 2020 Members Prize Show @ Cambridge Art Association
Juried by: Jessica Rosico February 11-March 19, 2020 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA Opening reception: Friday, February 13 from 6-8pm Excerpt from the juror's statement: A juried show can reveal the tenor of what artists are finding most urgent right now, and the works are often reflective of a broader consciousness. For me, a satisfying exhibition often evokes an overall feeling rather than too much cohesiveness in visual approach. To that end, the submissions to this show did not disappoint. This exhibition is filled with painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, fiber art, and a range of mixed media. Not surprisingly, there is darkness lurking under the surface of a number of these works—whether they are unsettled domestic scenes, physically and mentally dark and dense landscapes, strident text, or frenzied abstractions. We do find ourselves more uncertain than not when we think about our place in this world, and this anxiety is present in many of these works. I also noticed a preoccupation with vision—how the viewer is intended to see and respond to a particular work, and how the subject itself is portrayed. We see figures blurred, covered, or cut off entirely, taken out of their original context and reinterpreted by the artist. The weight of tradition and history is also a thread that runs through this exhibition, with nods to aging landscapes and titles that recall how things might have been. The use of encaustic, alternative photographic processes, and even an emphasis on realism reminds us that we should never forget our own histories, even while creating an object that is very much in the present moment. Images: We were children now we've grown, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019
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 Ink: New Prints @ Site Brookyn
January 31-February 29, 2020 165 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY Opening reception: Friday, January 31, 6-9pm While print making was invented in China in 105 AD, the mass production of paper in Europe during the 1400s proved to be major technological breakthrough, allowing printmakers to use carved wood and metal plates to produce multiple copies of the same image. Print-making was central to the revival of classical motifs during the Renaissance, as well as the circulation of technical drawings and popular images. Later, etching became the preferred medium of painters and experimental printmakers such as Rembrandt and Piranesi. After the Industrial Revolution, wood engraving, lithography, and a range of photomechanical methods proliferated, which, combined with the rigorous aesthetic of Japanese woodblock prints, had a decisive influence on both Impressionism and the avant garde movements of the next century. However, printmaking has undergone various rapid changes in the last three decades. The increasing pace of technological development has inaugurated new digital forms while at the same time allowing artists to view previous modes of production in a more contextual and historical manner. Works Ink: New Prints translate ideas, scenes, and images into the printed form, using subtle monochrome, complex arrays of color, and expressive lines. This exhibition examines a wide range of artistic practices related to the print medium, from the return of more traditional printmaking techniques, new technologies, and the combination of the two. Methods include woodcuts, engraving, etching, mezzotint, drypoint, lithography, screen-printing, digital prints and foil imaging. Installation shot by Site: Brooklyn |
