Review: Picking out a cornucopia of gallery highlights this fall

By -

By Doug Norris/Features Editor



...A bit farther afield, the artists of Hera Gallery in Wakefield are exhibiting as part of an exchange with AS220 in Providence. The show, "Hera Works," running through Saturday at AS220 Project Space, serves as a sampler of new work by 16 Hera artists. (AS220 artists will reciprocate at Hera later this fall.)

Eclectic and edgy, the exhibition illustrates Hera's strengths as one of the most consistently provocative arts collectives in Rhode Island. Among the most powerful works on display are slightly disturbing and surreal but strangely compelling pieces by Claudia Flynn and Hera Gallery Director Islay Taylor.

Flynn's "Danseur Noble," in which she combines a piece of driftwood with the plastic head of a doll, is a striking coupling of found objects - one a gift of nature, the other a thrown-away toy that resonates with lost innocence and the ravages of time. The forms work together to create an expressive, emotive whole. Every viewer may see something different in the doll's expression, but a certain toughness and stoicism - and, yes, nobility - come through, a sense of surviving despite hardships, suggested by the full extension of the driftwood's four limbs.

Equally creepy and captivating are Taylor's pieces of jewelry-like brooches titled "Biopsy," referencing samples of living tissues cut from the body for the purpose of diagnoses. Made from plastic, glass, retro-glo thread, enamel, copper and surgical steel, the brooches stick to a wall like large barnacles and are jarringly depicted in a photograph affixed to a woman's body, the white forms repeated on a white shirt in a scene that both disturbs and fascinates.

Using found or reclaimed objects, artist Troy West creates an eloquent plea from nature that alludes to manmade environmental disasters like the BP oil spill. The piece, "Apocalypse," made from wood and copper, combines text and an abstracted shore bird in a simple construction that serves as a poetic call to arms in the fight against societal indifference.

Intriguing contributions from other Hera artists - including Linda Denosky-Smart, Cynthia Farnell, Michael Yefko, Elizabeth Lind, Carl Dimitri, Roberta Richman, Jeannette Jacobs, Jill McLaughlin, Myron Rubenstein, Barbara Pagh, Alexandra Broches, John Kotula and Susan Hayward - make Hera's Providence experiment worth the detour if you find yourself anywhere near the Big Blue Bug in the next couple of days.

>Read the full article here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Artists From The Mill At Shady Lea

By -
Hera Gallery is pleased to present “Artists From Shady Lea Come to Hera,” an exhibition featuring the eclectic works of the artists from the Mill at Shady Lea. This show will feature the works of Jane Bailey, Roberto Bessin, Jon Campbell, Barbara Crane, Jeff Elsbecker, Jody Eyre, Susan Hayward, Karen Imbriale, Sandra Krupp, Sew Many Things, and Amanda Wright. The Mill hosts a vibrant and thriving community of makers; tucked away on Mattatuxet River, the Shady Lea Mill is home to over forty artists, craftsmen, and designers. Continually changing and expanding, the Mill is an organic entity thriving off of the creativity of its tenants. “Artists From Shady Lea Come to Hera” will present the diversity of work created by select tenants of Shady Lea. Included in this biopsy will be the large format pastel drawings by Jane Bailey. Bailey’s paintings are laced with a sense of poetic loneliness, and allows for the pastel drawings to examine depth of light and space. Similarly, Barbara Cr...
Read more

CALL FOR ENTRIES: "Landscape at the Edge: Contemporary Views"

By -
H E R A  G A L L E R Y Is pleased to announce an open call for… Landscape At The Edge: Contemporary Views Juror: Michele L’Heureux is a working artist, Gallery Director of The Beard and Weil Galleries at Wheaton College, and Curator of the Kniznick Gallery at Brandeis University. Concept: The contemporary viewing of the landscape is pluralistic and reflective of human relationships to the natural and manmade environment. This national juried show seeks a varied perspective on what contemporary landscape is through the artist’s engagement with the subject. We seek to explore the meaning of place, political or environmental issues related to the landscape, urban and rural landscapes, natural and manmade landscapes, or other points of view. Application Deadline: Friday, February 7th, 2014.   Exhibition Dates:   Saturday, April 5 th - Saturday, May 3 rd , 2014 Opening Reception: Saturday, April 5 th 2014, 6:00 – 8:00 pm Eligib...
Read more

Notes From The Coast

By -
Image
Hera  Gallery is currently exhibiting work by Kathie Florsheim and Barbara Pagh through September 5th. Stop by Wednesday - Friday from 1-5pm, and Saturday from 1-4pm. You can also view their extensive bodies of work on our website! https://www.heragallery.org/ current Both artists are exhibiting new work this fall after they recognized shared interests in the coastal environment. Pagh voices she decided to revisit the theme of the Rhode Island coast: “For Matunuck Intervals, I began in September by walking on the South Kingstown town beach and Moonstone Beach on an almost daily basis, using my phone to photograph details of patterns in the sand, sand fences, rocks, piles of slipper shells, burlap bags that form a buffer for a house. The photographs were altered on the computer and became digital negatives that were then exposed onto light-sensitive lithographic plates and printed on a variety of thin Asian papers. I collage the images together in spa...
Read more