Summer Party Silent Auction Teaser

If you haven't boght your tickets to the MFA's Summer party on 6/13, you need to do so ASAP. The benefit print by David Hilliard looks like it will be selling out very soon. Also, last night was the jury meeting for the silent auction. Approximately 30 pieces were chosen from almost 300 submissions. It was a hard process to deliberate and narrow the selections down to a size that could be shown in the MFA's rotunda. However, I think people will be very pleased with the results. There are a variety of media including painting, prints, photographs, and jewelry and a price range that goes from about $250 to $4,000. Starting bids are either half of the retail price or $1,000, whichever is less. You may be hearing more about specific pieces over the next few weeks, but that's it for now- the selected artists haven't even been notified yet!

David Hilliard

I know, I know, the blog has been dark the last couple weeks, but hopefully the posts will start being more frequent and regular again. If art imitated (my) life, I certainly wouldn't want to buy it right now.
Anyway, some big stuff has been happening this month. David Hilliard, who currently has a show at Carroll and Sons in the South End, will be doing the Benefit Print for the MFA Summer Party in June (shown here). Although Hilliard's photographs are in major museum collections across the US (including the MFA, Boston), I was most impressed when I went to an Elton John concert in Boston about 5-6 years ago and Sir Elton John himself gave him a big shout out, saying that Hilliard was a "brilliant" Boston-based photographer and that he collects his work.
At the opening at Carroll and Sons last week, Hilliard said that he studied film and video at MassArt as an undergrad, but was drawn to photography because the images are longer lasting and viewers can look at them as long they like. He feels that his film background influences his photography, in which he creates multiple images to be shown together as diptyches, triptyches, etc. Each photo is taken separately and they can be separated by distance, time, and/or perspective. The result does seem cinematic- and quite beautiful.
If you are interested in buying the Benefit Print, do so ASAP. Last year the print sold out.

The Fall Art Season is in Full Swing

After a brief experiment last year, we've decided to get this blog back off the ground.  Fall brings the start of many art-related activities, so now seemed like a good time.  The MFA Museum Council kicked off its season with Art and Empires:  Treasures from Assyria on September 20th.   As usual, we had quite the crowd for cocktails, a lecture from the curator, a private viewing and dinner. 

That same weekend, South End Open Studios featured over 200 artists.  Before the event, I had been asked for advice about the best strategy.  Hard to say.  This year  I optimized around convenience since I was bringing my parents for the first time.  We focused on 450 Harrision, which had around 75 studios (and an elevator).  I haven't been to South End Open Studios in a couple of years and I was impressed with the overall quality  of the art (high) and prices (affordable).  With the broad range of media and styles, there was something for everyone.