Highlights
August is the height of summer and a great time to see art. The city is quieter and less crowded (I went to the First Friday openings and actually got to talk to people AND look at the art!) and the satellite exhibitions throughout the region are exceptional. Museums and galleries continue to host dynamic summertime events and there’s still a calendar full of community festivals and block parties that will highlight some of Boston’s most talented artists. Here are a few shows to have on your radar as you travel in and around the Boston area this month.
Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe at Tufts University Art Galleries @tuftsartgalleries
On view through: December 8, 2024
Featuring: Tomashi Jackson
Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe opens at the Tufts Galleries in Medford, MA, this month and will be on view until December 8th. The show traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and is organized by curators Miranda Lash (Denver) and Dina Deitsch (Tufts). Jackson’s work is monumental in its presence, filling a room with vibrant color, photographic imagery, and 3D form. Steeped in research, her process uses archival images to tell stories of displacement and inequity for Black and brown communities throughout history. She layers information and imagery, combining geometric abstraction and collaged elements, including images reproduced in duotone. Her work inhabits physical space with insistence and disruption, luring you in with beauty and masterful craftsmanship to tell you stories that are powerful and important. Jackson’s life-long commitment to social and racial justice, along with the complex histories inherent in her subject matter, make the work poignant and timely. In today’s political climate, Jackson’s work reminds us that vigilance is necessary for radical change and justice.
Ekua Holmes “Paradise Found” at Cousen Rose Gallery
On view through: August 20, 2024
Featuring: Ekua Holmes
Ekua Homes makes gorgeous collage-based paintings that tell stories. Her work explores the potency of pattern, color, and narrative. She has also made several sculptural and installation-based works for galleries and museums. She might be best known for her illustrations accompanying children’s literature, like her most recent book project, The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. All of her book illustrations are incredible stand-alone works of art. Holmes launches a new exhibition at Cousen Rose Gallery in Oak Bluffs, on Martha’s Vineyard this month titled Paradise Found. The show features a collection of original collages and prints, both recent and past.
Joel Janowitz at The Schoolhouse Gallery, @theschoolhousegallery
On view through: August 27, 2024
Featuring: Joel Janowitz
Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown is hosting multiple knock-out shows this month including a beautiful show of paintings and prints by Joel Janowitz. Janowitz’s masterful use of technique, process, and image is on full view through paintings like “Turbulent Sea” (2023, oil in linen, 24” x 24”) and a large 72” x 38” monotype from 2000 titled “Pile” that’s a stunning example of his facility with the medium and process. Janowitz uses allegory, metaphor, and parable as guiding narrative principles, and his rendering of humans and the natural world compels the viewer to identify with them. The images are complex, toggling between serenity and anxiousness in an expanse of tumult and beauty. In recent works, giant waves buoy swimmers who cling to bright orange floaties. Are they safe? Are they in peril? The effect can be unsettling yet calm. Giving in, fighting, grasping for hope. Are the motifs about society, the individual, or both? The gallery also features a Pop-Up collaboration with Boston’s LaMontagne Gallery, which features the work of gallery artists Joe Wardwell, Jason Middlebrook, Jeff Perrott, and Esteban del Valle. Both shows run from August 9 to 27, 2024.
Cutting Edge: Contemporary Papercutting at ShowUp Gallery, @showup.inc
On view through: September 1, 2024
Featuring: Swoon, Lorraine Bubar, Hazel Glass, Mark Curtis Hughes, Rebecca Rose Greene, and Béatrice Coron.
This exhibition of six artists whose primary medium is paper is a feast for the eyes. The delicate nature of the material is accentuated by the fine details in the workmanship and construction. Paper becomes the medium – not just a surface – and the images created by the cut paper are compelling and profound. Rebecca Rose Greene’s mesmerizing, multi-layered, and kaleidoscopic pieces had me enthralled. I spent a delightful amount of time with another gallery-goer in front of a work that resembled a stained-glass window in stereo, depicting a “female landscape”. We thought we solved the riddle but still unsure of what we were looking at. It’s very generous work. The exhibition is curated by the brilliant papercut artist Rosa Leff and features the work of Swoon, Lorraine Bubar, Hazel Glass, Mark Curtis Hughes, Rebecca Rose Greene, and Béatrice Coron.
Night Swimming: New American Paintings 2024 Summer Review at Steven Zevitas Gallery, @stevenzevitasgallery
On view through: August 31, 2024
Featuring: Cindy Bernhard, Grace Bromley, Temi Edun, Shyama Golden, Nathan Hosmer Nevarez, Hannah Murray , Elbert Joseph Perez, David Shrobe, Ramón Vargas, Stacy Lynn Waddell, and Jesse Zuo
I’m often curious about the work showcased in New American Paintings, a submission-based publication that highlights the talent of painters from across the nation. This platform, the brainchild of Steven Zevitas, consistently presents fresh perspectives in contemporary art. The current exhibition at Steven Zevitas’ Boston gallery features a selection of artists who were recognized in the publication over the past year. While the exhibition is more of a sampling of exceptional paintings than a tightly-themed show, its impact is equally pleasing.
As a group exhibition, it brings together painters who might not ordinarily show together, yet their works are engaged in a dynamic conversation about the medium of paint. The joy and challenge of exploring new aesthetics through innovative techniques resonate throughout the gallery. I was dumb-struck by Hannah Murray’s “Amy” which seemed to spring to life the second I looked at her. And the playfulness of Cindy Bernhard’s “Red Veil” lifted my spirits while I admired its cool.
About the writer: Andrew Fish is a Boston-based artist and educator. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and received his MFA from Goddard College in VT. His work has been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions in the US and abroad. Fish teaches at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA. @Andrew_Fish_Studio