Newest Features
By ALICIA KESTRELL VERLAGER As a blind horror fan, I am fascinated with horror movies featuring blind female protagonists. Though a small category, there are enough examples to count as a subgenre, most notably: Wait Until Dark (1967), See No Evil (1971), Jennifer8 (1992), the Hong Kong film Jian Gui (The Eye, 2002), and its American remake The Eye (2008). As a media scholar and disability advocate, my fascination with these films often seems a guilty pleasure. Unlike films which frame blind men as active heroes in their own stories, such as…
By Big Red July 18th, 2008 Candid snaps from a Big RED night on-the-town at 808 Gallery, Boston University for the opening of the 2008 Boston Young Contemporaries, featuring artwork from MFA candidates from several New England schools. Boston Young Contemporaries
By Steve Aishman I watched a documentary on monkeys the other day. During the course of the documentary, scientists taped a group of monkeys interacting and noted the hierarchy that developed in their society. The scientists then classified each monkey according to their rank in the social hierarchy. So there were the alpha monkeys who were in charge, more submissive beta monkeys, monkeys that were ostracized, etc. The scientists would then separate an individual monkey and show them videos of the other monkeys. A most fascinating behavior emerged: Given the choice of eating…
A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By James Nadeau “Film Critics are not intended to be applause meters. Just as restaurant critics don’t send couples seeking that special anniversary meal to McDonald’s on the ‘everybody goes there, it must be the best’ theory. The overall mandate of critics must be to point out the existence and importance of other criteria for judgment besides popularity.” – Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times film critic.”The mind has triumphed over matter and the pictures roll on with the ease of musical tones. It is a superb enjoyment which no…
ABRAHAM OBAMA @ GALLERY XIV By MATTHEW NASH I guess after years of hearing about Republican candidates as the next incarnation of Reagan, John Wayne, or Jesus, it’s nice to see a Democratic candidate get a little action. Thus, Ron English’s Abraham Obama is interesting to me as a conversation starter, a provocation, and a Pop-inspired bit of street art. The piece is a series of large posters, pasted on the construction siding of a building in Boston’s South End, along the Thayer Street alleyway and facing the galleries at 450 Harrison.…
A LETTER By MATTHEW NASH Recently, my friend Greg Cook took issue with my take on the recent gallery shake-up. Apparently he thinks I’m too optimistic about the whole thing, although I know he and I agree on the central issues at stake here. Cook says: “Matt Nash is right when he writes that the Boston galleries shakeup is part of the usual churn of any art scene, but what he keeps missing is that these aren’t just any galleries that are closing (or significantly cutting back). The loss of galleries like…
INTERVIEW WITH STEVE TOURLENTES By Jess T. Dugan Steve Tourlentes is a graduate of Knox College and Massachusetts College of Art, where he earned an MFA in 1988. Since 1996, Tourlentes has been photographing rural and suburban landscapes where penitentiaries are constructed, seen only by the bright light they emit at night. He is a recipient of gratns from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Polaroid Corporation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Jess T. Dugan: What is your background in the arts, and how did you come to photography? Steve Tourlentes: My parents…
LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY ART GALLERIES By Rita Lombardi When I tell people in Boston that I lived in Kentucky for 12 years the first thing that crosses most faces is a smirk. Followed by questions about horse racing, bourbon, basketball, and generally a joke about people being barefoot and pregnant. People who know a little something about Louisville (generally pronounced Luh’-vl), where I lived, will ask about the music scene. Several bands came out of Louisville in the 90’s; Rachel’s, My Morning Jacket, VHS or Beta, and Slint to name a few. No…