Andrew Raftery Gallery Talk at Davis

We've been watching Andrew Raftery for the past year. An Associate Professor at RISD, Andrew produces striking images of contemporary life using the very traditional medium of engraving. We saw his series of open houses at Mary Ryan at IFPDA in November.

This week, Andrew gave a gallery talk at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. The lecture was a discussion of etching and engraving techniques showcased in the Davis' current exhibition, Prints in an Age of Artistry. It is a wonderful exhibition that lets you compare and contrast how artists were using the various printmaking techniques in 16th and 17th century Italy.

Comparing printmaking to painting, Raftery, who had just visited the MFA's Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese exhibition noted that much within a painting is hidden, as the artist builds up layer and layer of paint. With prints, "it's all right there, nothing is hidden".

The exhibition, containing fine impressions and many rare working proofs, are all part of single private collection and are definitely worth a trip to the Davis.

Art in Aspen

I recently had the opportunity to visit Aspen, Colorado for the first time. The cute, but tourist-oriented downtown boasts over 20 galleries in a few square blocks. Seeing the really bad Rembrandt etching was almost a relief after looking at what seemed to be several galleries worth of "starving artist" works. These galleries made you yearn for a velvet Elvis.
After a little research, we did discover 2 galleries -- that in their ads at least --appeared to carry many of the artists that we know and love. In one, we were excited to find an Oldenburg drawing dated 1968. We inquired about the drawing and were disappointed when all the gallery rep could tell us was the date of the work, stating, "lot's of things come in and out of here". OK, but we expect a little bit more....

All was not lost. We did have a great conversation with Albert Sanford, the owner of Galerie Maximillian. He had just recieved some new monoprints by Mel Bochner. We've enjoyed seeing his Strong Words series and this year at ADAA the various Blah, Blah, Blahs. These new monoprints were very strong impressions with raised pulp -- almost a reverse embossment. Each letter is injected with pigment individually. These works may be seen on the gallery's site and also at Two Palms.

Rachel is ...

Boston artist, Rachel Perry Welty (represented by Barbara Krakow Gallery), did a really interesting performance piece last week (3/11/09) on Facebook. She updated her status almost every minute for 16 straight hours. Although this is similar to Kenneth Goldsmith's "Fidget," in which he transcribes every movement that his body made one day in 1997, Rachel Perry Welty has made a much more culturally relevent work. I have often joked about some of my Facebook friends who constantly update their status, saying that it's nice to know when they are using the toilet. If you would have been Rachel's Facebook friend that day, you would have been bombarded by updates, most of which were mundane and not really worthy of a status update. It brings up several questions: Why do some people feel the need to post updates that would interest nobody? How much information is too much? Where is the line between caring about soneone's update and wanting to remove them as a friend because they abuse updates? Do we really feel like the details of our daily lives are important enough to post publically? Is Facebook really a narcissistic activity instead of social networking?
If you are interested in checking out the piece, you have to become a friend of Rachel Perry Welty on Facebook.

Childs Gallery & L'Espalier team up

The latest issue of Design New England is out featuring our favorite traditional art gallery, Childs Gallery, and their collaboration with newly relocated Back Bay restaurant L'Espalier to the Mandarin Oriental space.

With the vision of NY based designer Martin Vahrta and sensibilities of restaurant owner and long-time Childs Gallery client Frank McClelland, they created a beautiful space to showcase art, drink wine, and of course, dine!

If you haven't yet checked it out, be sure to get over there soon.

Apenest

A few days ago I stumbled upon something that has me excited- Apenest. A collaboration between Brian Willmont (MassArt alum represented by Lamontagne Gallery) and Cody Hoyt, Apenest is described as an experimental publishing/printmaking project that publishes an annual book of artist contributions. It reminds me of the serial, Aspen (I think the similarities in names is probably intentional), published between 1965 and 1971, that contained items by artists such as Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and John Cage. There have been two issues so far, each only $15, hand-numbered in editions of 1,000. The issues contain extra goodies inside the book such as prints, stickers, and a bandana. They have also published two prints, one a silkscreen shown here by Willmont and Hoyt (26"x40") in an edition of 55 for only $25! I would much rather have one of those than the stuff 20x200 has been putting out lately. Sorry, Jen Beckman...

David Hilliard Benefit Print on sale now

We've previously blogged about the awesome David Hilliard benefit print for this years Summer Party at the MFA. Well, the link is up and you can buy it now before it runs out!
Ticket levels which include the print are as follows:

• Oro Guest: $525 (Museum Council members receive a $50 discount, limit one per member)
  Benefits include:
  Two tickets to the Party, including VIP lounge access
  One exclusive limited-edition benefit print by David Hilliard*
  Individual recognition on event program (listing deadline, May 15)
  $250 is not tax deductible
• Argento Guest: $375 (Museum Council members receive a $50 discount, limit two per member)
  Benefits include:
  One ticket to the Party, including VIP lounge access
  One exclusive limited-edition benefit print by David Hilliard*
  Individual recognition on event program (listing deadline, May 15)
  $150 is not tax deductible

All indications are that we will sell out again this year. Don't miss out!

South of the Border

Although Cambridge really isn't south, it does seem so far away to many Bostonians (including me). The drive across the Harvard Bridge is a much bigger obstacle than it should be. Whenever I'm in Cambridge I feel like I am on vacation, in another city with great things to do and where English is the primary language.
Yesterday, I checked out the List Center at MIT (which is in Cambridge). Right now there is a show by Melanie Smith, who lives in Mexico City and creates works about the city. The central piece in the exhibit is called "Spiral City," which is a grainy balck and white aerial video of Mexico City taken from a helicopter. The city becomes abstract patterns and it made me think about Mesoamerican hieroglyphics. Even more successful than this video is a series of gorgeous paintings that seem based on the video- abstract cityscapes from above done in tones of gray. The most beautiful painting was obstructed by a concrete wall built in the gallery in front of the painting- recreating the boundaries in Mexico City, keeping people out. If you go, make sure you also see the video playing across the hall. I won't tell you what it's about...