The Art Soldier Takes on BP at Ferrin Gallery
Now - July 8
Michael Boroniec, the sculptor we reported about in April (“Portrait of the Pittsfield Artist As A Young Man”), wasn’t scheduled to have another show at the Ferrin Gallery so soon. But Boroniec’s visceral response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is so devastatingly eloquent that Leslie Ferrin decided that his glazed terra cotta pelicans covered in oil and sitting atop an oil drum had to be seen right away.
Says Boroniec: “I had to find a way to make this devastation more tangible for my community as a way to express solidarity with nature dying in the sea and on land and people loosing their livelihoods.” As the oil continues to spill, so does his installation as he produces more pieces. “It’s a narrative,” he says. “They are props for a story. Sadly, the story isn’t fiction, people have lost their livelihoods, the ecosystem has sustained serious damage. So,when no one knows who BP is, what BP did, or what even BP stands for, the story will still be written.”
Crude Awakening at Ferrin Gallery
Pittsfield, MA
