the New York City Based photographer Zev Jonas.  The exhibition runs from May, 7th, 2012 – July 5th, 2012 at 150 Waterman St #6, Providence RI.  Please come out for the opening reception May 17th from 6-8pm to meet the artist. 

 In the exhibition Jonas explores relationships with the mass produced media images that surround us.  He is particularly fascinated by how these static images become distorted by the effects of light, the elements and time.  As media presents an idealized form, Jonas’s photographs show that this form takes on new meanings when subjected to these omnipresent realities.  In one of his untitled works, light hits an image (a photograph? a magazine page?  it us up to the views imagination) highlighting a face with etheric light while leaving the rest obscured as a textural skin.  By capturing the decay and natural manipulation of the images around us Jonas manages to humanize them, to give them context and life.”

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Green Street Jungle

(exhibition view)

When: Saturday May 5th, 2012, 12PM

Where: 252 Newbury Street, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The Green Street Jungle is a retail experience catering to the innovators, trendsetters, forerunners and free thinkers in the city of Boston. Two of Boston’s best young businesses are coming together for a limited run of 8 weeks to bring our vision of the future to the people.”

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Arnold Trachtman: Memories of Lynn, MA

When: On view through May 2012

Opening Reception: Friday May 4th, 6-8PM

Where: Galatea Fine Arts, 460B Harrison Ave., #B-6, Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Mr. Trachtman surveys the vaults of memory in these paintings, most of which are based on his childhood in Lynn, MA., and the denizens of his growing up. One finds in these works a reflection of the familiar and the family, steeped in deep recollection of their environments. Consequently, in addition to his rendering of family members, is the documentation of the buildings and businesses, and general high energy of a stunning day on the street. The viewer can hear the honks of the horns and the conversations of passers by.

The artist is well known for his works centering on subjects of social consciousness; those that deal directly with the Reagan Administration and the Holocaust, etc. In the works of his upcoming exhibition at Galatea Fine Art we find an inner reflection of the artist’s roots; memories of what shapes the content of his early forming consciousness and direction of thought. The social awareness of the artist is not lost, nor is it hidden; it is translated in terms of personal sojourn and the memoirs of those he holds righteously sacred.”

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2012 All Senior Show

(interpretation of Brooklyn Zoo by Old Dirty Bastard, Eamon Smyth)

When: On view May 7th-25th, 2012

Ceremony: Wednesday May 9th, 11:30am

Where: Montserrat College of Art Galleries, 23 Essex St., Beverly, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “A showcase of artwork by each student earning a BFA in either December 2011 or May 2012. Artwork includes a wide range of media, including animation + interactive media, book arts, graphic design, illustration, interdisciplinary arts, painting + drawing, photography + video, printmaking and sculpture. Awards, including cash prizes, will be presented by Juror Trevor Smith, Curator of Contemporary Art of the Peabody Essex Museum.”

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Of Masterpieces and Manure: The Garden as a Work of Art

(Landscape with an Obelisk, Govaert Flinck)

When: Thursday May 10th, 2012 7PM

Where: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum / 280 The Fenway / Boston MA 02115

How: Official Website

Cost: $15 Reserve tickets here.

What/Why: “The first of two Masterpiece Lectures at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in May happens next Thursday, May 10, at 7pm, with Vittoria Di Palma, Associate Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University. Members now receive lecture tickets for free. All lectures are in Calderwood Hall and tickets are limited.”

What does it mean to call a garden a masterpiece? How is a garden like, and unlike, a work of art? Why might one want to design a garden so that it looks like a painting? The eighteenth-century picturesque garden engages with these sorts of questions by using painterly devices to blur the relationship between nature and art. Framing, composition, perspective, line, color, and chiaroscuro are deployed to provoke particular sensations and produce certain effects, making the garden visitor acutely aware of the ubiquity of artifice, and of the impossibility of experiencing nature free from a cultural frame.

Vittoria Di Palma, Associate Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, specializes in modern European architectural history and theory, with a particular concentration on eighteenth-century architecture and landscape. Her research focuses on connections between landscape and epistemology; ideas of the natural and the artificial; and, more broadly, brings art historical issues to bear upon architectural history, examining the ways in which visuality, aesthetics, and perception inform our understanding of buildings and environments. After receiving her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1999, she spent 1999-2003 at the Architectural Association, London, where she was co-director of the Histories and Theories of Architecture graduate program. She then taught at Rice University in Houston, before returning to Columbia to join the faculty in 2004.”

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Somerville Open Studios

(The Light in Me, Holland Dieringer)

When: Friday, May 4 from 6pm – 9pm and Saturday and Sunday, May 5 and 6, 2012 from noon to 6 pm

Where: Somerville, MA // List of participating artists here.

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Visit nearly 400 artists in over 100 venues who will open their homes and studios for the 14th Annual Somerville Open Studios Event on Friday, May 4 from 6pm – 9pm and Saturday and Sunday, May 5 and 6, 2012 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 will exhibit and sell their work to the public.”

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Michael Zigmond

(Nasturtiums in Jar)

When: On view May 27th, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday, May 4th, 2012, 6 – 8pm

Where: Chase Young Gallery, 450 Harrison Avenue #57, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Opened in August of 2010 by Jane Young, Chase Young Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of exceptional contemporary painting, sculpture, and photography.”

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2012 School of Visual Arts BFA Exhibition

When: On view through May 11th, 2012

Opening Reception: May 4th, 6-8PM

Where: 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The Boston University School of Visual Arts presents the work of students receiving Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees in Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic Design. The students featured in this exhibition have spent the past four years in rigorous studio training that has been enriched by an outstanding liberal arts education. In addition to gaining these core skills, each student has been encouraged to develop an individual artistic vision, contributing to the richness and variety of this exhibition as a whole.”

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Drawn to Water – Set in Sun

(Wind Pile)

When: On view through May 26th, 2012

Opening Reception: May 4th, 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Where: Soprafina Gallery, 55 Thayer Street, Boston, MA  02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Soprafina Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new watercolors by Susan Demchak. Ms. Demchak received her B.F.A., cum laude, from the University of Michigan. She has also studied in Florence, Italy. Her work has been exhibited in gallery exhibitions throughout the United States and additionally she receives commissions nationally for portraits and murals. She currently teaches watercolor classes for a wide range of students at the DeCordova Museum School in Lincoln, MA. 

Susan Demchak is perhaps best known for the watercolors which she creates during her extensive travels. This collection captures the beauty and dynamic interplay of nature using one of its most essential materials, water. Ms. Demchak states that… “I treat my subjects with reverence for the life that they have and the evolution of their purpose.” Her watercolors are intelligently executed with a detailed virtuosity. The use of the white paper and the abstraction of her shapes engage the viewer’s eye in a compelling manner”

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Western Avenue Open Studios

(pincushion ring Vanilla-Mint, Liz of MadeinLowell)

When: Saturday May 5th, 2012 , 12:00-5:00PM

Where: 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA 01851

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The fifth floor of Western Avenue Studios opened its 31 studio doors to working artists on September 1, 2005. The opening of the 4th and 3rd floor in 2006 and the opening of the A Mill’s 2nd and 3rd floors in 2007 and completion of the 2nd floor studios in the main building, brings the total of working studios to 143 and the number of artists at Western Avenue to more than 215.

Since opening day, Western Avenue Studios has become an integral part of the cultural life of the city of Lowell. In addition to participating in the annual citywide Lowell Open Studios and holding monthly First Saturday Open Studios, WAS artists partner to offer numerous events throughout the year. The summer of 2009 marked the fourth year of the Summer Art Program for Children.  In 2009 WAS welcomed the Revolving Museum which provides educational programming to local high school aged artists and the Miracle Providers NorthEast who support children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS through performance based fundraising.  Also in 2009, The Space opened its doors in the B-Mill, providing music rehearsal space and a cafe.”

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Getting There: Design for Travel in the Modern Age

When: On view through September 01, 2012

Opening Reception: May 10th, 2012, 5:30-8:00pm RSVP here.

Where: Grand Circle Gallery,  347 Congress Street Boston, MA 02210

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Design has shaped and continues to transform our travel experiences. The moment you step into the airport, station, or port you’re entering a world that is curated and planned by designers. From the layout and signage of the airport, to the form and function of your suitcase, to the style and dimensions of your seat; every aspect of the experience is designed.

Getting There shows designers’ efforts to create a comfortable, efficient, and exciting travel experience. We invite you to view vintage travel advertising from a time when leisure travel was made more feasible by technological advancements in transportation. Compare images, plans, and artifacts of the past, present, and future — and ask yourself, “How do we define the Golden Age of Travel?”

The exhibition chronicles the design evolution of traveler accessories, such as noise-canceling headsets, as well as designs of airline seats, train interiors, and vintage cutlery. Drawings, models, and prototypes from design firms such as Bose, Samsonite, Teague, and IDEO, will highlight projects that have creatively addressed design challenges posed by the constraints of human travel.”

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150×150

(The work of Scott Listfield)

When: Saturday May 12th, 2012 -12PM

Preview: Friday, May 4th, 5:30-8:30pm

Where: Laconia Gallery, 433 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Please come to the public previews first to get a good look at all the amazing artwork by well-known local artists.

The Saturday event is a race for art, and artwork can be purchased by being the first one to grab the tag beside the work of art that you choose – if the tag is gone move on to your NEXT choice! (Artwork can be purchased by cash or check only – sorry, no Credit or Debit cards. Payment is made at time of purchase.)

Doors open at Noon on May 12 - be there on time for the best selection.”

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Alex Lukas – Recent Works

(Untitled)

When: On view through June 2nd, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday May 4th, 2012 -5:30PM

Where: Steven Zevitas Gallery, 450 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Recent Works consists of five new large-scale paintings on paper (the largest measures at twelve feet in length) and a group of work utilizing appropriated book pages. This body of work continues the Lukas’ exploration of our current cultural condition through the lens of the landscape. Executed primarily in ink, acrylic, watercolor and gouache, the artist also uses the process of silk-screening for certain elements of each work. 

Thomas Cole’s well-known painting “River in the Catskills,” which depicts a pastoral landscape with a small train slicing through the scene in the middle ground, is a harbinger of things to come in the story of man’s attempt to gain control of nature. In many ways, Lukas’ landscapes, which combine sites real and imagined – with a healthy nod towards Hollywood and art history – tell the end of the story, as man-made structures yield back to nature. The works pivot on series of dichotomies: violence and quietude; the manmade and the natural; hope and a profound sense of despair. They also grapple with ideas about national
morality and societal fragility.”

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Needham Open Studios

(A Glimpse of Paradise, Anne Nydam)

When: May 5th-6th, 2012

Where: Needham, MA / List of participating artists here.

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Come take a behind-the-scenes look at Needham’s community of award-winning visual artists. Tour and visit the artists in their studios, see how they make their art, and find unique hand-made treasures.

This annual non-juried event is open to all artists and craftspeople living and/or working in Needham, Massachusetts. Last year over 50 local artists and craftspeople participated at nearly 15 different locations.”

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Lisa Olson : “The Children’s Home “

When: On view through May 26th, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday May 4th, 2012 6-8:30PM

Where: Bromfield Gallery, 450 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118

How: Official Website 

What/Why: “As a child, my grandmother was placed in a small orphanage in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a situation typical of the time, her widowed mother did not have the safety nets necessary to keep her children at home. I have often wondered about the psychology of a child who found him- or herself moved from a parent and a home in to an institution. My grandmother often spoke of the experience with a combination of affection and bitterness, emotions that somehow seemed comfortably married in her mind.  

As I began to read about the history of orphanages and the social and child care philosophies of the time, I also began to wonder about the complex relationships that must have developed between caregiver and child.

How does one who takes the job of caring for a displaced child balance the tangle of necessary distanced authority and personal emotional involvement? Perhaps no amount of well-intentioned organization or care could prevent what the child must have felt—loss, fear, grief, loneliness, isolation, regimentation and confusion. These are issues that I hope to address with this body of work.

Sugar of Milk, Sugar of Lead considers the intertwined psychologies of child and caregiver, Child Keeper addresses the idea of individuality in the midst of congregate institutionalization, and the various Transitional Objectsaddress emotional relationships to objects, place and people that make up a “home.” “

Also on view..

Carol Greenwood : “The Last Cabinet…”

What/Why: “This body of work, which began shortly before the death of my last surviving parent, is made mostly with sewing notions—blanket and seam binding, bias and hem tape—and fabric salvaged from the family fabric business when it was closed. These simple materials are common in everyday clothing construction, and I had handled them all my life in that context.

Using this random palette limited by what had been saved, I explore issues of transition, closure, and the tension between how we see ourselves and how we think others want to see us.

Framed by formal elements of texture, scale, color and movement, these pieces hang in free space away from the wall and comprise one or more layers. They share the same physical space as the viewer in order to encourage the perceptual and emotional changes experienced through the distance-dance of   “come here/go away.”"

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Trepanation

When: On view throughout May 25th, 2012

Where: NK Gallery, 450 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA

How: Official Website 

What/Why: “I was a warrior, once. Young then, well educated and trained by the best the Army had to offer in all of the skills that distinguish the infantryman, airborne and Ranger, from the rest, I humped, with my fellow grunts, the frozen mountains along the DMZ in Korea and the steaming, dank jungles of Vietnam. Always alert and ever vigilant to the slightest anomaly that might suddenly end or alter a life, those of us who went outside the wire down range were, in fact, changed forever, yet unaware of the alterations within us. The changes, invisible, save to a close few, who knew us both before deployment, frequently burrowed deeply, hidden in the dark folds of quotidian chores and obligations where they might remain submerged and suppressed. Or they might erupted to manifest themselves unpredictably. Mine found a voice in the form of sculpture.

Much has evolved since I retired from the battlefield. In subsequent wars, the terrain, the missions, the equipment, and the enemy are all different. What has been a constant of warfare for millennia and remains so for the warriors of any society who are sent to act where diplomacy fails is the personal toll, the aftereffects and the protracted personal and social consequences of combat duty.

No one who has “seen the elephant” is unchanged by it. No one.

This work tries to focus attention on some facets of that toll. The links from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), to concussive injury (TBI), to trepanation, to tinnitus are real. The toll is real. It evanesces out into the ether to infinity.”

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Party on the Harbor

When: Friday May 4th, 2012 – 9:00PM

Where: ICA Boston, 100 Northern Avenue  Boston, MA 02210

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Start summer on the Boston waterfront with the ICA’s annual Party on the Harbor – an unforgettable evening of art and celebration at the city’s most exciting museum. Breathtaking views of Boston Harbor, festive cocktails, and music by some of the country’s premier DJs will keep you dancing all night long.

Proceeds from the event support the ICA’s exhibitions, performing arts, and educational programs.”

Note: The event is now sold out. But you can go press your face up against the glass.

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Boston LGBT Film Fest

(A Word (Mila), Yoav Inbar)

When: Film screenings through May 13th

Where: Learn more about the films/showtimes here.

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The Boston LGBT Film Festival is the longest running and largest LGBT media event in New England. Founded in 1984 by film programmer George Mansour, the festival has been hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston since the early nineties. In 2009 the festival expanded to include screenings at the Brattle Theatre in iconic Harvard Square, Cambridge, and the brand new Fenway Health Center on Boylston Street in Boston. In 2011 we screened over 100 films from 25 countries. In 2012 we will be opening the film festival at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the Boston waterfront. This event marks a return to the ICA after an absence of almost twenty years.

The Boston LGBT Film Festival celebrates, displays and distributes work by and for LGBT media makers – work that entertains, enriches and enlightens all audiences in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and allied communities. The annual Festival screenings showcase international, US, and local film, video, and other media, fostering a greater sense of awareness and community among LGBT and LGBT-friendly audiences.

As New England’s premiere LGBT film organization, the Festival reaches out to the culturally rich and diverse communities of the region through Screenings on Tour and Festival Partnerships, in collaboration with other film festivals. With its Young LGBT Filmmakers program, the Festival provides education, outreach and exposure for emerging filmmakers.

The Boston LGBT Film Festival aims to stimulate thought and encourage dialogue while offering exposure and continued presence for filmmakers, artists and community organizations.  ”

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Bits

When: Friday May 4th, 2012 7:00-11:00PM

Where: Lot F Gallery, 145 Pearl Street, Boston, MA 02110

How: Official Website

What/Why: “Bits; a study of the smaller things in life. Featuring the works of Bob Conge, Todd Robertson and Will Long; Bits will be comprised of mixed media paintings, collage, prints, sculpture and toys. The idea that everything in our world is made from many components is the basis for the show. These everyday components align and form themselves into bigger and most times different forms. For example our bodies are comprised from cells, although the human body does not resemble a cell. Bits will also examine individual toys and how they group together to form a collection. 

While it has been some 4000 years in the mak­ing, if you believe the backstory, PLASEEBO was finally founded in 2004 as a shop dedicated to creating unique one of a kind collectable figures and Ultra Limited editions. “I remember, as a young boy, my most prized possession being a small box in which I kept colorful or uniquely shaped stones, butterfly wings, bird’s feet, dried flowers, a skull I had carved from wood, a small red plastic A-Bomb, and a wavewashed piece of deep blue glass. This first collection was a micro cosmos of my world at that time.” says Bob Conge of Plaseebo. Whatever the direc­tion or medium of expression, the drive is to bring to life a personal vision in the form of a new figure, hence the tag line, “PLASEEBO / its not what you think”. “

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SoWa Open Market Opening Day

When: Sunday May 6th, 2012 10AM-4PM

Where: 460 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA

How: Official Website

What/Why: “The SoWa Open Market  offers a shopping experience like no other in Boston. With an ever-changing group of artisans, a hip location and the chance to feel the sun on your face while you browse, it’s a trip worth making. The market offers the opportunity to meet the artists, vendors and farmers behind the work. Every week offers shoppers something different and unique – you won’t want to miss it!

The market hosts a wide variety of vendors, whether you’re looking for hand-crafted accessories, original art, indie designer clothing or just a fresh loaf of bread, you’ll find painters, sculptors, photographers, clothing and jewelry designers, milliners, handbag designers, house wares, florists, bakers, local farmer’s produce and much more every week!”

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Amazing. 20+ events this weekend. That’s how it always should be.

Did I miss one? Let me know..

♂/☺/♫

A bit of housekeeping.

Have you added me to your listserv? You should. My inbox is where I find out about the majority of events I share on FLUX.

Also, I’m on pinterest! Let’s be friends and..pin things together?

I’m still figuring it all out, but I imagine I will include Boston related content shortly. For now it’s primarily a repository of images of things I can’t afford, and black & white photos of deceased film stars.

Sneak out early and have a great weekend! ♥

John Cleese on five factors to make your life more creative.

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1. Space (“You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures.”)
2. Time (“It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time.”)
3. Time (“Giving your mind as long as possible to come up with something original,” and learning to tolerate the discomfort of pondering time and indecision.)
4. Confidence (“Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”)
5. Humor (“The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.”)

(via brainpickings)

The full 36 minute version of John’s talk is available here. A worthy watch/listen. ♥