By MATTHEW NASH Print this article It’s no secret that our culture is fixated on war. The United States has been in some form of war, cold or hot, since before my parents were born. As I write this, we…
With the next round of elections approaching, there has been a lot of talk in Boston about growing the creative economy and fostering new arts spaces in the city. At the same time, there are a large number of college…
Last night I had the opportunity to meet Tomás Gonzalez, who is running for Boston City Councillor At-Large. Gonzalez is running on a platform that promotes a stronger creative economy, including the expansion of support for spaces in underdeveloped neighborhoods…
The Berwick Research Institute is no stranger to change, and this past week they announced another major transition: the end of their Artist In Research (AIR) program. This announcement comes on the heels of a number of changes at the…
By MATTHEW NASH On rainy days like these, Gravitron looks colorized — his lights, a fake smile in the dismal afternoon. No matter how he tries to make real for himself the sense that there are other state fairs, that…
By MATTHEW NASH Samantha Fields makes complex and intricate sculptures and installations that are overwhelmingly crafty, undeniably kitschy, and that seem to revel in their beautiful ugliness. This summer, we sat down among the mountains of Afghans, beads, curtains, kitchen…
While I still haven’t heard back from Mayor Thomas Menino’s campaign regarding my questions about their arts policies that I sent a few days back, today I did receive a mass email from John Crowley of the Mayor’s Office of…
I know I’ve been posting a lot lately about Boston’s mayoral race, but I think it is important for artists to ask politicians of all levels for a clear and effect policy regarding the creative economy. Artists pushed hard for…
Earlier this week, I posted 2 items about the arts policies of Boston’s 4 mayoral candidates. I also sent questions to the candidates and promised post them here. Tonight, Michael Flaherty’s campaign sent a long response which I’ll include in it’s…
Following up on my post below about the arts policies for Boston’s mayoral candidates, here is a link to a piece in the Jamaica Plain Gazette. For the most part, the candidates address the usual litany of issues, including education…
I just got off the phone with Kathy Bitetti, who called to tell me about some big moves involving the national debate around health care, and what artists have done here in Massachusetts. She will have a column for us…
By MATTHEW NASH Performance artists Phil Fryer and Sandrine Schaefer are the duo behind “The Present Tense”, a series of festivals promoting performance art. Recently, they have joined forces with Vela Phelan, Dirk Adams, Alice Vogler and Brad Benedetti to…
I’ve been struggling to write a review of “Legibility on Color Backgrounds,” the exhibition of Walead Beshty’s photograms and sculptures currently on view at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. I can’t decide if the show is brilliant, too clever…
Today, as I wandered around Jamaica Pond, I noticed that Matthew Hincman’s bench sculpture has returned. It even has a new, fancy concrete base so I assume that it is now permanent. Of course, everyone is a critic, and as…
REVOLT2DIE & GJYD @ MEME By Matthew Nash Riding among an exhausted busful of Negroes going on to graveyard shifts all over the city, she saw scratched on the back of a seat, shining for her in the brilliant smoky interior,…
BOOK REVIEW: HOW TO START AND RUN A COMMERCIAL ART GALLERY By Matthew Nash There are few in the world who have spent more time and effort de-mystifying the commercial art gallery, and educating artists and collectors about what happens in…
Three years ago, Artadia announced that they would fund artists in Boston, in two rounds, giving prizes “supporting artists directly and raising the visibility of creative practice around New England and across the country.” You can see our post on…
FOR MY BEST BELOVED SISTER MIA: JULIA MARGARET CAMERON @ THE PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART By Matthew Nash There is, perhaps, no better known photo album than the one Julia Margaret Cameron created for her sister Mia in the 1860s. Her…
A LETTER FROM THE ROAD By Matthew Nash For the last few days, my wife and I have been traveling up the coast of Maine, hitting all the shopping towns along the way: Portland, Freeport, Boothbay Harbor. We are unabashedly tourists,…