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Like most of America and the Caribbean, Cuba was brutally colonized by Europeans after Christopher Columbus landed on its shores in 1492. Cuba’s native population was decimated, and survivors melded with the conquering Spanish for the next several hundred years. Cuba gained independence in 1903, enduring more decades of political unrest and social upheaval when, in 1959, Fidel Castro led an uprising against the Cuban government. This history still quakes in contemporary Cuba, as each event has a particular aftermath perceptible in the nation’s identity. Taking his title from Gestos, the 1963…
I have been experimenting with mushrooms. Not the recreational kind, although I would argue that growing any species of mushroom is fun. In fact, the first experiment is an attempt at another kind of magic—a fairy ring. If you’ve ever seen a circular arrangement of little mushrooms in a lawn, chances are that you have come very close to crossing into the land of the fairies. Or to being trapped in a time-warping dance with pixies. Or to treading where a dragon’s tail had rested. The legends vary. Shaggy Ink Cap primordium…
“Toy camera” used to mean just that—a cheap plastic camera produced as a toy and sold or given away for use by children. In the past decade, as film photography overall has been outpaced a gazillion-fold by digital image-making, this distinction has faded like your ancestral Polaroid memories, and the label has come to be used interchangeably with “lo-fi” or low-tech. Any film camera with limited exposure controls (or none at all) is now lumped into the “toy” category, even cameras from the 1930s-1950s that in their time were the equivalent of…
Happy Ask a Curator Day! That’s right: for most or all of today, curators from 581 museums in 34 countries are gathering around the hashtag #AskaCurator to answer questions on the curating life, collecting, museum practices and more. “It’s a way to talk to curators and people who work in cultural venues you normally don’t have access to,” explains Mar Dixon, who initiated the hashtag in 2010, on her blog. “You can ask anything that you’re curious about or want more information on.” Several Boston and New England museums are participating. Here’s…
In the opening scene Manhattan, Woody Allen’s 1979 romantic comedy, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue plays as the voice of the protagonist, played by Allen, describes the uniqueness of New York City. On the screen, the City is depicted in black and white, celebrating the glamour, the intricacies, and ultimately the beauty of the town that the filmmaker and the character he plays both love so much. This scene is a valuable insight into Allen’s architectural tastes and admirations. It is also a great testament to the filmmaker’s sensitivity to the importance…
Every week, BR&S picks out a series of gallery events, screenings, exhibitions, performances. Here are our choices for you to go & see this week: • • • Events • • • Wednesday September 18 Ask a Curator Day Ask A Curator is a way to talk to curators and people who work in cultural venues you normally don’t have access to. How to get involved? Use the hashtag #AskaCurator on Twitter. You can ask questions to specific museums using the @MUSEUMNAME or you can ask general questions using #AskaCurator. All Day…
………………………………………………………………………….. As we rapidly approach next week’s Big Red Shindig (for which tickets are still available), we wanted to share with you examples from some of the great artists we’ll be working with this year who vary in range from mid-career, established to MFA and BFA candidates at various collegiate institutions. We can’t wait to see what they have in store for us at the Shindig. ………………………………………………………………………….. Suara Welitoff Working primarily in video and photographic installations to explore the aesthetic limits of motion pictures and still photography, Suara has been the recipient…
Welcome back to another episode of Studio Sessions, this time with guest Alex Gingrow. Alex earned a B.A. in Visual Art from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, a post baccalaureate certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and an MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georigia. Her paintings provide humorous insights into the high art world by painting large-scale, realistic images of gallery tags from commercial New York galleries. On each label is a title that says something directly…