PULL: FEATHER FRENZY@HuckandStuff.com
“Once upon a time, a monster was born. We found said monster hiding under a bridge, down by the river, sometime shortly before dawn. The monster had obviously stolen a child’s feather pillow, and had lit it on fire. Those pesky monsters, the stuff that nightmares are made of…..
Really, they are harmless…
Want more Huck? Click here.
Want more PULL? Click here.
Got something we should PULL (blog, website, etc)? Click Here, drop line.
Enjoy.
ONGOING:BERKSHIRE VETERANS PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT
Berkshire Veterans Photography Project
Portraits by Bill Wright
Opening: Friday, March 12, 2010, 5pm-7pm
March 12- April 10
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts
28 Renne Ave., Pittsfield, MA
FREE and open to the public.
Catering to be provided by Joe’s Lunchbox.
WHAT: 26 portraits of veterans from Berkshire County, including 99-year-old Margeret H. Haggerty and a 22 year-old man who has served terms in two terms in Afghanistan and and one in Iraq.
The exhibit will run from March 12- April 10, 2010.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 413.499.9348 OR VISIT CULTURALPITTSFIELD.COM.
PULL: Joe Wilk@ Rocks/In/a/Blender.tumblr.com
As awesome, as we may be here at Pittsfield Contemporary, we do not have time to cover everything. And to be honest, you don’t have enough time to read everything. So in the interest of efficiency, we present to you PULL (working title)- the category where we pull interesting bits from our local artist blogs, and maybe some other places….we’ll let you know when we decide.
So here you go John Q. Public, a stunner from Joe Wilk of Wilk &Wright Photography and Design, 441 North Street.
Want more Joe? Click Here.
Want more PULL? Well this is the first one, so you’ll have to wait.
Got something we should PULL (blog, website, etc)? Click Here, drop line.
Enjoy.
RW
FIELD TRIP @ BERKSHIRE MUSEUM: ARMED AND DANGEROUS
“What do I want to know about the Berkshire Museum’s Armed and Dangerous: Art of the Arsenal?” That was what I was asking myself last Friday at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge. Fortunately, I was pondering this in the midst of the lunch rush, so I turned to photographer and Quite Queer party mastermind, Timothy Michael Kushi for a bit of market research. His response to what was the need to know: “accomplishments of the participating artists and the inspiration for the artists work.” Unsure as to how much of this information would be readily available, and wanting to give the community something original, I furrowed my brow and pondered how an artists perspective could be brought into the interview. Then the obvious struck me-grab a couple artists and bring ‘em along. Thus was born PCon’s FIELD TRIP.
Two hours later, I was in the Dino Dig Room with fellow Pittsfield Contemparian, Jay Elling and the fierce and fabulous Jeanet Ingalls, disputing the exact former placement of the glow in the dark rock room (removed during the museum’s renovations)* and arguing the awesome versus icky factor of the museum’s taxidermied natural history collection.
With the arrival of Berkshire Museum Director of Interpretation, Maria Mingalone and Jazu Stine, our Field Trip was ready to go and I was ready to see if this cockamayme idea had any legs.
Armed and Dangerous does not seek to glorify war but presents conflict as an element of human experience, exploring how warfare has changed over time and how weapons-as-artifacts reflect the cultural beliefs of the people who made and used them.
Early battle adornments and implements from the American Plains to New Guinea juxtaposed by an impressive wall of dramatically lit horns (of the animal, not musical persuasion) greeted us at the top of the stairs. In the midst of antlers and arms, I launched my first and only formal question to Mingalone; “what was the impetus for the exhibition?”
“Well, it was kind of by accident,” Mingalone began. “We had a summer intern assisting with the cataloging of our collection who had a special interest in weaponry. Every time I would go down there (to collection storage), there would be more unusual, beautiful objects, and we really started to get a sense of breadth and depth of this part of our collection.” Mingalone ballparked that out of the approximately 200 objects that comprise the show, 165 are part of the museums permanent collection.
*A side note, for those unaware, in 2008 the Berkshire Museum completed the installation of a Heating, Ventillation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system “that greatly improves the comfort of our guests year-round, but will also preserve the Berkshire Museum’s collections, allows more of the collection to be displayed for the public, and make possible exciting loans and exhibitions from other museums.”
“We have a diverse collection, we like to reflect that in how we mount our exhibitions-blending disciplines; taking a multi-disciplinary approach presents the richest educational atmosphere” Mingalone explained. That is why Mingalone and her exhibition team, plumbed the natural and art worlds for specimens to compliment this exceptional survey of objects designed to bludgeon, skew, intimidate and awe-to help tell the story of the evolution of one of the most universal, if unsavory human pursuits.
With my one and only official, big girl reporter question out of the way, and the museum fairly quiet, we were able to kick back and take it all in. In some ways, it is easy to be merely awed by the craftsmanship and exoticism of feathered headresses, 8 ft plus samurai swords, pony helmets and what looks to be a giant lucky rabbits foot but I was told was a quiver. “It is incredible the resources that have gone into these objects and how personal they are,” Ingalls stated in reference to an intricately done set of early Fillipino chainmail.
The objects that open the show were made for combat waged in spitting distance proximity. They are “declarations of self-as-warrior” in paint, feather, and club, and offer a sharp contrast to Berkshire based photojournalist Jonas Dovydenas‘ images of American soldiers embedded in Afghanistan.
“When you enter, it (combat) is so personal” says Ingalls , “and it becomes so depersonalized.” Reviewing a collection of early firearms, Stine adds that “it seems as if some elements of the moral code, dignity, and honor of being of a warrior has been lost.” It seemed easy to feel that way whilst looking at Dovydenas’ smoking, seemingly disillusioned soldiers with shinning suits of armor looking over your shoulder.
The exhibition, and our group, then moved beyond the soldiers, beyond the combat, to-brace yourself Mr. Kushi- contemporary art works related to the theme. Kitty corner to Dovydenas’ somber cigarette toking soldiers are images of what seem to be unoccupied cityscapes. Upon closer examination, Chinese contemporary artist Liu Bolin emerges painted to blend with his surroundings. Mingalone stated that the series, City Hiding, was partly inspired by Bolin’s displacement during Beijing’s pre-olympic city clean-up. In short, his abode went bye-bye to make nice for the tourists-Tanglewood traffic doesn’t seem so bad now, huh?
Bolin’s use of camouflage is not for the purpose of deadly stealth, but statement. Aussie artist Emma Hack uses camouflage to create sheer expressions of visual lushness, and god bless her for doing so. Her works, as well as those of the other contemporary artists, including Peter Gronquist (for any Bruno fans, he made the Chanel rocket launcher used in the film) brought a light, if cheeky note to the closing of our excursion.
Our last stop was an installation Shepard Fairey prints (many on loan from ceramicist and local educator Michael Boroniec), hung opposite World War II propaganda posters. Here the group dispersed, one half examining Fairey’s layering technique and trying to decipher the World War II propaganda, the other rating what’s good and bad for shows in the city. With the guards alerting us that the museum was in fact closed, we meandered our way out, taking in the mounted buck head with a 30 ft rack in the Crane Room. You know, just your average field trip.
TEXT//RWEINMAN
PHOTOS//JELLING
Click below for more fun time pics from Jay Elling!
Renne Avenue: Studio Artists @ the Lichtenstein Center For the Arts
Thursday night, come to the Lichtenstein for an opening reception for a show of work by the artists who create art here in our studios.
The opening reception for the show is on Thursday, September 24th at 5pm until 7pm.
Features paintings, ceramics, photography and mixed media pieces by Diane Cournoyer, Julio Granda, Mario Calouri, Michael Rousseau, Peg Dotchin, Eduardo Villanes, Stefanie Weber, Sean McCusker, David Scribner and John Stritch, as well as Lichtenstein class instructors Aimee Gelinas and Jim Horsford.
TEAPOTS: Interpretations @ Ferrin Gallery
Group Show of Sculpture, Painting, Photography and Studio Pottery
Dates: July 11 – September 5, 2009
Reception and Gallery Talk : Saturday, July 11, from 4-6 pm
Curator: Leslie Ferrin, Author of Teapots Transformed: Exploration of an Object
In 2000, gallery owner, Leslie Ferrin wrote Teapots Transformed: Exploration of an Object a book that presents the history of the object and surveys contemporary functional and sculptural interpretations. During the 80’s and 90’s Ferrin was responsible for dozens of exhibitions and during that time, helped to establish public, private and corporate collections including Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, Colorado, The Gloria and Solomon Kamm Collection and at the Charak collection now at the Racine Art Museum in Racine, WI. This is the first exhibition exclusively focused on teapots by various artists to be held in Ferrin Gallery in Pittsfield.
Umbrella Digital