PRINTMAKING REIMAGINED Brian Goslow The “2017 Wheaton Biennial: Printmaking Reimagined,” featuring work by 60 artists from 30 states, Canada and Sweden, is an exciting show thanks to the many facets and techniques of the printmaking genre it presents . From traditional linocuts and lithographs to the more modern relief prints and works presented on tissue, cot ton and Asian-made papers that have found a welcoming audience in the expanding craft shows and markets that have blossomed over the past decade, along with the screen prints that became such a major part of the art and culture component of the 1960s and are making a comeback, as both an advertising and political tool, plus works created in the new frontier of digital and 3-D printmaking, this show promises to be a rich experience for its viewers. When the call for entries for the 2017 Wheaton Biennial went out in … [Read more...] about 2017 WHEATON BIENNIAL
March/April 2017
IT’S THE BOM
A GALLERY OF ENERGIZED CONTENT Suzanne Volmer Yunmin and Kurt Zala debuted Gallery BOM in Boston’s SoWa District in November 2016 with a two-part exhibition of works by Jung Woo Cho, the highlight of which was Cho’s installation, “Purity,” that explored the idea of water’s renewable potential and related to the artist’s nuanced spiritual understanding of earth as habitat. A series of accompanying aqueouslooking wall reliefs offered a compelling invitation for audiences to step inside Gallery BOM for a closer look and perhaps begin a conversation about the meaning behind the work. It also signaled the gallery’s intentions in moving forward. Although large in size, “Purity” was intriguingly compact enough for residential placement. Yunmin Zala is BOM’s director, and her vision drives the direction of the gallery’s content. She and husband Kurt attended the Art Week Miami … [Read more...] about IT’S THE BOM
11 for 11: Krzysztof Wodiczko
PROJECTING LIGHT ON SOCIAL ISSUES Nancy Nesvet Krzysztof Wodiczko, Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s professor in residence of art, design and the public domain, who also works with the Interrogative Design Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), combines art and technology with emerging social issues to produce creative projects involving veterans of war, disasters and other trauma. His artistic practice, which he calls interrogative design, incorporates sound production, projections, specially constructed robots and other forms to give the viewing and listening public an unparalleled awareness of the issues he presents, and offer an impetus to change their perspectives and future actions. “The monument is a mission to change, in a productive versus a destructive way,” Wodiczko said. He has found, in projection, a methodology that … [Read more...] about 11 for 11: Krzysztof Wodiczko
11 for 11: Roya Amigh
IMAGINATION MEETS MEMORY Elizabeth Michelman I first met Iranian artist Roya Amigh on a July afternoon in a converted horse barn in Ghent, New York. I was visiting the open studios of Art OMI, an international artists’ residency in the Hudson River Valley. The sweaty bodies and the mid-day heat were overwhelming, so I ducked into a dark stall to catch my breath. As my eyes adjusted, the scanty light revealed clouds of paper scraps — white, pale pink and rusty yellow — enmeshed in threads that stretched from floor to ceiling and across shadowy corners of the room. Next to a debrisstrewn kitchen table stood the artist herself, at ease with her work. Amigh came to Boston University from Tehran in 2010 for a second M.F.A. At first exploring luminous color under neo-expressionist painter John Walker, she soon turned to making gestural line drawings reminiscent of the Persian … [Read more...] about 11 for 11: Roya Amigh
11 for 11: Elizabeth Goddard
PRINTS OF PEACE Suzanne Volmer In her artist statement, printmaker Elizabeth Goddard mentions that she is interested in beauty as it relates to peace, stating, “Art that is beautiful brings a great sense of serenity and joy to those who witness it; these people share their sense of peace with their communities and, by extension, with the world.” The Newport, Rhode Island-based artist is showcasing her work at three current and upcoming exhibitions. She always seems involved in a multifaceted collection of projects and goals. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Goddard entered broadcasting after receiving a Masters of Science from Syracuse University, working in a variety of capacities and winning a New England Emmy Award as associate producer of “Miller’s Court” for WCVB-TV in Boston. She went on to become the executive director of the Newport Art Museum from … [Read more...] about 11 for 11: Elizabeth Goddard
11 for 11: Donald Beal
GO FIGURE! Don Wilkinson Early in 2015, I was visiting the Narrows Center for the Arts in the old South Coast mill city of Fall River, taking notes for a possible review. While I was there, Debra Charlebois, the director of operations for the gallery, asked me if I might consider acting as a guest curator at some point. The invitation was fairly openended. The subject of the exhibition and the artists to be included would be entirely at my discretion. I accepted the offer and proposed a show that would feature the human figure. It would ultimately be titled “The Tenacity of the Figure” and would attempt to once again affirm the resolute and primal staying power of the human form as one of central significance in artmaking. I imagined a strong coterie of painters and sculptors to pull off my curatorial thesis. But I needed a linchpin, the key player whose involvement … [Read more...] about 11 for 11: Donald Beal