Boston

June 02, 2014, 10:46pm

Heartache, Turmoil and Hope Abound: Raul Gonzalez III & Elaine Bay

The turmoil of existence is a central theme to Raul Gonzalez III’s work as demonstrated in this exhibition through portrayals of displacement, disillusionment and hope in the American dream. In this collaboration, Elaine Bay’s make-shift rafts add weight to Gonzalez’s scenes of characters sailing away from their homelands, starting our journey and transforming the space at Villa Victoria in Boston’s South End into a moving storybook. Guided by the heavy use of art historical symbols of country and hardship, the handmade rafts and painted sails signify the wayward traveler. These small scale installations bring Gonzalez’s work into the viewer’s space, forcing us to walk around and internalize these feelings of leaving and loss. – Anna Schindelar, Boston Contributor

Raul Gonzalez III & Elaine Bay

September 09, 2013, 9:40am

Barry McGee at the ICA Boston

Barry McGee’s recent retrospective highlights a common dilemma in the rising popularity of bringing street art into museums and galleries—namely, how do you capture the ephemeral nature of the work and evoke its urban context in a white cube, and how does the message of the artwork change? The ICA show sought to confront these dilemmas, and the result was a show that revealed itself as an environment more than simply a survey. Replete with floor-to-ceiling wall installations, animatronic sculptures, and a massive totem of 130 television screens, the show drew heavily on McGee’s Bay Area roots and graffiti aesthetic. - Nadiah Fellah, NYC Contibutor (Visiting Boston!)

Barry McGee, Installation view, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

February 18, 2013, 8:30am

WHAT IT IS: Paintings By Anthony Palocci Jr.

Anthony Palocci (NAP #104) is a thing painter. He likes to paint things, household objects mostly, such as phones, air conditioners and ovens. He likes to paint the things that he sees in his every day life. His latest work on view at Lot F Gallery in Boston features many items taken directly from the artist’s environment. One of the most striking paintings is a huge, blue and yellow tiled shower stall straightforwardly titled Shower, 2013.

July 20, 2012, 8:00am

Glimpse of Boston's SOWA

I was wandering around our quiet South of Washington Avenue neighborhood this afternoon and grabbed some photos from terrific summer shows at surrounding Galleries. I made it in to see Material Abstraction at Howard Yezerski Gallery, featuring works by Bob Oppenheim, Carter Potter, Ulrich Wellmann, and Brian Zink (A serial NAP Featured artist). From there I checked out Nancy Murphy Spicer's, Biking in Berlin at Carroll and Sons Art Gallery. Finally, I stopped in to see my friend Arlette, owner of Gallery Kayafas, who has a show called Intra Country: Patriotic Expressions. It is a sweet and summery combination of photographs (gallery specialty), paintings, and installations both sculptural and video.