This fall I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wonderful new project: curating artwork for the Webster & Company showroom at the Boston Design Center.
I love art. I buy art like other women buy shoes. I have master’s in art history that I did for fun and I started collecting art around the same time. Friends have asked me for help choosing artwork, and over the years I’ve often thought of art consulting for interior designers.
This summer I was at the bar at Blackfish in Truro with my friend Dee Elms,who encouraged me. (If you don’t know her, she is a very talented, supremely generous Boston-based interior designer). A week later I got an email from Mr. Webster at Webster & Company, asking me if I’d be interested in helping find local Boston artists whose work he could hang in his showroom. (A little birdie suggested me.) He was looking to do a complete swap of everything he had hanging. Within a month.
In a frenzy, I scoured my files and sources for Boston artists (and some further afield in Maine and on the Cape) whose work I loved that aligned with Mr. Webster’s tastes. We met in early September, narrowed down my finds, and over the last few weeks the very gracious Mr. Webster and his meticulous visual design director Jonathan Giacoletto have hung the work. There are about 75 pieces from almost 20 artists, all either local or with ties to the area.
It’s been a thrilling experience, both working with Mr. Webster and his team and all the artists. I haven’t seen everything hung yet, but I plan to go this week. If you happen to be over there, stop by. (Obviously they’re all for sale. If you you’re interested, you can let me know.) Here is one piece from each artist represented. If you read ARTmonday regularly you will recognize some names. More photos to come of the installations in the coming weeks.
John Ross
John Ross, who has a degree from UCLA and is co-founder of design label PATCH NYC, composes photos inspired by Dutch still life paintings in his South End studio using only natural light.
Tess Atkinson
Tess Atkinson, who graduated from Skidmore College and studied photography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, likens her images to being lost in a trance.
Linda Pagani
Linda Pagani, who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, photographs vast spaces to compose abstract new environments.
Anna Kasabian
In her studio in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Anna Kasabian crafts wafer thin porcelain pieces that recall the forms and motions of flowers, sea plants, and ocean waves.
Jenny Brillhart
Abstracting beauty from the ordinary, Jenny Brillhart, who holds an M.F.A. from New York Academy of Art and a B.A. from Smith College, lives and works in Miami and Stonington, Maine.
Judyth Katz
Having begun her career as a fiber artist, today Judyth Katz works in paints and pastels to create abstracted landscapes en plain air and from her studio on the Outer Cape.
MP Landis
MP Landis, who traveled the world with his Mennonite missionary parents, opened a bookstore, and painted in Provincetown, recently relocated from Brooklyn to Portland, Maine.
Jenny Prinn
Rain, laughter, footsteps, and foghorns are examples of the fleeting inspirational moments that inform Maine-based artist Jenny Prinn’s colorful abstract paintings.
Grace Hopkins
Grace Hopkins, who holds a B.F.A. from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, creates photographs with he look and feel of abstract paintings.
Hilary Tait Norod
Neuroscience and psychology are strong influences on Boston-based painter Hilary Tait Norod, who holds a B.A. in studio art from Skidmore College.
Steve Barylick
Former creative director and muralist Steve Barylick, who holds a B.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art, paints abstracts at Joy Street Artist Studios in Somerville.
Linda Cordner
Linda Cordner layers pigmented translucent wax to depict subtle, atmospheric landscapes, all created in her SoWa studio.
Alicia Savage
Boston-based photographer Alicia Savage, who holds a B.A. from Northeastern University, documents her life and mind in self-portraits that hide her face but uncover her journey.
Budd Hopkins
Abstract Expressionist Budd Hopkins (1931—2011), who worked in New York and Wellfleet, combined geometrics with a gestural style. The Whitney Museum and The Guggenheim, among others, own his work.
Sarah Lutz
Sarah Lutz, whose abstract work refers to the natural world, holds a B.S. from Skidmore College, an M.F.A. from The American University, and lives and works in New York City and Truro, Mass.
Stephen Sheffield
Using film and nontraditional techniques, South Shore-based photographer Stephen Sheffield, an alumnus of Cornell University and California College of the Arts, creates narrative images with a cinematic feel.
Ellen Levine Dodd
Ellen Levine Dodd, who grew up and studied art in New England, creates expressive compositions with colorful gestural brushwork in her Northern California studio.
Joe Diggs
Working from his home studio overlooking a pond on Cape Cod, Joe Diggs sometimes strategically plans his compositions while other times is guided by pure emotion.
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