10 Exhibits Not To Miss: Visual Arts
Few would argue that 2020 was a tough year for art. Not about making it — there was plenty of that going on during lockdown as so many people found themselves with time away from their workspace to carve out new approaches to getting through the day. But the venues suffered and jobs of people who curate and present the art was severely challenged. And, remember, all these places — museums, galleries, and more — have staff that needed to get through the pandemic. Many places have seemed to survive, though not without challenges. Things still have not returned to whatever we consider “normal” and probably won’t for the duration until autumn. But the summer does offer a sort of “pseudo-normal” feeling that means more opportunity to view art in settings that have had challenges over the past year. That’s an encouraging step forward at least.
For this summer preview I’ve picked 10 shows across the region to highlight. There is obviously much more out there to see and I’d encourage everyone to take advantage of that as they traverse the region and go to places like Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent, Conn., or Real Eyes Gallery in Adams, Mass or TurnPark Artspace in West Stockbridge or any of the numerous other art venues around.
1. The former printing assistant to Andy Warhol and photo assistant to Irving Penn, Ari Marcopoulos seized his own notoriety in the 1980s with his portraiture photography of hip-hop icons before the musical form had truly exploded into the mainstream world. Public Enemy, LL Cool J., and many others were in front of Marcopoulos’ lens and his book Pass The Mic: Beastie Boys 1991-1996 documents that band at work. Marcopoulos has also devoted his camera time to the worlds of skateboarding and snowboarding and considered the master documenter of all of these subcultures. His work hits Pittsfield this summer as part of Archive Project Space’s mission to offer shows that have meaning beyond the art world and entices people who wouldn’t normally step into an art gallery to take a chance. The photography of Ari Marcopoulos should definitely have that effect. July 3 – summer.
Shona McAndrew, from "Just the Three of Us"
2. Venues hosting outdoor art have still had their challenges during the pandemic, but functioned as the most attainable homes for art available. Art Omi benefitted from that, as did the region, but it also has indoor art spaces that have become more viable as the year has moved along. Shona McAndrew’s ambitious “Just the Three of Us” speaks to the celebration of indoor spaces in context of COVID by presenting over 170 small handmade papier mache works that come together as one large piece portray a group of women together in a living room, interacting on their own terms. McAndrew was inspired by high school memories, but the show is presented following a year of lockdown in which people were forced to create their own realities within the confines of home, and that’s something that’s going to be in people’s minds as they look at her representation of a time past when that activity was done by choice rather than survival. May 29 - August 29.
3. In ”Visions of Norway,” one of the most important artists of Norway will make his way for the first time ever into the galleries of North America and it only took nearly 100 years for it to happen. Nikolai Astrup is renowned for his colorful works that capture his immediate surroundings in Western Norway, where he was born. Returning in the early 20th century after an art education elsewhere, Astrup devoted himself to the landscapes of his youth and ancestry. Despite constant health struggles, Astrup created a vivid and singular body of work before his death in 1928 that has grown in stature in his native country. It's finally available to those outside it — an opportunity to absorb an intimate inside view of the natural world contained there. June 19-Sept. 19.
Carrie Haddad Gallery - Hudson NY
Carrie Haddad's first gallery, The Warren Street Gallery, which opened in 1991. Image courtesy of Dick Crenson.
4. It’s been 30 years since Carrie Haddad opened this Hudson institution and the gallery is looking back this summer to celebrate. Featured are some of the earliest artists to exhibit at the gallery at its start and the idea is to chart their development by placing a work from back in the day alongside something more recent. Included in “Then and Now” will be David Halliday, Phyllis Palmer, Joy Taylor, Ann Getsinger, Peter Hoffman, and Valerie Hammond, plus many more, as the art joins the artists to celebrate the three decades that the gallery has played a crucial role in Hudson’s revival as an arts and culture destination. Aug. 4 – Sept. 26.
Guzman: Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain: Family Values 1992
5. "Kurt & Courtney: Never-before seen photos from the collaborative photography duo Guzman" features iconic 1992 photo shoot in the Cobain’s LA home that ought to draw people in. Photographic collaborators Guzman — that is Constance Hansen and Russell Peacock — shaped an era for many people who came of age in the 1990s though they may not know their names. Known for their work with famous musicians, the team began their career shooting Debbie Harry for her 1986 album "Rockbird," and went on to capture names like Janet Jackson, Salt N Pepa, Lenny Kravitz, Snoop Dogg, and many others. Their most famous work is of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, the result of a 1992 assignment for Spin Magazine, and that’s the focus of this show, which includes previously unseen photos from that session. The show at LABspace will also feature photos of other subject matter that cement the duo’s versatility and the depth they bring to whatever they shoot. July 10-Aug. 30.
6. If the Turrell installations at Mass MoCA [see below] leave you wanting more explorations of color and light, the Lightforms Art Center is offering “Color Experience Exhibition,” a show that might scratch your itch. Bringing together a collection of painters, installation artists, and set designers, two galleries will be filled with exploration of color, including geometrical paintings by Daniel Mullen and four immersive “color rooms” by four different artists. Lightforms is coming at it from a scientific and educational place that means accompanying workshops and presentations of light and color, with a planned conference centering on color. This show seems like a great one for kids and of course any adult seeking a deeper technical understanding of what they experience in art, particularly immersive works. July 16-Oct. 3.
7. One of the shining lights of Mass MoCA’s Building 6 — pun intended unfortunately — has been Into The Light, the collection of James Turrell installations. In achieving a difficult mix of subtlety and bombast at the same time they’ve become a destination within the museum, immersive in their imprint, contemplative in their simplicity. On May 31 the museum is poised to unveil Skyspace C.A.V.U., Turrell’s dome construction that will use the sky itself to fashion a light-focused spectacle within, augmented by sound alterations caused by the dome’s architecture. Dusk and dawn are promised to be particularly special shows within the dome. This one is not to be missed. The Skyspace will be open museum hours with no reservations required, but reservations for Skyspace at Dawn and Dusk are available June 10-Aug. 31. Opens May 29.
And while on campus, make sure to take in the offerings from the excellent galleries located on the campus, including Eckert Fine Art Gallery’s show of new works by painter Eric Forstmann and later in the summer Ferrin Contemporary’s “Melting Point,” a glass and ceramics group show addressing the disasters of 2020.
8. Originally scheduled for the fall of 2020, “Hostile Terrain” was pushed to the following summer due to COVID, which has created a year’s worth of mysterious preamble in signs and billboards that’s only added to the overall feeling of the show before it even began. A collaboration between the gallery and Undocumented Migration Project, “Hostile Terrain” offers over 3,000 toe tags with handwriting on them that represent migrant deaths in the last 25 years in the desert of Arizona. Works by Sergio de la Torre, Chris Treggiari (Sanctuary City Project), and Trinh Mai will be part of the show, augmented by workshops and participation from MCLA students and the community of North Adams for an expansive and timely experience. Viewable through summer.
Tyler Jacobson, Red Dragon, 2014, © Tyler Jacobson ©Wizards of the Coast LLC
9. As the fantasy genre becomes more and more popular, especially thanks to the reading habits of younger audiences, the Norman Rockwell Museum is uniquely poised to offer shows to meet that interest, thanks to its focus on illustration and, by proxy, comics. Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration brings together a pantheon of legendary illustrators for viewing — not only classic pioneers like Arthur Rackham, N.C. Wyeth, and Howard Pyle, but more modern masters like Frank Frazetta, Brian Froud, Greg Hildebrandt, and Boris Vallejo. The show also offers work by artists you don’t know that you know like Kelly Freas, a paperback and pulp magazine cover artist whose work was used for Queen’s “News of the World” album cover, plus 21st-century superstars like Julie Bell, Anna Dittmann, and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. And those names are just scratching the surface of artists included in this major exhibition. June 12-Oct. 31.
Olana Partnership at Olana State Historic Site, and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site
10. “Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment,” a cross-site collaboration, brings together several prominent artists for the summer with outdoor installations inspiring environmental contemplation with the specific issues of New York and the Hudson Valley as their main concerns. The show is built around Martin Johnson Heade’s 19th-century hummingbird habitat paintings and will feature additional work by Nick Cave, Maya Lin, Vik Muniz, and others. But there are also outdoor pieces accompanying these works that make it truly special. Jean Shin’s “Fallen,” on display at Olana, will focus on the demise of eastern hemlock trees using the remains of a 140-year old tree that died in 2020 as the center of the work. Portia Munson’s “Flower Mandala Momento Mori” will function as a memorial to birds, insects, and other animals who have lost their lives through contact with humans. It will be comprised by four outdoor installations on view at Olana alongside the carriage roads there. Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood will debut “The Pollinator Pavilion” at Thomas Cole, a sculpture designed to attract and sustain local pollinators, especially the ruby-throated hummingbird. The garden will exist within the pavilion, accompanied by paintings, the idea being that humans and pollinators will co-exist in the space. Paula Hayes will also have work at Thomas Cole, including glass terrariums containing miniature ecosystems, and larger works like the Bird Nesting House and Tree, aimed at providing a habitat for bluebirds and created in collaboration with an ornithologist.
What stands behind the work is a grim reality of human destruction obviously pointing a finger at pollution and climate change, but the participating artists have managed to create works that inspire thought, compassion, and action in the face of that. Viewable through October 31.
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