artscope magazine
A Little Work Goes a Long Way.
June 23, 2011
Greetings!

Whether it's work in the sense of physical, mental, or emotional labor--it all pays off eventually. In this blast we've featured five different artists whose devotion and passion for the discipline of art have paid off in some remarkable ways. Also, don't forget to check out our new blog on the artscope website. It is equipped with updated headlines and rotating featured content -- a great way to stay connected to art and culture news in between artscope issues and email blasts! Online advertising is now also available on the blog as well.

As always, you can send information on upcoming exhibitions and performance events for both the magazine and these e-mail blasts to [email protected]; reach us to advertise.

To forward this blast, please use the link provided at the end of this email - Lacey Daley

Jessica Straus and Hannah Verlin at Boston Sculptors Gallery
in Boston, Massachusetts now through June 26th


Wish by Jessica Straus, 2011; wood, paint, found bottle.

Whoever thought old bottles and found objects from the bed of the Merrimac River and the banks of Walden Pond could be warped into works of art? Sculptor Jessica Straus has known this all the while and is ready to show her works to the public. Straus has found an ingenious way to incorporate these twice-resurrected Victorian vessels into her miraculous sculptures and invented forms. Whether it's intertwining these bottles with her intricate whittling or suspending them from pegged contraptions, Straus has created a contemporary sphere in which these artifacts can express their histories. Although she alternates between narrative and abstraction, the impetus behind Straus' work remains the same: simplicity can always trump the extravagant. With this, Straus pushes boundaries and stretches the definition of function to create more room for simple invention. Keep will be on view now through June 26th at Boston Sculptors Gallery. The work of Jessica Straus will be shown concurrently with the sculpture of Hannah Verlin. Knowing Not Knowing complements Keep with an echo of simplicity. Verlin stresses the basics of geometry and color palettes in an attempt to create an ever-familiar feel to the works she creates. This grants Verlin the trust of her viewers and allows her to take them on the journey of knowing with certainty. As a whole, the show works toward the idea of knowing something with absolute conviction without ever being able to know the full truth of it. Through history, time, love, the printed page and beyond, Verlin takes us beyond our comfort zone and forces us to contemplate the validity of things that surround us. We don't have to know exactly what her recycled materials or installations are trying to say because we can feel it, we can know it, just by looking at them. Again, Knowing Not Knowing is running concurrently with Keep at Boston Sculptors Gallery now through Sunday, June 26th. Come see these two astonishing artists as they show us the power behind simplicity.

Sponsored by: Fountain Street Fine Art and David Lang Studios



Fountain Street Fine Art



New @ Fountain Street Fine Art:

Industrial Strength: June 17-July 31
Juried by Howard Yezerski
Reception: Saturday, June 25th, from 5 � 8 pm (note: closed July 2 & 3)

www.fountainstreetfineart.com

Work in a wide range of media from artists throughout Southern New England.

David Lang Studios


LUBE yields BLUE (Kinetic Sculpture)

OK, NOW WHAT?
"Inventions, Contraptions and Flights of Fancy"

Lang's poignant and whimsical and complex, motion-activated devices explore the jolting unpredictability of everyday life at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, 486 Harrison Avenue, in the SOWA cultural district south of Washington Street, Boston, MA.

August 31 - October 2, 2011

www.davidlangstudios.com

Journey Through Color at Newbury Fine Arts
in Boston, Massachusetts now through July 7th


   Vessel by Michele Dangelo, 2011. Oil, 30" x 40".

A world absent of people might strike us as lonely nine times out of ten. With this exhibit here, we believe we have found that one time where the lack of people and interaction feels a little less desolate and a little more focused. The current show at Newbury Fine Arts is Michele Dangelo's exhibit, Journey Through Color. Through oil paintings and giclees, Dangelo uses strong and stunning spectrums of color that accentuate the objects in their landscape and setting. Rather than making us feel abandoned with the simple focus of her works, Dangelo creates an air of legacy that resonates with us through all of her pieces. We don't feel the need to see the people who built these houses, skiffs, and garments because the objects of focus here all speak for themselves through schematic composition and an air of familiarity. A clouded mist that blurs boundaries seems to encompass most of her subjects in this exhibit, suggesting a dream-like state of consciousness through which we are viewing these works. This of course complicates the notions of knowing versus not knowing, the known versus the unknown, and temporary versus permanent, all of which keep us forever captivated in these mystical realities. Of her own work and process, Dangelo says, "I am continually challenged by the notions of free expression and a distinct hand to create work that has more to do with the viewer's perception than my intention. Each picture is a multi-generational storehouse of memory and experience." Journey Through Color opens today at Newbury Fine Arts, one of Boston's most devoted galleries in the Back Bay area, and runs through Thursday, July 7th. An artist reception will be held at the gallery on Thursday, June 30th from 6-8pm. So, if you're in the city and find yourself on Newbury Street (as most of us do), make sure to stop in and take a look at Michele Dangelo's astonishing collection.

commonality: BOLD dynamics at Bowersock Gallery
in Provincetown, Massachusetts July 1st through July 26th


In the Weeds by Jayne Adams.

What exactly does it mean to be bold? Something bold boasts with confidence and courage. It takes risks and doesn't blink in the face of a challenge. It is appealing and eye-catching with a strong, vivid appearance. Sure, we're describing something bold, but we're also talking about two individual artists with nothing more in common than their bold works of art. Next month, Bowersock Gallery is hosting commonality: BOLD dynamics, and the name of the show speaks for itself. These women are bold. They are daring and fearless, at least that's what their work says about them. Gallery artist Jayne Adams is displaying her most recent series, which features calloused, blue-collar men at work. In their blue jeans and sweat soaked t-shirts, these figures capture the essence of work, endurance, and foundation. Adams creates a layered application of drawing, paint, and glaze, leaving her finished products with varying textures and heights. With such strong strokes of the brush and expressive mark making, Adams brings out the narrative behind these figures and their never-ending complexities, challenges, and possibilities. Of this collection, co-curator Steve Bowersock said, "There's just such power to her work, again both in the way she lays down her paint, and the images. This is her strongest body of work to date." Fellow gallery artist and bold woman Kim Bernard is the other half of commonality: BOLD dynamics. Her encaustic paintings move the eye with such patterns and agility that we often forget it is simply a painting we are looking at. The fluidity of her artwork most likely comes from her experience as a dancer, the whole body movement of these individuals is mirrored in these free-flowing figures. It is a very fitting match when the melted and molten aspects of encaustic painting are considered. Kim Bernard through the eyes of Steve Bowersock looks something like this: "Kim's work is more Spartan, fluid, yet equally bold. It simultaneously conveys a kinetic and still quality. Kim is simply one of the foremost in her field today." If you think you're up to it, you have almost all of July to stop by and see the splendid works of these two artists. commonality: BOLD dynamics is on view from Friday, July 1st through Tuesday, July 26th. An opening reception will be held on the first from 7-9pm. Please note that Bernard and Adams' work will be on exhibit, with ongoing additions, throughout the summer, both at the gallery and available online.

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Lacey Daley
artscope
phone: 617-639-5771