(Crocodile Food, Zdenek Burian)
yearning x plenty x type x plastic city x say you love me x seven in bed
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15th Annual Boston International Fine Arts Show
(Tony, Meghan Howland)
When: November 17th-20th, 2011, Friday 1pm – 9pm/Saturday 11am – 8pm/Sunday 11am – 5pm
Where: Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: $15
What/Why: “Galleries from the United States, Europe will offer more than 3,000 original works of art at the Fifteenth Annual Boston International Fine Art Show (BIFAS), Thursday – Sunday, November 17-20, 2011 at The Cyclorama, Boston Center for The Arts (BCA). The show opens with the Gala Preview on Thursday, November 17 from 5:30 to 8:30pm to The Greater Boston Food Bank. Gala tickets are $100 and $250. Friday evening November 18 is “New Collectors’ Night”, and guest lectures take place throughout the weekend.
The only show of its kind in New England, BIFAS features 40 galleries from the United States and Europe, with no restrictions on the type of work that may be shown. Works on offer range from fine original prints priced at just a few hundred dollars to museum-quality masterpiece paintings priced at more than $3 million. Last year, over 3,000 people attended the show, which saw very strong sales.
The Greater Boston Food Bank, which distributes more than 34 million pounds of food and grocery products annually to approximately 550 member hunger-relief agencies and 30 Food Bank Direct service programs, will benefit from the Gala Preview this year.”
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Brickbottom Open Studios
(Honey(detail), Maggie Carberry)
When: November 19 & 20th, 12:00PM-6:00PM
Where: Brickbottom Studios, 1 Fitchburg Street, Somerville, MA 02143
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Our 24th Annual Open Studio Event will take place the weekend before Thanksgiving, Saturday and Sunday, November 19th and 20th, 2011 from noon to six.
Over 60 artists will be showing at Brickbottom and, just two blocks away, are the Joy Street Studios where more than 50 of their studios will be open on that same weekend.
Don’t miss it. See both up-and-coming and established artists’ artwork in the studios where they were created. All media are represented from painting and sculpture to photography, digital art and environmental and performance art. Glass blowing, ceramics, printmaking, animation, sound, theatre and music will round out the multi-media event. Genres range from abstract to realistic and everything in between.”
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Joy Street Open Studios
(Yearning, Andrea Rosenthal)
When: November 19 & 20th, 12:00-6:00PM
Where: Joy Street Studios, 86 Joy Street, Somerville, MA 02143
How: Official Website
What/Why: “We make jewelry, glass and neon art, paintings, drawings, animation, computer art, sound art, photographs, films, web sites, video art, sculptures, site-specific installations, fiber art, wall art, eco-friendly hand bags, and hand-crafted furniture.
Creating works in clay, marble, granite, oil and acrylic paint, graphite, watercolor, metal, wood, neon, film, jewels, beads, glass,fabric, and with analog and digital media and the as-yet unnamed…”
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Spirited Magazine Plastic City Release Reception
(Pages from Spirited Magazines “Plastic City” edition)
When: Sunday November 20th, 2011, 8:00PM
Where: Lorem Ipsum Books, 1299 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Please join us as we celebrate the release of the newest edition of Spirited Magazine and welcome its first print appearance ever! Inspired by the art of collaboration, Spirited magazine combines the best of artistic acumen with the fundamentals of community. The vision is to bring creatives—the artist as more than an individual commodity producing art— together in the spirit of humanity and the soul thereof.
The magazine is highly conceptual and born from the necessity to create productive outlets for exploring textures and depths. Contributors, who include photographers, stylists, musicians, visual artists, filmmakers, graphic designers and writers, are challenged to stretch this idea to its limits, explore its surfaces and crevices.
“Spirited represents the essence of things,” founder and creative director Amanda Antunes says of the work, “and it’s spiritual because it’s inspirational in the way that fashion is. Fashion dictates life—it drives identity, and frees it.”
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Seven in Bed
When: On view through December 18th, 2011
Opening Reception: November 19th, 2011 2-5PM
Where: Boston Sculptor’s Gallery, 486 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Boston Sculptors Gallery is pleased to present Seven In Bed, artist Ellen Wetmore’s 2011 solo exhibition of new works. The exhibition runs from Wednesday, November 16th to Sunday,December 18th, 2011, with an opening reception on Saturday, November 19th from 2 pm until 5 pm.The show’s signature piece, Seven In Bed, is a video installation that explores the transitory nature ofthe human presence. Beginning with footage of herself sleeping, Wetmore creates a composition thatplays with time, memory, mortality, and the sublime. The video is projected onto a sculpturalstructure made of fabric, evoking bed linens or burial shrouds. “This project is inspired by co-sleepingwith one spouse, one pet, one living child, one fetal child, and the memory of one dead child,” saysWetmore, “It’s a full bed.”In addition to Seven In Bed, Wetmore will show other sculptural video works. Pacing depicts the artist looping around in her studio, leaving marks of her presence on screen with each pass. Each video concentrates on a simple human gesture, exploring the expressive potential of breathing,pacing, shaking the head, or licking. The screens are handmade sculptural objects that are brought tolife through the glow of projected video.Wetmore’s work uses depictions of her own body as its primary vehicle, stretching it visually toconvey her concepts. Previous solo exhibitions have autobiographically explored pregnancy andmotherhood. As critic Cate McQuaid has written: “Her works comically deflate, poke fun at and savor pregnancy”
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Type Show
(Island Life by Brian Hart whose work will be featured in the show)
When: On view through December 3rd, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday November 18th, 2011 7:00-10:00PM
Where: Lincoln Arts Project, 289 Moody Street, Waltham, MA
How: Official Website
What/Why: “FEATURING WORK FROM: Bessie Anderson/Brian Glaser/Brian Hart/Charlie Smith/Chelsea Dirck /Chris Piascik/Corey Oberlander/Courtney Moy/Dana Woulfe/Emily McIntosh/Erin Davis/Evan Smith/Fritz Klaetke/Geoff Hargadon /Inna Komarovsky/James Weinberg/Jessica MacMillan/Josh Luke/JP Boneyard/Kenji Nakayama/Lisa Hersey/Mike Dacey/Nat Martin/Nicholas Irzyk/Pat Falco/Sarah Smith/Scott Chasse/Tim McCool/Tom Maio/Union Press/Sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon”
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Plenty
(‘Kitsune’ by Nancy Popper whose work will be featured in the show)
When: On view through February 4th, 2012
Opening Reception: November 17th, 2011, 7:00-9:00PM
Where: 13Forest Gallery, 167A Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02474
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Plenty 2011 is our third annual roundup of the best work local and regional artists have to offer. Opening Thursday, November 17 with a reception from 7-9 pm, our salon style holiday show features new work by 50 local artists.
Plenty celebrates the many talented artists found around Boston and beyond. All types of media are represented including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, wood construction, and a few odd pieces that defy categorization.
Works in the show are modest in size and budget and make great holiday gifts. Our collection of handmade ceramics, jewelry, woodwork and even stuffed animals will also be in abundance. And if you can’t make our opening reception, please join us for some holiday cheer at our Annual Holiday Party on Thursday, December 15 from 7-9 pm.”
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Perpetual In-terra-ation
(EmitTime)
When: On view through December 22nd, 2011
Where: Yes.Oui.Si., 19 Vancouver St. Boston, MA 02115
How: Official Website
What/Why: “YES.OUI.SI. Boston is pleased to present Perpetual In-terra-ation, an exhibition featuring the longest painting in Boston, as well as scrolls and sculpture by Adrian Molina.
In Perpetual In-terra-action, Adrian Molina explores the boundaries between painting, sculpture, time based, and interactive art, in an ode to conceptual science. “The Universe is a mind and we invent the symbols that read it best, according to one’s limitations,” writes Nestor Molina, the artist’s father. Adrian’s artistic universe is an amalgamation of materials, techniques, intuition, and concepts, referencing both his personal history as well as the practices and periods of global art history. Perpetual In-terra-action explores the first, second, third, and fourth dimensions through two distinct, yet cohesive, approaches to art making.”
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Say You Love Me
(Exorcism in January, 2009)
When: On view November 17th – December 22, 2011
Where: Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Sert Gallery, Harvard University, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
How: Official Website
What/Why: “The installation Laurel Nakadate: Say You Love Me will feature a selection of videos by the artist, filmmaker, and photographer Laurel Nakadate, whose work pushes the boundaries of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and vulnerability. In videos such as Happy Birthday, she performs a Lolita-like role in a series of sometimes unsettling fictional vignettes with mostly white, middle-aged men she meets through chance encounters. In others, including Good Morning Sunshine, she continues to exploit the unsavory yet titillating nature of interactions between older men and girls by voicing the role of a predator. Nakadate is always in control, whether in front of or behind the camera; yet her intention is not to make fun of her collaborators. Her videos are complicated but ultimately empathetic meditations on loneliness and longing. Curated by Michelle Lamunière, John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Assistant Curator of Photography, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums.”
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Hannah Barrett- Family Jewels
(For Two is the Most Imperfect of All Numbers)
When: On view November 18th- December 23rd, 2011
Where: Howard Yezerski Gallery, 460 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02118
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Howard Yezerski is pleased to present The Family Jewels, a series depicting the glamorous appearance and lifestyle of royal hermaphrodites, by Hannah Barrett. The divine beings garden, ride horseback, take tea, frolic in the bedroom, and cook dinner in the castle kitchen. Like many an official portrait of the Christ Child, the genitals are exposed in order to verify their unique status. These are enviable creatures possessing everything a person could possibly want from multi-sexuality to opulent surroundings.”
(Sketch/Study for ‘For Two is the Most Imperfect of All Numbers’)
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Disponible: A Kind of Mexican Show
(Final Weekend!)
(las llaves de la ciudad, Teresa Margolles)
When: On view through November 19th, 2011
Where: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 230 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Within Mexico’s urban setting, contemporary art and other experimental and creative practices such as architecture, design and music flourish, forming one of the most original and intriguing art scenes in the global landscape. “Disponible: A Kind of Mexican Show” brings together eight of Mexico’s most innovative contemporary artists as they critique and explore the challenges and contradictions of their native country.
Taking its name from the empty advertisement billboards across Mexican city skylines, “disponible”—meaning at once “available” and “potentially changeable or disposable”—reflects the reality of Mexican society, which is in perpetual transition from post-colonial revolution to its current negotiation with globalization.”
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Present Company
When: On view November 18th-December 18th, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday November 19th, 2011, 5:00-9:00PM
Where: Fountain Street Fine Art, 59 Fountain Street, Framingham, MA
How: Official Website
What/Why: “While each of the thirteen exhibiting artists has a distinct style and approach, they share a vision and sense of adventure that has prompted them to join the fledgling gallery. Pieces vary from classical and expressionist to modern, contemporary and abstract, in a variety of media, including painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media.
The Gallery’s first annual Holiday Sale features member artists’ work. Small work (no larger than 14 in. in any dimension) priced at $500 and under will be for sale. A large selection of artist cards and works on paper will also be available.”
Rose Umerlik: Histories
(Opposed)
When: On view through November 27th, 2011
Where: Nahcotta Gallery, 110 Congress Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801
How: Official Website
What/Why: “Abstract artist Rose Umerlik’s most recent collection of oil paintings, entitled Histories, is on view at Nahcotta from November 2 until November 27. The opening reception for this exhibition is free and open to the public and will take place at the gallery on Friday, November 4, from 5-8 p.m.
In conjunction with this exhibition, Umerlik is releasing her second artist’s book of images and essays. This book, sharing the exhibition’s name of Histories, includes an introduction by New England art critic and curator Shawn Hill, as well as private, intimate journal entries by the artist herself channeling her thought and work processes relating to each piece throughout its creation. The paintings within Nahcotta’s exhibition are selections of the work depicted within the book; additional pieces are shown in the publication.
The quiet and solitude of her month-long stay at the Vermont Studio Center in 2010 inspired a written chronicling of Umerlik’s own work, a journaling process that became an exploratory experience of her artwork and its derivations. Says Umerlik, “Through the writing process, which encouraged self-reflection and honesty, I noticed that I was beginning to unearth the less conscious motivations and sources of inspiration for my work; ideas and feelings that I had not been as keenly in touch with before. I began to see that each painting has a history. These histories trace the forms, lines, colors, and drawings of each painting back to their source, creating a framework of its genesis. My decision to share these stories here came out of a belief that honesty is the deepest essence of any art form.”
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Unfortunately I have to flee Boston this weekend to check-in with my family in New York(I will still be wired to the world). But if I was staying in town, I would most definitely be headed to the Glovebox Fundraiser this evening.
(Bird Attack II, Meghan Howland whose work will be shown at the Boston Fine Arts Show)
Support local artists and the people who support them. Have a great weekend!♥
