Newest Features
By ELENA SARNI “I want to say one word to you. Just one word…Plastics.” Yes, the quote is from the film The Graduate. I love that quote, and never pass up a chance to use it. And it’s the perfect introduction for Anna Hepler’s plastastic exhibition titled, Makeshift. As you enter the Portland Museum of Art you immediately see a large, woven plastic form hanging from the 22 foot high skylight in the Museum’s “Great Hall.” In a clever play on words, Hepler named her installation, “The Great Haul.” I did not…
By FRANKLIN EINSPRUCH Over the last twenty-one months, Bostonians have been putting an unusual amount of thought into the state of their art world, wondering aloud how we might make this a better place for visual art: more exhibitions, more media coverage, more collectors, more regional representation in the museums reflected in both the staff and the holdings.* The variety of opinions offered reflects the multifarious nature of the problem: what would it look like to have engaged institutions, active collectors, and a thrilling creative atmosphere in a New England city, acknowledging…
By MATTHEW GAMBER It was an interesting experiment: A rotating volunteer staff of one publisher, a few editors, and dozens of contributors (many whom never met in person) collaborate on a site devoted to topics related to local visual art. Collaborate is the operative word, since this site was a group effort, borne out of a “hometown” investment and a willingness to volunteer. In hindsight, our mission might have been better understood as a cooperative, rather than a publication (the latter implying an atmosphere of exclusivity). The other editors and I recruited…
By JIM MANNING A visit with artist Monica Nydam at her studio at the Distillery in South Boston. The artist talks about her current series of Horse paintings as well as her recent exhibitions at The Fourth Wall Project and LaMontagne Gallery. LaMontagne Gallery Monica Nydam James Manning is a Boston based independent curator, artist and film producer. He is a regular contributor to Big RED & Shiny.
Summer 2010 From July 7 to July 23, 2010, Jennifer Schmidt spent a two and a half weeks in Alaska at the Homestead Artist Residency. Hosted by Chuck Chaney, she lived and worked amongst fellow Homesteaders: Faith Johnson, Lauren Payne,Amy Carroll Reinthaler, and Richard Spartos. Jennifer Schmidt, “Passive Visual Response”, 2010 Faith Johnson, “Window of Hope”, 2010 Richard Spartos, “Pipes, Vents and Tanks: the slough at Metal Alley, June 2-July 28, 2010” Richard Spartos, “Pipes, Vents and Tanks: the slough at Metal Alley, June 2-July 28, 2010” Faith Johnson and Lauren Payne,…
By JENNIFER SCHMIDT CLICK FOR IMAGES FROM THE HOMESTEAD AK This July, I had the opportunity to travel to Alaska and spend some time at the Homestead AK, a residency for artists interested in experiential art making, exploration of site, and daily co-habitation. Located in Sunshine, Alaska, about an hour north of Wasilla, and two hours south of Denali, the Homestead sits on roughly 80 acres of land, bound by a highway and great valley. Among forests and bogs of mossy green — lay fields of dandelion, grass, and fireweed, laced…
By JUDY KERMIS BLOTNICK Sitting on a beach in Provincetown, on a Saturday morning following the traditional Friday evening “gallery stroll” that the locals call “gallery creep,” I try to verbalize impressions, visions that I found engaging. I pull together a mental file that I can store somewhere, maybe put words to. There are many galleries that cling to nostalgia here, traditional landscapes, seascapes and still lifes galore, most are hard to be emotional about, unfair to criticize. They are simply there, they always have and will always be done by artists…
By BENJAMIN R. SLOAT Taiwan is a small democratic island nation just off the coast of China. Considered a rogue province by China, Taiwan’s recent history has included 40 years of martial law under Chang Kai Shek’s Nationalist regime, but also rapid industrialization and a booming economy in the last three decades. Despite this increasing economic prominence, due to ongoing hostilities with China, Taiwan is only formally recognized by a handful of countries in the world. Last year, while on a Fulbright Scholar Fellowship, I interviewed a number of prominent Taiwanese photographers…