” El reflejo de cascada analfabeta” by Eduardo Restrepo

¡Qué Lástima! Brings together a group of Latina artists from the Boston area who are working to reframe and reclaim Latina identities and narratives. The show features a wide variety of work in photography, performance, and installation. Ian Deleón, Adriana Sevila, and Ximena Izquierdo Ugaz performed for the opening on May 23rd.

The detritus from Ian Deleón’s performance

Deleón (whose solo show I wrote about here) poured mud over himself and then wrote “The Natives are Restless” on the gallery wall, while Sevila continued her durational performance of cleaning the floor on her knees for the entire opening. Later Izquierdo Ugaz read a series of poems.

“Untitled” by Génesis Báez

¡Qué Lástima! is a strong and evocative show that holds no punches and speaks up loudly to demand recognition of Latina artist perspectives.

I unfortunately didn’t get this review together before the show came down, but I’m just going to trust that accolades and opinions are appreciated even when late.

I was very impressed by this year’s Senior Thesis Show, “KEEP IT TOGETHER.” True to its name, the show was consolidated to a single floor of the school and the length of the show was shortened from previous years. These changes combined with some impressive student work helped the show feel more cohesive and curated than in years past. Here are just a few standout highlights:

“Periplus” by Sarah Danly

From the delicate decal transfers to the effortlessly spindly stands, Sarah Danly‘s islands float between the pre-longitudinal and the post-Google Earth world, inviting gallery viewers to contemplate the changing identities of islands as mapping techniques advance over time.

Excerpts from”Natural Mirror” by Eduardo Restrepo

Eduardo Restrepo exhibited a circle of five televisions, each playing a short, repeated, slowmotion clip of the artist with his head underwater in different bodies of water. Viewed from within the circle of TV’s, the video installation is quite striking. Each moving image is almost reminiscent of a GIF, featuring slowly waving legs and gently rippling waves. Restrepo successfully combines the accessibility of low-tech with drama of performance and the result is nothing short of elegant.

16mm film loop by Miro Hoffman

Miro Hoffman’s 16mm film loops were simply incredible. Hoffman’s work filled an entire room, each piece composed of a complicated film roller system as much as the resulting projection itself. The projections were both technically masterful and conceptually powerful, a very mature body of work.

“Coexistence” by James Traggianese

James Traggianese’s sculptures bring digital space into the physical world using projection flat screens, checkerboard scrolls, and repurposed technology. His sculptures are funny and smart, letting us both laugh at and appreciate our addition to technology.

“Products and Produce” by Salad

The Salad magazine collective created an awesome installation/store/living room experience for the thesis show. The freestanding room was decked out it custom wallpaper, screenprints, and issues of Salad Magazine. Bags, magazines, stickers, and even Salad water was for sale and visiters were encouraged to sit down and spend some time in the fun space.

“Repeating Histories” by Ryan Hawk

I finished my tour of the show with Ryan Hawk’s arresting video performance installation. Hawk’s installation bridged the space between performance, video, and sculpture, isolating the projection and reflection from the rest of the room for a more focused viewing experience.

Ian Deleón’s first solo exhibition, Cuba + Puetro Rico | Invitación a Volar, is currently on view at La Galería. Deleón has worked closely with the gallery curator to give his show a unique format that includes an open instillation, an extended run time, and a series of events that keep the gallery space active and free from mental stagnation. I was able to stop by the gallery the night before the show’s official opening reception, so the gallery still had an air of creativity in progress.

Ian Deleón in his in-gallery studio.

“Speak Softly Now…”

In “Speak Softly Now…” Deleón has taken a split second of footage from a news reel – a Teddy Roosevelt sports mascot banging his head against the wall in frustration – and looped it into a rhythmic expression of absurdity that he dubs “pop-cultural decolonization.”

“The Influence of Sea Power Upon History”

“The Influence of Sea Power Upon History” features the only photographs in the show taken by the artist’s hand rather than appropriated from other sources. In these photographic performances, Deleón took a nineteenth century maritime propaganda book with him to Puerto Rico and photographed the book’s idealized imagery in juxtaposition with the land that has felt its impact.

“Invitación a Volar”

The show’s title piece, “Invitación a Volar” plays upon the duel translation of the show’s title. The phrase can mean literally, “an invitation to fly,” but it can also mean “an invitation to explode.” Here Deleón transforms a tropical vacation drink, the daiquiri, into a molotov cocktail – the potential for explosion lurking beneath the veneer of luxury. He describes the piece as a “decolonization revenge fantasy,” an expression of the desire to rewrite history through brute force.

Invitación a Volar is smart and sharply incisive. Deleón gives the viewer the tools and the information that they need and demands that they rethink and question what they thought they knew about the history of colonization, but at the end of the exhibition, the choice between passiveness and violence is in the viewers hands.

The MFA launched its Performance Art program on Wednesday with the event “Odd Spaces.” The event consisted of four different durational performances integrated into the galleries and was followed by a panel discussion led by Liz Munsell, the MFA’s Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.

Sandrine Schaefer and Philip Fryer perform “Untitled View”

Phil Fryer and Sandrine Schaefer, the co-creators of The Present Tense, performed “Untitled View” in the main rotunda. For two and a half hours, Fryer looked into one of the mirrors in the center of the room inspecting the rotunda’s elaborate ceiling, while Schaefer gazed at a John Singer Sarget, slowly backing up until they ended the performance back to back. The performance raised questions about the nature of prolonged looking, the intimate shared space that looking creates, and the dynamics of museum visitor interactions.

The performance reminded me, and asked me to reconsider, my own experience of prolonged looking at the MFA. I went to the MFA during the last weekend of the Ori Gersht exhibit and despite the throngs of weekend museum goers, I was determined to have a final experience with my favorite piece in the show, “Falling Bird.” I planted myself firmly a few feet front of the screen and watched the the video loop through at least three times, not moving for 15-20 minutes. I kept my eyes locked on the screen, attempting to memorize every feather, every drop of water, and as I stood there, others came and went, shrieking children rolled on the floor by my feet, and a man started taking pictures of me. I stoically did not unlock my eyes to meet his gaze, yet because of the heightened level of attention I was paying the art piece, I memorized these other peripheral interactions  along with the art work. Although I watched “Untitled View” from afar, it certainly succeeded in making me reconsider my own experience of looking at art and interacting with other art viewers.

“With the Others” by Marilyn Arsem

When we went looking for Marilyn Arsem’s performance, “With the Others,” my friend commented that it felt a bit like Where’s Waldo. Even though we knew there was a performance going on in the gallery, it took us a while to find the performer. Once a few people started crouching down to see the figure under the bench, others were clued in and followed suit. I began to wonder if I was “giving it away” by snapping a few pics, but my worries evaporated when a young girl wearing a tutu ran up to the bench despite the gathered crowd of onlookers, as if wondering what all the fuss was about someone hiding under a bench. Meanwhile, David Levine’s performance, “durance,” featured an actor giving Greenberg’s essay, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch” on repeat.

“durance” by David Levine, performed by actress Angie Jepson

Odd Spaces sets an exciting precedent for the presence of performance art in the MFA, yet in the context of Boston’s thriving performance art scene, I couldn’t help but think that the performances chosen for the program were a bit tame. They were quiet, clean, and unobtrusive – patrons were in no way inconvenienced or startled, and were free to come and go as they pleased. We all know the MFA is fond of schedules and planned art interactions – let’s hope that Odd Spaces is a first step for the MFA loosening up a bit and embracing a little of the unexpected.

Another Flash Forward Festival Satellite show! This one in conjunction with Ain’t-Bad Magazine.

by Tony Luong and “Untitled Image (comb)” by Quinn Gorbutt

The Nave Gallery is small, but exudes a cozy intimate feeling, and the close quarters help bring the work together rather than making it seem crowded in any way. Having seen the Undergraduate Photography Now! show the night before, the difference in curation was especially striking: this show has clearly graduated from college. The fact that Young New England Photographers is peer-juried and not limited by comparisons between institutions allows the show to present and link the photographs in much more subtle ways. In addition, The zine Ain’t-Bad Magazine published in conjunction with the show is a professional looking takeaway. I left the show feeling excited about the state of emerging photography in New England – I hope you can stop by and get excited too.

“Chastity, Chesire, OH” by Justin Kaneps and “My Brother Chris Waits in his Buick While it Idles” by Roland Jackson

Learn more about the show and artists here.

Undergraduate Photography Now!, a satellite exhibition associated with the Flash Forward Festival, is currently up at BU’s Architectural College.

Before I was able to engage with the artwork, I first had to get past a few obstacles in terms of curation and exhibition space. The biggest problem with shows that pull work from a variety of colleges is that they inevitably encourage comparisons of quality between the participating schools. This show seems to do its best to discourage this kind of comparison by not hanging the work of any two students from the same school next to each other, but I still found myself checking the labels. The somewhat awkward gallery space of the architectural school’s entrance lobby is also something of an unfortunate hindrance to the show.

Both of these aspects were of course outside of the artists’ control and once I got past these hurdles, I was able to enjoy a fun and lively show featuring strong work from New England undergraduate photographers. The photos are varied, ranging from the performative,

“Thahab: Three” by Nabeela Chowdhury and “The Arrival” by Cassandra Klos

to the colorful,

“PineApple” by Bridget Murphy and “Untitled #1 & #4” by Meghan Lowney

to the architectural.

“Someday I will Use that Tea Set” by Simone Schiess and “Apart” by Anastasia Dubrovina

After living in/near Somerville for 5 years, I finally made it to Open Studios! Finals and birthday parties have kept me away in the past, but this year nothing could keep me away! I only had a few hours early on Sunday afternoon to devote to art viewing, so I chose to go to Vernon Street Studios to make the most of my time. The building was buzzing with art viewers and makers, and I had a great time taking it all in. I have semi-mixed feelings about open studio events (perhaps a post on that to come in the future?), my biggest complaint being how the more commercial and traditional artists overshadow emerging artists, but I was happy to find a handfull of vibrant artists that leapt out of the crowd:

Darkroom mural prints by Edie Shimel

The first artist that stood out to me was Edie Shimel. Edie described her practice as building machettes, projecting images onto them, and then photographing the result. She makes all her final prints as mural prints in the darkroom, and they are quite stunning. I bought a little contact print of the image on the left.

Paintings by David Palmquist

I was first drawn into David Palmquist‘s work by the way he paired a painting and his square show postcards (above, right) out in the hallway. It was very meta, the way his tiled postcards mimicked the repetition of his larger paintings. Not pictured here, he also had some wonderful arial paintings of map-like roadways. Among a rather lot of hum-drum paintings, his clean and precise style that straddled abstraction and map-making definitely stood out.

Paintings by Holland Dieringer

Holland Dieringer‘s small mixed media works quickly drew me into her studio. I am a huge fan of mixing human and animal elements in my own drawings, and I must say I found her work to be very inspirational. Dieringer’s paintings are delicate, but certainly not tentative. Daintily surreal perhaps? Like Bosch meets James Jean? Whatever it is, it’s definitely working!

Painting by Sophia Ainslie

Sophia Ainslie‘s large paintings are vibrant and fun. I think I saw her work in a gallery in the South End one time…

I unfortunately didn’t get a snap of Caleb Cole’s work, but go check out his photos on his website (especially the series “Other People’s Clothes”)! I saw some of his work in Gallery Kayafas a while back and I loved seeing it in the less imposing and more casual setting of his studio.

Sculptures by Kathleen Finlay

I’ll wrap up this post with some soft sculpture by Kathleen Finlay. I’ve always had a soft spot for large scale soft sculpture. The way the fabric is semi-controlled, the weight of the material itself essential to the object. It makes me think of postminimal, Eve Hesse, and simply gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I’m glad I finally made it to Somerville Open Studios, maybe next year I’ll actually make it to more than one studio building!

Selections from Part 1 of “Variants” by Jodie Goodnough

I admit to having a bit of a head start on this show, since I’ve been checking in with Jodie Goodnough as she worked on it over the past months, but when I walked into The Fourth Wall gallery, the final product still managed to take me by surprise.  In Variants, Goodnough addresses the issue of how psychiatric patients have been represented over time. The show is composed of two interconnected parts. Part 1 features large format photos that draw on the iconography of early mental hospital documentation. Each portrait is printed at about the size of the 4×5 negative and paper-clipped to a clipboard. Through updating the outdated psuedo-science of physiognomy, Goodnough questions the established treatment practices of Western medicine.

Still from Part 2 of “Variants” by Jodie Goodnough

Goodnough continues probing the pharmaceutical industry in the second part of the series, which is presented as a looping slideshow on a display monitor. Here she photographed the same set of subjects, but this time in the style of the pharmaceutical ads that constantly appear in magazines and TV. The two parts of Variants don’t compete, but rather expand the conversation: Goodnoughs subjects are simultaneously named as psychiatric patients and freed from the restriction of diagnosis as identity.

Variants feels like both a finished product and a body of work bursting with potential. Perhaps it’s because I’ve already watched the project develop and change for so long, but I can imagine countless ways the project could continue grow with added subjects and new ways it could be exhibited to showcase different aspects of the body of work. I can only hope more galleries will want to show Goodnough’s work so that I can see where it goes from here.

(As a side note, Jodie’s artist statement is pretty kick-ass)

Discover more of Jodie Goodnough’s work here.

Art in Bloom is one of my favorite annual events at the MFA. The show only lasts three days, so one of the downsides is the crowds and entitled-acting tour groups one has to peer around to actually see the flowers. But once the tours move along, they reveal stunning flower arrangements created in response to different works of art in the museum’s collection. This year, my far and away favorite was  New Leaf Flores’ response to the green Chihuly in the main atrium. In truth, it was more of a sculpture in it’s own right, than a demure floral response a pre-existing work. Neon orange bamboo created a free-standing arch large enough for multiple people to stand beneath it. The network of bamboo was punctuated by palm fronds and two enormous starbursts formed from large leaves and flowers. Although we visited on different days, my friend Gaia and I had the exact same response to the sculpture:

Suzi’s reaction to Art in Bloom

Gaia’s Reaction to Art in Bloom

Spring is always a flurry of MFA thesis shows and I am enjoying actually having the time to check a lot of them out now that I am out of school. I swung by the Howard Yezerski Gallery in the middle of the week; it was strange to have the gallery to myself to peruse without the throngs of First Friday gallery goers! I am thrilled that Yezerski is breaking with its mold to follow the lead of other galleries (like Anthony Greeney) and show the work of emerging artists. Even though Fill Me Up won’t be up for First Fridays, it is still an exciting precedent.

I know Rob Chamberlin as a photographer and performance artist, so it was fascinating to see his thesis show – composed entirely of clay pots! The vases spilled across the room, taking full advantage of the gallery white walls, and invited the gallery goers to approach even the works sitting on the floor. I spent my time in the gallery inspecting the variety of white pots, peering at the icing-like decorations from different angles, and trying to connect the dots between the show and what I already knew of Chamberlin’s work. Rob will have to tell me if I’m right, but I was reminded of his fascination with the concept of the MRS degree – earning a college degree in order to become a housewife. Rob has hosted bake sales as part of a husband search performance, and I couldn’t help but imagine the pots as altered wedding cakes – pristinely white, but terribly and beautifully imperfect.

Discover more of Rob Chamberlin’s work here.