After a year of corresponding with art consultant Beth Kantrowitz, I met her in Provincetown when she did a pop-up gallery the summer before last. I was instantly attracted to her enthusiasm, not to mention her taste in art. She and Kathleen O’Hara of Watertown, Massachusetts gallery Drive-by Projects recently introduced the Drive-by Store where you can by works from emerging and mid-career artists online. Here are some of the offerings which you can also see @drive_by_projects.
Rebecca Doughty
Jon Cowan
Amy Ross
Danica Phelps
James Kennedy
Helena Wurzel
Shannon Rankin
Crystalle LaCouture
Michelle Grabner
Jenny Brown
Drive-by Projects, 81 Spring Street, Watertown, Massachusetts, 617-835-8255, by appointment.
Boston area artists Kathryn Geismar and Alexandra Sheldon delve into curating with a show called Give and Take, up now at the Cambridge Art Association and online. The exhibit features artwork by Geismar and Sheldon, as well as local artists Deborah Baskin, Margaret Scoppa, and Kim Triedman.
Here is an excerpt from Geismar’s thoughts behind the exhibition:
Collage is about sticking things together. It is also about taking things apart. Paint over, tear off, nail on: this is the give and the take.
We are five artists who find a fascination in the poetic energy of things: Colors, old surfaces, blocks of wood, expired books, rusty objects, painted newsprint, discarded ephemera. Stories are suggested and found in the meeting place where objects come together and find a new community and identity. There is a huge respect for the serendipitous and the synergy of meeting the materials in the middle.
Artists are often scavengers but collage artists are even more so. Old newspapers and packaging, tossed out window frames and disparate planks of wood on a curb become our treasures. They speak to us and invite us to collaborate. What is discarded and the overlooked by many is more than a fascination; for us it is rich and evocative source material.
Kathryn Geismar, A Delicate Balance
Deborah Baskin, You and Me
Alexandra Sheldon, Happy Accident 5
Kim Triedman, You Show Me Yours
Kathryn Geismar, Night Forest
Alexandra Sheldon, Happy Accident 7
Margaret Choppa, Chock a Block
Deborah Baskin, An Evening Chat
Like all shows of the Covid era, there will be virtual opening reception on ZOOM; this Friday, April 9, 6:30-7:30 pm. Register here.
There’s also a fun interactive ZOOM workshop, Give and Take In Action: Making Collages from Scratch; this Saturday, April 10, 10-11am. Register here.
Give and Take
April 1 – 30, 2021 Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge Art Association
25 Lowell Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Also, online.
I have so many images of women turning their backs on the camera, that I thought for sure I did a post of those, but I can’t find it, so maybe not. Today’s post features 36 portraits of women whose faces are obscured in some way. The overall image might be blurry, her head could be wrapped in twigs (or a shower curtain!), perhaps her hair is in her face, or she’s wearing a blindfold. Or, the image might show what could have been a perfectly straightforward rendering, but then he or she dripped paint over the visage, or whited out all traces of personality.
Some of these obscured portraits of women are cloaked in mystery, others are silly, and still others, a tad subversive. I find them all appealing. (I left out the more disturbing of the finds this time around.)
Since today’s the BostonMarathon I thought I’d go all Boston with a dozen picks from Etsy local. The mix includes still life paintings of sweets, pet portraits, pretty landscapes, geometric abstracts, and more. Are the artists are based in the Boston area. Enjoy the day! #BostonStrong
I discovered Brooklyn-based site Uncommon Goods, which launched back in 1999, when I worked for Store Adore. I perused it all the time, especially for environmentally-conscious and handcrafted gift options. For some reason it had fallen off my radar for a while. They emailed me recently. I learned that the company’s lowest paid worker makes 50 percent above minimum wage—as good a reason as any to start shopping the site again—and that they donate to a number of worthy non-profits, including organizations for women, hunger, and the environment. I was also reminded of its selection of selection of cute gifts, including a whole bunch of whole bunch of personalized gifts, like jewelry, pillows, and books. There’s also affordable artwork. I posted a dozen of my favorite artworks from Uncommon Goods below.
