Previous Exhibitions - 2010
Interludes
Photographs by Rachel Brown
Interlude: ... an intervening or interruptive period, space or event
Brown's exhibition consists largely of three projects: Clouds (Nuages Croyables - from a poem by French poet Joseph Guglielmi), Snow, and Field Work. The subject is nature in action - Clouds and Snow; and interaction - Field Work, the things people make as part of their work and that alter the spirit of the landscape, for better or for worse. Curated by Breon Dunigan.
Rachel Brown (formerly Rachel Giese) was born in NYC in 1936. She's lived most of
her life on outer Cape Cod, except for 18 years spent in Ireland and France from 1992-
2010. Her first photography teacher was Elspeth Vevers in Provincetown, after which
she continued with Melissa Shook at MIT. Her work has been widely exhibited in France
and Ireland. She is represented at Gallery Ehva in Provincetown.
Visit: Rachel Brown Website
Hillside at Daybreak silver print photograph, 12 x 12" |
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WW I Monument, Aubrac silver print photograph, 12 x 12" |
Traces: Daniel Ranalli, Cape Work 1987-2007
On View at PAAM October 15, 2010 through January 16, 2011
opening reception: Friday, October 22, @7pm
Daniel Ranalli, Spiral Start #9, 1995/2009, From the series "Snail Drawings," Photographic diptych, Archival inkjet print, 20 x 28 inches, Courtesy of Gallery Kayafas
exhibition checklist
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum is pleased to present a twenty-year survey of the work of well-known artist Daniel Ranalli. In what could be called a site-specific offering, the exhibition will focus exclusively on Ranalli's environmental works that are embedded in the ecology and landscape of the Outer Cape. Curated by Leslie K. Brown, former curator of the Photographic Resource Center in Boston and current independent curator, the show will include close to 30 works from several series.
Often made on-site in the tidal areas and sandy beaches near his home in Wellfleet, Ranalli's work is frequently rooted in the delicate balance between control and chance. Whether they are photographic diptychs of snails before and after being arranged in geometrical patterns or piles of seaweed sculpted into human or animal form and then subsumed into the sea, Ranalli's environmentally-based works are close collaborations with nature.
Curator Brown writes, "Ranalli's work can be seen within a tradition of walking artists and with his frequent addition of text, in the form of phrases written in his own hand, he adds another level of poetic meditation. As the actual earthworks exist only for a short while, Ranalli's photographs become evidence — traces of ephemeral actions and sculptural interventions."
Daniel Ranalli, Every Mark I Make..., 1992/2010, From the series “Site Works,” Photographic triptych, Archival inkjet print, 22 x 40 inches, Courtesy of artist
Although largely situated within the medium of photography, the exhibition will also include prints, mixed media, and sculpture. Bridging documentary, scientific, conceptual, and performance-based work, the series represented will include "Tidal Plain Works," "Snail Drawings," "Site Works," "Zen Dunes," and "Whale Strandings" as well as several individual pieces.
Ranalli has spent summers in Wellfleet for over 25 years and is married to the painter Tabitha Vevers. Ranalli writes of his "Site Works" series: "I have established a kind of intimacy with the landscape that I hope is evident from the work. Most are constructed about a 20 minute walk from the nearest public access point to an area of the National Seashore and only a handful of people see the work in-situ....My intent is to create a kind of personal natural history and is as much about the meditative process of walking and looking closely, as it is about making." Ranalli notes that he is very pleased to have this work seen together in the place where it was made.
Ranalli's work is in the permanent collection of dozens of museums in the U.S. and abroad, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Rose Art Museum; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. In a career that has spanned over 35 years, he has earned multiple artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council and has had over 150 solo and group shows. Ranalli is a Professor at Boston University where he teaches in the graduate program in Arts Administration, a program he founded in 1992.
Daniel Ranalli, Squid Returning,1995/2008, From the series "Tidal Plain," Photographic triptych, Archival inkjet print, 12 x 30 inches, Courtesy of the artist
After serving close to eight years as PRC curator, Leslie K. Brown began the Ph.D. program in art history at Boston University in fall 2009. During her tenure at the PRC, Brown curated and oversaw over 40 exhibitions, garnering an award from the New England chapter of the Association of International Art Critics. As an independent curator, Brown recently organized an exhibition for the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Prior to coming to Boston, Brown received her M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin and worked at Nashville's Cheekwood Museum of Art. Brown regularly serves as a portfolio reviewer and juror and has taught at the Art Institute of Boston and the Rhode Island School of Design. She is a native of Rochester, New York and the product of a Kodak family.
Visit: Daniel Ranalli Website, Massachusetts Cultural Council Blog/Interview
RECENT GIFTS TO THE COLLECTION AT PAAM
On View at PAAM October 29, 2010 - January 19, 2011
opening reception: Friday, November 19, 7-9pm
The permanent collection is growing at a rapid pace with over 3,000 objects representing over 650 artists. The PAAM collection plays a highly significant role in American art history, in addition to preserving the legacy of Provincetown art.
This exhibition represents a diverse sampling of the numerous gifts PAAM has received over the past year, and we will be rotating the collection on a regular basis throughout the galleries. Artists represented in this exhibition include Didier Corallo, Romolo Del Deo, Lester Johnson, Betty Lane, Anne Poor, Henry Varnum Poor, Alex Webb, and Nancy Webb, among others.
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Alex Webb, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, 1993
digital C print photograph, 20 x 30" |
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It is through the continued generosity of donors that the collection can exist. Our most sincere thanks go out to all the donors who have helped grow the collection into a multifunctional resource that will continue to document Provincetown's history into the future.
exhibition checklist
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Paul Bowen (1951 - ) untitled (2-piece, tandem works), 2000 found painted wood, 68 x 30 x 12" Gift of Richard DiFrummolo and Donald Winter, 2010 |
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Anne Poor (1918 - 2002) Sweet Cuba, 1963 oil on panel, 32 x 15" Gift of Anna Poor and Francis Olschafskie |
Rebecca Doughty (1955 - ) Looking at Art, 2003 oil, mixed media on wood panel, 7.75 x 16" Gift of the artist, 2010
Members’ Open: Small Works
November 19, 2010 – January 9, 2011
exhibition checklist
PAAM is pleased to present an exhibition of artworks by over 150 talented artist members of the organization. The PAAM Membership is a vibrant community of over 1,800 individuals. Whether you're an artist or you simply love the arts, a PAAM Membership opens the door to programs and events that enrich and inspire.
Juried Exhibition
Hand-Made Holiday Cards
Handmade cards from artists within the PAAM Membership community.
On View at PAAM December 3 - January 9, 2011
curated by Robert Henry and M.M. Battelle
exhibition checklist
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Search for the Real: Drawings by Hans Hofmann and His Students
PAAM Curated Exhibition at Baruch College, in NY
November 12 – December 10, 2010
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135 East 22nd Street
New York, NY 10010
(646) 660-6652
Opening Reception in NY:
November 11, 6 to 8 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Friday, Noon to 5 P.M. Thursday, Noon to 7 P.M.
Weissman Talks Onstage Dialogue Series presents:
November 18 at 7:00 p.m.,
Panel Discussion
with Karen Wilkin, moderator
November 30, 7:00 p.m.,
Film: Hans Hofmann:
Artist/Teacher, Teacher/Artist
A documentary film by
Madeline Amgott, Narrated
by Robert De Niro
Free Admission
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Search For the Real: Drawings by Hans Hofmann and His Students brings together more than thirty drawings by several of Provincetown's most celebrated contemporary artists. This exhibition features fifteen drawings by renowned Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann, loaned to PAAM by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Twenty prefatory drawings by notable Hofmann students Fritz Bultman, Giorgio Cavallon, William Freed, Lee Krasner, Myrna Harrison, Robert DeNiro, Sr., Robert Henry, Selina Trieff, Haynes Ownby and Robert Fisher, among others will also be on view.
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter who immigrated to the United States in 1932. Through his own artwork and his instruction of emerging artists, Hofmann became a primary influence on the Abstract Expressionist movement in America. He famously stated that, "the ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." Hofmann's school of art played a major role in solidifying the abstract expressionist movement in the Provincetown Art Colony, having a significant impact on PAAM and its growing collection of American art.
A selection of student drawings included in the exhibition feature annotations by Hofmann - revealing elements of his classroom guidance and the rigorous concern for pictorial structure and his push/pull spatial theory that characterize his school.
This exhibition is organized by Christine McCarthy, Executive Director of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and by Donald Beal, PAAM artist, member, and Museum School at PAAM instructor.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAAM COLLECTION
On View at PAAM October 8 through November 24, 2010
exhibition checklist
Varujan Boghosian, untitled, mixed media construction, PAAM Collection
In conjunction with this year's PAAM Gala, the 2010 honoree, Varujan Boghosian, is celebrated through an exhibition of works from PAAM's permanent collection celebrating Boghosian and his peers.
Many have been part of Long Point Gallery, a cooperative gallery founded by 13 artists. Long Point artists included in this exhibition are: Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Sideo Fromboluti, Edward Giobbi, Budd Hopkins, Robert Motherwell, Paul Resika, Judith Rothschild, and Tony Vevers.
Varujan Boghosian incorporates found objects discovered at the beach, flea markets and antique stores in his assemblages. These objects incorporate nostalgia, symbolism and often humor as part of a narrative. In particular, he utilizes the myth of Orpheus, the god of Poetry and music to explore “the nature of identity” a theme that runs throughout Boghosian’s work. Boghosian is a master of visual poetry through his eloquent placement of objects and monochromatic use of color and texture.
PAAM thanks Meghan Bailey for her work on this exhibition, as well as Lori Bookstein Fine Art and Berta Walker Gallery for lending to the show.
Monsters, Monsters, Monsters!
An Exhibition created by the Sixth Grade Students of Truro Central School
October 22-November 28, 2010
opening reception: Friday, October 22, @7pm
Vicky Tomayko, Sacred Heart |
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Maya Krieger-Dewitt, Untitled |
To celebrate the season, sixteen sixth grade students from Truro Central School have created the exhibition Monsters, Monsters, Monsters with Visiting Artist and Master Printmaker Vicky Tomayko.
The exhibition is presented as part of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum’s Curating Program for local students and educators. This marks the first instance in the program’s eighteen-year history in which students dialogued with the work of a contemporary artist, choosing individual works by Tomayko, and creating monoprints and stories in response to her work. These wonderful interpretations will be featured alongside Tomayko’s luminous collection of otherworldly, fishy, and subterranean creatures.
Monsters, Monsters, Monsters! opened to the public with a celebratory reception on Friday, October 22, from 7-9pm.
Engaging the children and youth of our region in the cultural life and creative history of the outer Cape has been an ongoing focus of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's mission. In 1992 PAAM established the Award-winning Student Curating Program and over the past 18 years PAAM has presented over 60 student and educator curated shows.
Please contact Lynn Stanley, Curator of Education, at 508 487 1750 x13 or email lstanley@PAAM.org. if you are interested in participating or supporting the Student Curating Program.
The Paintings of Peter Watts
on view September 24-November 14, 2010
Peter Watts, Spring Green, 1989, oil on canvas, PAAM Collection
exhibition checklist
The paintings of Peter Watts, in the words of the artist, “condense the richness of the landscape of Wellfleet,” where he has lived for over forty years. “I have absorbed this landscape and considered its every nuance of light, and change of topography and weather.” As art critic Margaret Sheffield noted, Watts “expresses thought, emotion, and mood through color,” working with high contrast and simplified form.
Watts brings to the Cape Cod landscape a multiplicity of painting approaches drawn from his formidable artistic toolbox. He powerfully moves from a classically composed post-impressionism to simple compositions of stratified color fields reminiscent of Arthur Dove. “At the same time,” says gallery owner Berta Walker, “these paintings impart the spiritual abstracted light of a Rothko painting.” Of the simplicity of form Watts states: “I am building a painting with as little form as is possible. If the viewer finds a small truth in the work, the painting is successful."
Peter Watts, Yellow Marsh, 1985, oil on canvas, 24 x 26"
Inspired by nature and strongly influenced by Abstract Expressionism, Peter Watts' compositions place the viewer at the center of Cape Cod's hauntingly beautiful natural landscape. Watts has lived in Wellfleet with his wife, artist Gloria Nardin, since 1970. He says, "I know the land, the ocean, the bay and the woods of the Herring River Valley like the back of my hand. Seeing this world in all four seasons has provided the ideas and feelings I express in my paintings... the results tell some elemental truth."
Watts imagines for us the land in its unspoiled form. Employing a chaos of painted strokes, he produces rich visual texture -- seeing right through the trees by layering paint on top of paint. His unusual expressionist color palette captures vastly changing seasonal light in colors ranging from ultramarine blue, to turquois and acid yellow.”
Peter Watts, Silver Sea, 1985, oil on canvas, 36 x 40"
Peter Watts first came to Cape Cod as a child and returned in 1954 with the artist teacher La Force Bailey. He has taught at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, C.W. Post College, and Trinity School among others, and he is represented by the Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown.
In October, Watts will teach a Master Class at the Lillian Orlowsky / William Freed Museum School at PAAM. Please contact Grace Ryder-O’Malley- gryderomalley@paam.org - for information or to register for this workshop, or visit The Masters Classes Course Page.
Please join Peter Watts for a gallery lecture in conjunction with this exhibition onTuesday, October 5, 2010 7pm
This lecture is part of PAAM's Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series -- presenting informative gallery talks, panel discussions and lectures in conjuction with current exhibitions. FSL lectures occur throughout the summer and fall, and are always free and open to the public.
Saudade: Photographs by Mischa Richter
Curated by Pat de Groot
On view August 27 - October 24, 2010
exhibition checklist
This highly-anticipated solo exhibition features unique, provocative images of Provincetown. Photographer Mischa Richter has been documenting the changing climate of the once small fishing village for three years in anticipation of the show, which will include an accompanying limited-edition catalog.
mischarichter.com
Saudade: An Interactive Gallery Talk with Photographer Mischa Richter
Tuesday, August 31, 7pm
Join Mischa Richter for a discussion of his photographic project Saudade, which focuses on the life and people of Provincetown. This will be an interactive presentation, in which attendants will be encouraged to share their own stories of town. Richter states, " A very important part of my relationship with Provincetown is my past here. I spend a lot of time talking with people in town about what we all remember from the past. I would like this lecture to embody that concept. Please bring your stories."
This lecture is part of PAAM's Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series-- presenting informative gallery talks, panel discussions and lectures in conjuction with current exhibitions. FSL lectures occur throughout the summer and fall, and are always free and open to the public.
"I've come back [to Provincetown] to start working on the design of my first book. This moment in my life is something I've wanted for so long and to be making a book in and about this special place with the people I'm making it with is a dream come true, " Richter explains, "The photographs in this exhibition concentrate on the ever-shifting social structure of this unique town and the diversity of the people that inhabit it. I grew up here, so the work is also about my nostalgia for what has disappeared."
Inspiration for the show's title came from Jeremiah Digges' [pseud. Josef Berger] In Great Waters. An excerpt from the publication describes the exclusively Azorean condition, Saudade, "It is one of those terms for which we have no exact English translation. If you ask one of these islanders what he means by it, he will say that he is sad, but something more than sad -- homesick, ....that he has a longing to go 'back,' ....he is homesick, but for a home that no longer exists, and in his own life never did exist; he longs for something "again," and the longing is so acute that it hurts and saddens -- yet he cannot tell you what it is that he longs for! And that, as nearly as he is likely to explain it, is the saudade."
Richter has captured Provincetown's famous characters, both present and past, riotous and somber, as well as the comings and goings of homes, buildings and fishing boats. These images present Provincetown as it is, reflect what it was, and offer viewers the room to contemplate what it may become.
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Saudade will be accompanied by Richter's first book, also entitled Saudade; a full-color collection of images that will be available for purchase in the Museum Store at PAAM. All proceeds from book sales generously benefit the following Provincetown non-profit groups: Provincetown Art Association and Museum, which supports local artists and promotes educating the public in the arts; WOMR, Provincetown's local radio station, which creates a platform for local individuals and groups to express themselves and also entertains the town; The Soup Kitchen of Provincetown, which provides meals for people in need; The Provincetown Portuguese Festival, an annual celebration of Provincetown's heritage; and Helping Our Women, which provides services to women with chronic and life threatening illnesses, giving them access to health care, social services, and programs that empower and educate.
Richter, born in Windsor, England in 1971, grew up in New York City and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He studied fine art at the Chelsea College of Art and Middlesex University in London. Since leaving university he has worked for The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, i-D, The Face, Esquire, Wallpaper and Vibe.
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A Tribute to the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum
On view September 3 - October 17, 2010
In honor of the Pilgrim Monument's Centennial, PAAM will mount a small exhibition featuring works that capture this unique Provincetown landmark. Variations of this 100 year old icon will be exhibited in a variety of media including prints, drawings, photographs, paintings, sculpture and mixed media.
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Oliver Chaffee
The Pilgrim Monument was founded in 1892 as the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association -- Cape Cod's oldest not-for-profit organization. The tallest all-granite structure in the United Staes, its purpose is to commemorate the Mayflower Pilgrims' first landing in the New World in Provincetown, in November 1620. Here the Pilgrims spent 5 weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod, before they sailed on to Plymouth. They also drew up and signed the Mayflower Compact, which established the rule of law for the new land. President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1907. In 1910, President William Howard Taft dedicated the finished 252-foot tower. In 1910, Cape Cod's first building built to house a museum opened at the base of the monument, to educate the public about Provincetown's role in American history.
Today, millions of visitors and generations of local residents have admired and climbed the 252 foot granite Pilgrim Monument for almost 100 years. Visitors can walk to the top on a series of stairs and ramps. During the climb, you'll see many interior stones donated by cities, towns, and organizations from all over the United States. The view from the top is spectacular.
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Larry R. Collins: Finding Light
A Career Survey
Curated by David Foley
On view August 27 - October 10, 2010
exhibition checklist
Culling exemplary pieces from each stage of Collins' career, curator David Foley provides viewers with a thorough introduction to the artist; highlighting his most poignant works and inspirations. The show includes paintings, combat illustrations and photographs from the Vietnam War; collaborative publications produced with poets Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Eileen Myles, as well as masterful drawings, prints, and paintings selected from public and private collections.
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Larry Collins was born in Spokane, Washington in 1945 and raised in Del City, Oklahoma. He was 17 years old when one of his paintings was selected by Dorothy Miller, curator of collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, for an important regional exhibition at the Oklahoma Art Center in Oklahoma City. He received a BFA in 1967 from the University of Oklahoma and an MFA in 1980 from Massachusetts College of Art. Following years of teaching, Collins moved to Provincetown in 1993 to focus on his painting career. In 1998, he was offered the position of director of the Driskel Gallery of antiques and fine art photography at the newly-founded Schoolhouse Center for Art and Design where, together with assistant director David Carrino, he revived local interest in photography as fine art. He went on to found Larry Collins Fine Art, a Provincetown gallery, and to enjoy acclaim for his curatorial skills, critical arts writing, and Vietnam photographs. |
Collins' early stylistic journey began with ventures into abstract expressionism, informed by a love of art history and the recognizable influence of the works of Tintoretto, Velazquez and Van Gogh. Upon graduating from college, he was drafted into the army during the height of the war in Vietnam. There he was assigned to a rifle squad in a line company of the First Air Cavalry Division. His status as an artist led him from the front lines to an assignment as combat artist, where he produced illustrations for numerous Army magazines and newspapers, drawing on his earlier combat experiences. The resultant figurative illustrations, along with the casual photographs of friends in the fields, combined to instill in Collins a dramatic turn from abstraction toward realism. Employing a language of highly contrasting forms, intense expressive colors, and firm compositional structure, these early works set a tone for Collins' artistic development, which would carry through to the present.
It is Collins' painting, however, which remains the foundation of his artwork. His chosen subject matter reflects the world around him - landscape, personal belongings presented as still life, the human form. Always ambitious in scope, these works successfully combine powerful brushwork with sensitive drawing. Dark, sensual passages contrasted with brilliant, almost garish, color remain true to his Expressionist roots. It is these distinctive details that reveal in their stark contrast the inner life of the artist himself. This exhibition seeks to unite the disparate threads of Collins' career, and emphasize the singularity of purpose -- the overriding power of the psyche -- at work in the creative mind. Over the course of his nearly fifty-year career, many major institutions have acquired Collins' paintings, drawings, photographs, and books. These include the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Worcester Art Museum, Fred Jones Museum of Art, Mabee-Gerrer Museum, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the New York Public Library, Boston Public Library, British Library, Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina, and the library collections at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, University of Chicago, University of California at Berkeley, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Works from several of these institutions are included in the exhibition, thus strengthening PAAM's relationship with American art museums on a national level.
Larry Collins: Finding Light
A Video Presentation and Discussion with the Artist
Tuesday, September 14, 7pm
Join artist Larry Collins for a video presentation and discussion of his life and art. The evening will begin with an inaugural screening of “Larry Collins in his Studio,” a video by Liz McLean, where Collins, filmed in Provincetown, shows and discusses examples of work from every period of his career.
This lecture is part of PAAM's Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series -- presenting informative gallery talks, panel discussions and lectures in conjuction with current exhibitions. FSL lectures occur throughout the summer and fall, and are always free and open to the public.
Fresh Perspectives and Emerging Talents at FAWC's MFA Exhibition
On View at PAAM September 17 through October 3, 2010.
opening reception: Friday, September 17, 8-10pm
Thesis Satements
Holly Popielarz, Damn Space, collage on paper, 8 x 10", 2010
Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) is pleased to present a new exhibition of work by contemporary artists currently enrolled in the Masters of Fine Arts program of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, which is hosted by the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. This exhibition provides a mere glimpse of the hard work, dedication and talent of this energized artistic community. The exhibition opens with a public reception at PAAM on Friday, September 17 8-10pm and runs through October 3, 2010.
MassArt augments an intensive course of study guided by an experienced team of resident faculty with presentations and studio visits by leading artists and art-world professionals. During the two-year program students undergo four residencies of three and a half weeks duration, as well as a final one-week residency in which a thesis defense and an exhibition are held. During non-residency periods students participate in a variety of courses as well as in intensive studio work under the guidance of approved mentors.
The Class of 2010 would like to thank the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the historic Fine Arts Work Center and Provincetown Art Association and Museum for their guidance, support and inspiration. The artists featured in the exhibition are Martha Braun, Jessica Chickering, Bill Gusky, Megan McMillan, Tim O'Donnell, Kathryn Payne, Holly Popielarz, Marzia Prendergast, Sharon Sullivan and Julie Angela Theresa.
Bill Gusky, Graduation Day, acrylic on canvas, 58” x 40”, 2010
Blanche Lazzell, The Monongahela, 1926
Preview exhibition continues through 5pm Saturday, September 18.
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ANNUAL FALL CONSIGNMENT AUCTION PREVIEW EXHIBITION
Includes Rare Works by Renowned Cape Cod Artists
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| Presenting rare and vintage artwork of the highest quality, PAAM's annual Fall Consignment Auction provides a unique opportunity to purchase outstanding and widely sought pieces by renowned artists of outer Cape Cod. This year, the auction presents a number of extraordinary pieces by Edwin Dickinson, Blanche Lazzell, Hans Hofmann, Chaim Gross, Max Bohm, Taro Yamamoto, James Hansen, Karl Knaths, Milton Avery, Robert Beauchamp and other highly collected Cape Cod artists.
Since the turn of the century, the Provincetown Art Colony and its surrounds have been home to some of the nation's most influential and celebrated twentieth century artists, among them; Edwin Dickinson, Chaim Gross, Blanche Lazzell, James Hansen, and Milton Avery. These artists created and taught on the shores of Cape Cod, making waves through American art history. Provincetown Art Association and Museum is dedicated to making exemplary works by these artists available to the public through exhibitions, free educational programming and PAAM's highly anticipated annual Fall Consignment Auction.
Presenting rare and vintage artwork of the highest quality, PAAM's annual Fall Consignment Auction provides a unique opportunity to purchase outstanding and widely sought pieces by renowned artists of outer Cape Cod. This year, the auction presents a number of extraordinary pieces by Edwin Dickinson, Blanche Lazzell, Hans Hofmann, Chaim Gross, Max Bohm, Taro Yamamoto, James Hansen, Karl Knaths, Milton Avery, Robert Beauchamp and other highly collected Cape Cod artists.
Two weeks before the live auction, PAAM mounts an exhibition preview in its galleries, allowing potential buyers to view lots in person -- intimately, quietly, before the bidding wars begin. This calm before the storm allows for a deeper interaction with the artwork than simply arriving to buy, and provides an excellent overview of Provincetown art history as most of the pieces on view date from the early 1900s to the 1970s.
PAAM's Executive Director Chris McCarthy says, "I'm thrilled to see such an exciting selection of pieces in this auction: a brilliant and perfectly-preserved white line woodblock print by the legendary Blanche Lazzell, a hauntingly beautiful painting by Edwin Dickinson, and a bold, elegant bronze by Chaim Gross - these lots are rare, valuable and would not just enhance but perhaps become the most important piece in many a private collection."
The live auction takes place at PAAM Saturday, September 18 at 7pm, when auctioneer James R. Bakker takes the podium and engages an audience of more than 250 life-long collectors, first-time buyers, and everyone in-between. When the phone lines are readied, paddles are issued, and lots are brought before the room by a fleet of volunteers, a frenzy of activity begins. In this room, collections are born and expanded, and for the last four years -- PAAM has seen a great number of international auction records broken.
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MEMBER'S 12x12
EXHIBITION AND SILENT AUCTION
Annual Members’ 12x12 Exhibition and Silent Auction
July 23-Sept 11, 2010
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Opening reception July 23, 8-10pm
Closing party September 11, 4pm
Final Bidding: September 11, 5pm |
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The 12x12 Exhibition and Silent Auction is an exciting event that draws artists and collectors together in support of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum.
Works by emerging and established artists hang side by side in this Members’ Open Exhibition, expressing a high level of achievement and a wide variety of subjects and styles. The Annual 12 x 12 is a perfect opportunity for collectors to view a broad range of local talent, and an exceptional venue for emerging artists seeking visibility.
exhibition checklist
Bidding starts at $125, climbing by demand throughout the exhibition until the final hour of the silent auction. Participating artists agree to a 50% commission, with an option to donate their own percentage of the final sale to PAAM. These commissions and donations provide funding for year-round art exhibitions and educational programming.
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Serge Ivan Chermayeff, Colorscape #11, 1979
oil on canvas, 49.75 x 37.5" Estate of the Artist
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Gathering: Art about Architecture
Art by three architects and architecture by three artists:
John Hejduk/ Serge Chermayeff/ John M. Johansen/ Angela Dufresne/ Peter Hutchinson/ Michelle Weinburg
On view June 25 - August 29, 2010
Curator Bailey Bob Bailey has drawn together compelling works that explore the intersections between art and architecture. Gathering presents artworks by three esteemed architects and architectural pieces by three contemporary artists. The resulting exhibition places audiences before a throught-provoking crossroads, where creative formats intermingle and boundaries bend.
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| The three architects represented are John Hejduk, Serge Chermayeff and John M. Johansen. Known internationally for their innovative building designs, their rarely exhibited drawings, paintings and sculptures show their creativity in another light, on a smaller, more initimate scale. The three artists represented are Angela Dufresne, Peter Hutchinson and Michelle Weinberg -- fine artists who have reached beyond their familiar media to create architectural works.
exhibition checklist
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| ABOUT THE ARCHITECHTS:
Serge Ivan Chermayeff (October 8, 1900 - May 8, 1996) was one of the leading exponents of the International Modern style of architecture in Great Britain. Chechen-born Chermayeff was also an artist, writer, and the co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects.
Chermayeff began his career at an interior design firm in London. By 1930, he and German architect Erik Mendelsohn briefly partnered to form an independent architectural firm that was responsible for several pivotal projects in the British modernist movement, most notably the De La Warr Pavilion. In 1940, he emigrated to the United States where he worked with Clarence W. Mayhew, Chermayeff taught at the California School of Fine Arts, Harvard, Yale, MIT and served as the director of the Institute of Design in Chicago from 1946-1951. He published several books, including Community and Privacy with Christopher Alexander in 1964 and The Shape of Community with Alexander Tzonis in 1971. He died in 1996 in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
Chermayeff's architectural drawings, project records, photographs, correspondence, teaching and writing papers, and research files are held by the Department of Drawings & Archives at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.
John Hejduk (19 July 1929 - 3 July 2000), was an internationally renown architect, poet, and educator. He began his private practice in 1965, began teaching at the Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture in 1964 and was Dean of the School of Architecture from 1972 to 2000.
In a letter published in The New York Times, Carmi Bee, professor of Architecture at the City College of New York writes of Hedjuk, "John believed that architecture is first and foremost an art and, as such, that its ideas can be communicated in many forms. His respect and concern for built architecture is reflected in the Cooper Union philosophy, which stresses the craft of building and an overriding concern for exploring materials and details."
Hejduk is noted for his body of work—realized as built works of architecture, drawings, as poetry, as books—that explored the fundamental issues of space and form, which resulted in an expanded vocabulary of practice that continues to influence the profession.
Twenty-six projects were built internationally, incorporating The Social Contract, part of Hejduk’s unique practice of engaging a social commitment with faculty, students and other individuals who wanted to build his work. His only criteria being to capture the spirit.
Five buildings have been constructed in Berlin (1988, 1990) under the auspices of the Internationale Bauausstellung Berlin (IBA). Other notable projects include the renovation of The Cooper Union's National Historic Landmark Foundation Building (1975), and Centro Civico la Trisca, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2000).
Hejduk studied at the Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture, the University of Cincinnati, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the University of Rome School of Architecture, Rome, Italy as a Fulbright Scholar.
He was associated with the “Texas Rangers”, a group of innovative architects and professors at the University of Texas School of Architecture, Austin from 1954-56 that included Colin Rowe, Robert Slutzky and Werner Seligmann; and the “New York Five” (from the MoMA publication Five Architects) that included the architects Peter Eisenman, Richard Meier, Michael Graves, and Charles Gwathmey.
The archive of his architectural work was acquired by the Canadian Centre for
Architecture in Montreal in 1997 and is now available to scholars..
John MacLane Johansen (b. June 29, 1916) has long been admired for his intricate concrete forms such as the U.S. Embassy in Dublin (1963), and far-out assemblages like Oklahoma City's Mummers Theater (1970). Johansen has blazed a highly original trail over a career spanning more than a half-century, taking an active role in the modern movement. Educated in Walter Gropius' first Harvard class -- and later marrying Gropius' daughter Ati -- Johansen studied alongside I.M. Pei, Paul Rudolph, and Bruno Zevi. He was a friend of Marcel Breuer and Le Corbusier, learned color theory with Josef Albers, studied history with Siegfried Giedion, and worked with Gordon Bunshaft at SOM. Johansen is also known for designing some of the most unique private homes on the East Coast.
Johansen was born to a creative family, and says that his childhood fantasies are present in many of his completed designs. He went to Harvard University and was taught the fundamentals of modern architecture by Walter Gropius, the founder of Bauhaus. In 1939, he graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a Masters in Architecture. He started out as a draftsman for Marcel Breuer, then became a researcher for the National Housing Agency in Washington, D.C., and later joined the architect firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York. In 1948, Johansen established his own practice in New Canaan, Connecticut, accompanying four other colleagues, Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Landis Gores, and Eliot Noyes. The firm became known as the Harvard Five, and Johansen is its only suriving member.) From 1955 to 1960, he was an adjunct professor at Yale School of Architecture.
Johansen's designs stressed function over form, focused on social, urban, and anthropological conditions, and strived to avoid creating overpowering megastructures.
The Palladian prototype is most noticeably present in Villa Ponte, or the Warner House, built in 1957 in New Canaan, Connecticut. Some other noteworthy buildings include the Goddard Library at Clark University (1969); the Telephone Pole House (1968) made from 104 forty-foot poles that brace the house into the side of a steep ravine; The Labyrinth House (1966) that has no windows but instead glass enclosures between one wall and another; and the Plastic Tent House (1975), which was made of translucent plastic. He was also known for his modern commercial buildings. The Morris Mechanical Theater (1967) is characterized as "a highly sculptural centerpiece among more reserved office buildings." The Goddard Library is one example of Johansen's design experiments. He said that while creating this structure, "I moved toward a more articulated design by emphasizing the distinction between the ponderous structural frame and other elements that appear to be less firmly attached conceivably detachable or interchangeable parts."
Johansen, now 94 and a resident of Wellfleet, will give a public lecture in PAAM's galleries on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 7pm. He will discuss the major buildings of his Modern Movement period, and present his experimental concepts in illustrating advancing building technologies. Johansen will also show video of his animated buildings -- structures that will actually grow in the next century. Signed copies of his DVD will be available for purchase.
Peter Hutchinson, Robot City, 2006, mixed media, 25 x 39 x 15" Courtesy of the Artist
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Angela Dufresne was born in Hartford, CT in 1969 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1991 with her BFA, and went on to study at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University where she received her MFA in 1998. Her innovative style is discussed in a 2008 interview with Kimberly Brooks. Dufresne is inspired by literature, cinema, art, architecture, and geography from which she combines subjects such as Liz Taylor and Du Champ's painting Nude Descending Staircase to create visionary mash-ups of the two iconic muses. Many of her pieces seem to be a critique of society's control over space and time, but Dufresne denies her role as a social critic. She says the importance of her work is that the significance of the buildings and people she paints is reassigned and shown in a new context. angeladufresne.com
Peter Hutchinson was born in England in 1931 and for the past twenty-nine years has been living in Provincetown. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1960 with a BFA and since then his work has made it into galleries and museums across the United States and Europe. Hutchinson is represented by DNA Gallery in Provincetown.
Michelle Weinberg was born in Brooklyn, she attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she received her BFA in 1983 and later continued her education at the Tyler School of Art where she was given her MFA in 1988. Her work connects the viewer with the familiar and ordinary. Found objects and everyday items such as furniture and signs provide Weinberg with an artistic connection between the simple, experienced world and the artistic, intellectual communities to which she belongs. In addition to being a visual artist, she also devotes her time to children's and community programs that focus on art. She is the principal founder of Industrial Post-Modern Orientation (IPO) and the co-founder of Available Space. Weinberg's work both in and out of her studio show her use of art as a tool that can help and engage people in the everyday world.
michelleweinberg.com
Michelle Weinberg, Plan for Walkway, 2010
gouache on paper, 25" x 17"
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Ha Long Bay, Vietnam II, 2007
oil on canvas, 60 x 46"
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Anne Peretz
Around the World
On view June 18 - August 29, 2010
exhibition checklist
Featuring large oil paintings of natural landscapes inspired by Morocco, Spain, Israel, and Vietnam, this show highlights Peretz's extraordinary mastery of the medium, embracing audiences in her unique creative vision.
This solo exhibition is a continuation of a survey presented at PAAM in the summer of 2009, which featured large oil paintings that effectively capture the beauty and erosion of Cape Cod dunes and Provincetown piers.
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Rice Paddies, Vietnam II, 2008
oil on canvas, 40 x 40"
Peretz paints large canvases as well as intimate works begun en plein air. She evokes the grandeur of New Zealand, the intimacy and awe of Israel, the rocks and sparse hillsides around Jerusalem, the wildness of the Spanish coast, the stubborn historicity of cities and villages emerging from the Moroccan desert, and what are surely the near-last impressions of pilings at Cape Cod and New York's sea ports.
Peretz' work hangs in many distinguished and distinctive private collections. Her paintings also appear in public collections including, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bard College Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, the Israel Museum, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Peretz is represented by the Rice/Polak Gallery in Provincetown, MA. Anne Peretz is also founder of a mental healh and family service agency in Somerville, Massachusetts called The Family Center. A color catalog will accompany the exhibition, and will be available for purchase in the Museum Store at PAAM.
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Jack Tworkov:
Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting
On view July 9 - August 22, 2010
exhibition checklist
Jack Tworkov: Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting is curated by Jason Andrew and presented in association with the Estate of Jack Tworkov. This major retrospective offers an extraordinary opportunity to experience many of the artist's most celebrated canvases. The exhibition includes important loans from private and public collections including The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN). The show also features rarely exhibited works from the artist's estate, as well as works from Provincetown Art Association and Museum's own permanent collection.
PAAM will also offer a free public lecture with curator Jason Andrew Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 7pm as part of the Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series.
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Jack Tworkov, c.1960 photo: Marvin P. Lazarus Courtesy of the Estate of Jack Tworkov |
Jack Tworkov, untitled (still life with blue pitcher and grapes), 1946, oil on canvas, 24 x 32”
A founding member of the New York School, Jack Tworkov is regarded as one of the defining figures -- along with Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock -- whose gestural paintings and dramatic strokes defined the Abstract Expressionist movement in America.
"Many of Tworkov's great masterpieces were inspired by the solace and solitude he found in Provincetown. The summers Tworkov spent in Provincetown were often the most productive and so it is exciting to see many of the artists' most important works returning for exhibition at the Provincetown Association and Museum this summer," says curator Jason Andrew.
Jack Tworkov: Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting is accompanied by an illustrative catalogue that includes an essay by David Anfam, the noted historian and Mark Rothko scholar. Highlights of the exhibition range from the artist's early Provincetown period, to Social Realist paintings of the 1930s, to figurative abstractions of the 1940s, to major Abstract Expressionist canvases of the 1950s and early 1960s, and finally to the geometrically inspired late paintings of the 1970s and early 1980s. Challenging himself throughout his five decade career, Tworkov said he was interested in "the extreme of the middle - the creative middle," struggling to surpass external pressures to conform to a particular style, while also fighting an internal battle of self-definition.
PAAM is grateful to the following PARTNERS IN ART for their underwriting support of Jack Tworkov Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting:
Estate of Jack Tworkov, Kraus Family Foundation, Poss Family Foundation, Seamen’s Bank, Inn at the Moors. And Partners in Art: Arthur Cohen and Daryl Otte; Doug Dolezal and Greg Welch; Sharon Fay and Maxine Schaffer; Michael F. Fernon and Kenneth C. Weiss; Joe Fiorello; Judyth and Daniel Katz; Brian Koll and David Altarac; David Murphy and John Simpson; Richard J. Murray and William P. Dougal.
RELATED EVENTS:
Jack Tworkov Lecture at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum
PAAM presents a free public lecture with Jason Andrew, curator of Jack Tworkov: Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting, on view at Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) July 9 - August 22, 2010. Andrew comes to Provincetown from the Estate of Jack Tworkov in New York. This lecture is part of PAAM's Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series -presenting informative gallery talks, panel discussions and lectures in conjuction with current exhibitions. FSL lectures occur throughout the summer and fall, and are always free and open to the public.
Schor on Tworkov
Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 8pm
The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
FAWC presents the first public reading in Provincetown from The Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov, recently published by Yale University Press. The editor of this book, painter and writer Mira Schor, will read and discuss Tworkov's work, including selections from the noted American artist's writings about painting, teaching art, Abstract Expressionism, and about the rhythms of life in Provincetown. Schor will also discuss her editorial role and her own writings about Tworkov's paintings from this period in her new book, A Decade of Negative Thinking: Essays on Art, Politics, and Daily Life. "Reading Tworkov is rewarding in multiple ways. His take on older painters, especially Cézanne and Soutine, is full of insight and passion; his musing on art's mission are idealistic and perhaps more pertinent than ever; his sense of ethics is strong; and his pedagogical thoughts and technical prescriptions are of real value. But what holds the reader's attention most is the man himself, his fundamental decency and kindness" -Richard Kalina, "Book Reviews: Thinking Things Through," Art in America, December 2009
"Schor's labor of love-the task in collecting and assembling these papers into a coherent whole must have been monumental-brings to life an artist once referred to as a "quiet giant" of American art, and thanks to her effort, his intelligent, inquisitive voice is given full throat in these pages." -John Skoyles, "Bookshelf: Review, The Extreme of the Middle,"
Ploughshares, Winter 2009-10
Mira Schor is a painter and writer. She is the author of Wet: On Painting, Feminism and Art Culture. She recently received a Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for a blog on art and culture, A Year of Positive Thinking. Schor teaches in the MFA Program in Fine Arts at Parsons the New School for Design.
This event is free and open to the public. FAWC is located at 24 Pearl Street in Provincetown, MA 02657. For more information or details, please visit www.fawc.org or call 508.487.9960.
Jack Tworkov, Knight Series #1 (1975) 90 x 75"
Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art
(c) Estate of Jack Tworkov, New York
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Gilbert Franklin: Sculptor
Opening reception:
Friday, July 23, 2010, 8-10pm
On view July 16 - August 22, 2010
exhibition checklist
A Retrospective exhibition of bronze sculptures by acclaimed artist Gilbert Franklin, on view July 16 - August 22, 2010.
Curated by contemporary artist Varujan Boghosian, this collection of work exemplifies Franklin's mastery of the bronze casting technique, his love of the medium, and his unique creative approach that has been described as,"tender and elegantly refined." This exhibition is made possible through collaboration with Berta Walker Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts
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Gilbert Franklin was a sculptor's sculptor, admired and loved by his students, colleagues, clients and friends. He belongs to the first generation of post-World War II artists and like many of them he was inspired by the purity of modernist abstraction. He remained, however, rooted in the figural forms of nature.
After he retired from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1986, Gil had calling cards made. They read Gilbert Franklin, Sculptor but he was as happy fishing in his dory or tying flies for flycasting as he was in his daily practice in the studio. In whatever he did, he loved the craft. He was modest, and felt the work should speak for itself. He pinned a piece of paper to the wall of the studio on which he penciled the word essence.
Born in Birmingham, England in 1919, he moved in 1925 to Attleboro, Massachusetts where his father, a goldsmith, worked at Balfour, a company that makes class rings and military buttons. Gil was influenced by a world-famous engraver of fine designs on guns, Al White. In high school, the asthmatic young man who could not join his brother in football, or the army, began to draw, so one of his teachers drove him to Boston on weekends to take lessons at the Museum and to explore the Museum of Fine Arts.
Gilbert was expected to become a tool and dye maker in the jewelry factory, but he begged his father for permission to go to the Rhode Island School of Design. He father agreed, stipulating that he could not provide any financial support. He arrived at RISD in 1937 and received his diploma in 1941. The following year the Providence Art Club awarded him their annual scholarship with which he went to Mexico City for six months and visited Tepotzlan. At RISD he became the protégé of Waldemar Raemisch (Berlin 1888-Rome 1955), a German medal maker and sculptor who immigrated during the war to Philadelphia with the help of the Society of Friends.
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Franklin's gift for portraiture is evident in busts of his colleagues including painters John Frazier, with whom he first visited Provincetown in 1938, Robert Hamilton, Gordon Peers, Karnig Nalbandian and Philip Guston, and the poet Foster Damon. He made a portrait of his other master, the Newport calligrapher and stone carver John Howard Benson. In 1946 he taught at San Jose Normal School. Gil and Joyce did not like California and returned to Providence after a year. He won the Prix de Rome in 1948. At the American Academy he met Philip Guston and Robert White, the first of many friendships begun in Rome. That year he paid close attention to the Early Renaissance artists Ghiberti and Donatello and to the work of modern Spanish and Italian artists, particularly Giacomo Manzù who had won first prize for Italian sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1948.
He returned to teach at RISD, regularly spending summers Provincetown. He had studios at Days, Hensche's and Euler's. The painters Gordon Peers and Florence Lief and Robert Hamilton were important friends during this time. Beyond work, they all shared a love of fishing and living simply by the sea.
He designed, carved and gilded a six-foot high oaken logo for the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building, on a drafting table in his dining room with Joyce's assistance. The work is lost. In this period he won a number of religious commissions, including a series of drawings and reliefs of the Deposition and the doors of the ark for Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, Connecticut.
In his own work he concentrated on abstract images of bullfighters in drawings, wood and terra cotta. He never lost interest in the female form and worked on scores on images of Venus and of Diana. In 1955 he returned to Rome to assist Raemisch on a major commission from Philadelphia. Raemisch died before it was complete, and Gil stayed to finish the two massive ensembles. Created to represent the "spirit of juveniles," The Great Mother and The Great Doctor were originally commissioned for the Youth Study Center, a juvenile detention facility. The restored sculptures were moved to the Philadelphia High School of the Future in West Fairmount Park in August 2008.
In the summer of 1958 he was working on Bradford Street near Allerton in a garage, since disappeared, on the model of the heroic bronze Abraham Lincoln for Roger Williams Park in Providence. The next year, Franklin's Beach Figure took Grand Prize at the Boston Arts Festival. Time Magazine observed that " abstraction reigns supreme in the hearts of the nation's young artists." Beach Figure was one of a series of works that developed from Franklin's interest in stones he collected on the beach in Provincetown. After molding and casting them in plaster, he arranged the forms on an armature to create female figures. Like his fellow Englishman Henry Moore, he structured sculpture out of forms from nature.
Orpheus Ascending, 1963 was commissioned on Frazier Terrace on Benefit Street, Providence Diana/The Bather, ca. 1981 for the Hallmark Collection, Kansas City further reflects an ongoing interest in classical myth.
At the end of his life, Franklin was making graceful and inventive sculpture using wood from fallen trees in the yard and hat forms given to him by a close friend from the times in Rome, Varujan Boghosian. - Nina Berson
PAAM is grateful to the following PARTNERS IN ART for their underwriting support of
Gilbert Franklin: Sculptor:
Joan and Bugs Baer, Christopher Duff and Mark Westman, Ralph Oliva and Jeffrey Carlson, Marla and Bertram Perkel, Alix Ritchie and Marty Davis, Joan and Anton Schiffenhaus, Brunetta and Burt Wolfman.
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Robert Fisher: A Career Survey
On view June 4 - July 18, 2010
Exhibition of paintings by abstract expressionist Robert Fisher, a former student of Hans Hofmann. This career survey documents the growth of his style and mastery of creating dynamic forms, volume, and movement within the picture plane.
exhibition checklist
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Robert Fisher, Geraniums
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Many of the students of the renowned artist and teacher Hans Hofmann have become well-known artists in their own right. Frank Stella, Robert De Niro Sr., Larry Rivers, Lillian Orlowsky, William Freed, Myrna Harrison and James Gahagan are just a few one could name. However, another Hofmann student and artist, Robert Fisher, though less well-known, may have remained a more pure "Hofmann stylist" throughout his career than his better known friends and fellow students, with whom he was featured in the 2003 PBS Documentary, "Hans Hofmann: Artist/Teacher, Teacher/Artist."
Robert M. Fisher (1928 - 2007) was born in Cleveland, and graduated from Vermont's Goddard College in 1954. He became a student at both the NY and Provincetown Hofmann schools. In 1956 Bob worked with Mr. Hofmann on his four large Italian mosaic murals, helping to install them at 711 Third Avenue in New York. This experience committed him to a life in pursuit of his teacher's theory of "pure color." When Mr. Hofmann's school closed, Fisher began painting and drawing full-time, with a brief excursion into sculpture. In the late 1950s and early 1960s two large commissions to work for other sculptors supplied employment. The first was with Ibram Lassaw (one of the founders of the Abstract Artists Association), and the second with Herbert Ferber.
Fisher then began to do his own metal sculptures, and created a large outdoor stainless steel piece with a mirror finish that reflected colors of the sun and fall leaves. He considered this to be "...a work using modern techniques and materials, yet following the ancient 'polychromatic' form of the Greeks and Egyptians."
Returning to Vermont to live and work, Fisher maintained a frugal and somewhat isolated lifestyle. Between the mid-1960's and his death in 2007, he produced more than 200 oil paintings and hundreds of charcoals and watercolors (the latter mostly created in the South of France, where he tried to visit each year for a month as his finances allowed). His oil paintings often fell into series, such as his "Geraniums" series, his "Le Bouquet Sur La Table" series, his "Renate" (Mr. Hofmann's wife) series, and his "Street Angel" series (portraits of homeless people whom he'd met in his travels), which were used as visual backgrounds for a multimedia presentation of the same name.
Robert Fisher, from the Geranium Series
Unfortunately, Fisher's personality and beliefs (including, as his friend and fellow Hofmann student and artist Myrna Harrison put it, that he amongst all of Mr. Hofmann's students believed most strongly that "...selling art was selling out...") made it difficult for him to sell or even promote his own artwork. Under pressure from a friend or neighbor to sell a piece, he would literally have to leave his studio, as he could not stand to have a prospective buyer choose one painting over another "[It's]...like choosing one of your children over the other," as he put it. Thus, he would occasionally sell a painting or drawing, but more often supported himself and his art by doing a variety of odd jobs, and sometimes teaching art classes at the University of Vermont or Goddard College.
By nature, Fisher was an iconoclast and often oppositional and vehement in his beliefs. His lifestyle was generally a solitary one, although "hermit" is really too strong a word for such a politically and socially conscious person. His extremely high ethical standards combined with often contrarian views (such as being a conscienscious objector during the Korean War, a civil-rights worker in Mississippi in the early 1960s, and an advocate for the rights of prisoners) often alienated people. He had difficulty in relating to many of those in the business of selling art, and often "shot himself in the foot" when it came to getting representation for his work.
Paradoxically, he was generous to an extreme, and up to the last year of his life would cut fallen timber into firewood for those "less fortunate than himself' (said by a man living in rather primitive conditions on his land in Vermont, with an income of approximately $5,000 a year).
At the time of his death in 2007, Bob was working on a book tentatively entitled "Ancient Bottle, New Wine: The Impact of Hans Hofmann and his New York City Mosaic Murals on the World of Modern Art." These Hofmann mosaic murals - one at 711 3rd Avenue and one at West 49th Street on the old Printing Trades School - had consumed an entire year of Hofmann's artistic life, and in Fisher's opinion were: "...often overlooked although unique and crucial to an understanding of Hofmann in that they provide an enlightening window into his theory of 'pure color.'" Fisher explained, "The work on Hofmann's mosaic mural was an extension of my work and study at his school, and was one of the most mind-boggling experiences of my career as an artist. All the people working on the mural appreciated the tremendous opportunity we were sharing with this gentlest and most dedicated of artists. The time spent during lunch hours was filled with stories of his own life in Europe and of the great times he and "the boys" had drinking wine in the Cafe du D'ome in Paris - the "boys" in this case being artists Picasso, Braque, and Delaunay....In addition to this peak experience, my study with Hans Hofmann has profoundly influenced my work to this day. Working from nature to obtain abstract but living forms; enriching and developing those forms on a two dimensional surface through the use of pure color - these concepts form the basis of my own private search for artistic meaning, as they have done for so many other modern artists.[...]. This experience was to re-surface in my life in the year 2003 when the PBS documentary show called Hans Hofmann: Artist/Teacher, Teacher/Artist, narrated by actor Robert De Niro, was shown nationally. My five appearances during the documentary gave, I hope, some idea of the humor and joy that he brought to his teaching."
As his death approached, Fisher requested his long-time friends and neighbors David Harp and Rita Ricketson of Middlesex, Vermont to help keep his legacy as a Hofmann devotee alive. With the help of other friends, artists and fans, his life's work has been located, organized and cataloged. A successful show featuring his work and pieces by his friend and fellow Hofmann student James Gahagan took place in the summer of 2009 at the Wood Gallery in Montpelier, Vermont.
Although Fisher was never as well-known an artist as his close friends and fellow Hofmann students James Gahagan and Lillian Orlowsky, the large body of work that he leaves is true to the volumetric "push and pull" and Colorist precepts of his beloved teacher. In the eyes of a number of experienced artists, when compared to the work of his contemporaries, his work is closer in look and feel to that of his master teacher, to whom he devoted his life as an artist.
Robert Fisher, Untitled, circa 1959-60, oil on canvas, 25 x 25"
This exhibition will also feature Hans Hofmann's personal easel, given by Renate Hofmann to Lillian Orlowsky who, at the end of her life, bequeathed it to Robert Fisher in recognition of his devotion to his teacher.
PAAM will also host a panel discussion with curators John Winciunas and Ellis Jacobson, artist Myrna Harrison, and Rita Ricketson, Executor of the Fisher Estate on Tuesday, June 8 at 7pm as part of the Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series. This event is free and open to the public.
PAAM is grateful to the following PARTNERS IN ART for their underwriting support of Robert Fisher: A Career Survey: Anonymous, Neal Balkowitsch and Donald Nelson, Sally and Chris Lutz, Daniel Mullin, and Michael Wasserman
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Art of the Garden Annual Exhibition
On view May 7 - July 11, 2010
exhibition checklist
Featuring exceptional floral works culled from PAAM's permanent collection, this exhibition includes popular favorites and rarely seen gems in a wide variety of media. The show occurs in conjunction with PAAM's Annual Secret Garden Tour, a popular walking tour of stunning private gardens in Provincetown's west end. Garden tour guests enjoy free admission to the galleries.
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The Art of the Garden is an annual exhibition celebrating the return of spring, and the vast talent of artists who have lived or worked on outer Cape Cod. Each year brings new work mined from PAAM's permanent collection of more than 3,000 pieces of 20th century traditional, impressionist, abstract expressionist, modernist and contemporary American art. Incorporating pieces that vary in style and era, the show provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing creative legacy of the Provincetown Art Colony and its surrounds- making the show a must-see for anyone visiting the region, and art appreciators of all kinds.
Flora Schofield (1873 - 1960) Still Life oil on board, 12 x 8", Private Collection |
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Nanno de Groot (1913 - 1963) Lilies of the Valley and Pansy, 1958 oil on board (poplar), 23 x 13.5" Collection of PatdeGroot |
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Early Impressions:
Drawings by Edward Hopper
On view May 21 - July 4, 2010
Edward Hopper (1882-1967) produced some of the most enduringly popular images in American art. Throughout his career, he created quiet yet riveting pictures that express a sense of isolation and uncertainty, and the bittersweet comfort of solitude. Early Expressions presents illustrations and sketches created during the artist's early career.
This exhibition is made possible through the collaborative efforts of The Thurston Royce Gallery of Fine Art, Ltd, and the Berta Walker Gallery.
exhibition checklist
at left: The Bengali Writer, ink/paper, 8 x 5"
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Join Curator Bruce Loch Tuesday, June 29, 7pm, as he discusses the early work of Edward Hopper. Part of the Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series
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The Ivory Booth, 1897, ink/paper, 10 x 7" |
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Portrait Head, ink/paper, 8 1/2 x 7" |
"In every artist's development, the germ for the later work is always found in the earlier," Hopper said. "What he once was, he always is, with slight modifications."
Edward Hopper was born on July 22,1882 to a middle-class family of Native American descent. The Hoppers lived in Nyack, New York, a Hudson River town just outside of Manhattan. By the time he was 10 years old, Hopper was signing and dating small sketches, and upon graduation from high school, he enrolled at the Correspondence School of Illustrating in New York City. The following year, he enrolled at the Chase School, working under Robert Henri, one of the fathers of American realism.
Before his career blossomed at the age of 41, Hopper earned a living through commercial illustration, a profession that afforded him practice in creating complex arrangements of figures within detailed settings. He worked in various media, including pen and ink, pencil, crayon and charcoal illustrations and advertisements. He was reportedly not particularly fond of illustrating, but seemed to understand its importance in his development, "Art is like life itself," Hopper later declared, "It's a lot of hard work."
The majority of works included in this exhibition at PAAM come from the collection of Reverend Arthayer Sanborn, a close friend of the Hopper family who officiated burial ceremonies for the artist in 1967. One of the earliest pieces included in the show is "Ivory Booth" dated 1897 (featured above). This drawing is a literal transcript of a specific person in an actual scene with a hint of underlying emotional drama. The theatrical nature of the image is underscored by the architectural design of the booth containing the young girl. The stage-set character of this structure with its parted side-curtains and proscenium-like opening suggest an intriguing story, which is not specifically revealed. Thus, the girl herself, who is positioned to display and sell a commercial product, takes on a secondary importance relative to her architectural setting. The diagonally positioned four-sided tent-like structure is positioned on a rectangular counter-topped base, also covered in fabric. This structure is a variation on a Greek temple with its tile roofs, slender supporting columns and pediment with a laurel wreath above the ivory soap lettering. The laurel is symbolic of praise, in this case praise for the ivory soap product. The dramatic and romantic situation in which this sedate, Victorian-clad young woman is positioned serves to develop her as a character in a play, yet she remains an impersonal marionette in the elaborate theatrical setting. The luminous ambiance in which she sits contrasts with the mundane ordinariness of her own life, similar to the pensive solitary usherette in the lighted alcove of the dark theater in Hopper's 1939 oil painting "New York Movie". The darkest passages in the drawing take on a velvety surface quality, underscoring the tonal element, which is achieved through the precisely ordered linear hatchings.
Hopper continued to work in the commercial arts for years, but began transitioning into a new career after he sold his first painting in 1923 at the age of 41. His talent as a painter was not publicly recognized until the 1930s.
The lure of Cape Cod's legendary light took hold of the Hoppers during the summer of 1930, when Edward and his wife, Jo Nivison Hopper (also an accomplished artist), decided to summer in Truro, Massachusetts. Hopper described the landscape of this isolated town as composed of "fine big hills of sand -- a very open almost treeless country." The area provided a fresh source of inspiration for the Hoppers, and they built a house in South Truro in 1933. He recalled his first summers there as among the most productive he had known.
Painting for Hopper was an intensely personal act that could represent only the artist's individual vision. "My aim in painting," he explained, "has always been the most exact transcription possible of my most intimate impressions of nature."
In 1942, he completed "Nighthawks", which is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. "Nighthawks" is recognized by many for its focus on "desolate figures at a lunch counter in the tough, brightly lit oasis of an all-night diner." Upon his death in 1967, he bequeathed more than 2,500 of his works to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (current estimated value of $10 billion dollars). In November 2006, actor Steve Martin sold an original painting by Mr. Hopper entitled "Hotel Window" at Sotheby's in New York City for more than $26 million dollars.
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PAAM is grateful to the following PARTNERS IN ART for their underwriting support of Early Impressions: Drawings by Edward Hopper: Yvette Drury Dubinsky and John Dubinsky, Steven Fletcher and Michael Walden, William Rawn and John Douhan, Meg A Stewart and Maureen Wilson, Gail Williams and Dawn McCall.
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Ross Moffett, October Landscape, 1938, PAAM Permanent Collection
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The Long and Winding Road - Selections from the PAAM Collection
Curated by Christine McCarthy
On view April 23 -June 20, 2010
Works from the PAAM Collection features historical and contemporary works in a variety of media from PAAM's permanent collection of American Art
exhibition checklist
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lot35. Lillian Meeser
Chrysanthemums, 1930 oil/canvas
32x36" s l r, e s t . 4 0 0 0 / 6 0 0 0 |
Since 2004, the Annual Spring Consignment Auction at PAAM has drawn crowds of national art collectors in search of rare vintage pieces by artists of outer Cape Cod. This year, PAAM has expanded its offerings to include fine art and objects from around the globe. In addition to two-dimensional artworks, the spring auction will now feature antiques and small pieces of handcrafted furniture - exquisite items that will bring new audiences to Provincetown.
Highlights include a handcrafted Roycroft piano bench and exemplary artworks by Irving Marantz, Fritz Bultman, William Freed and LaForce Bailey, among others.
PAAM auctions are an integral part of the organization's fundraising efforts. Proceeds help to underwrite the cost of operating PAAM's exhibitions and education programs; so, more often than not, consignors and collectors take comfort that the 15% buyer's premium and the 20% seller's commission support an nationally accredited fine art institution with a solid history of providing programs that serve the public good. Auctions of this caliber enrich the art world's perceptions of the Provincetown school and bring recognition to the art colony.
A preview of available works will be on view through 5pm on June 12. The annual Spring Consignment Auction with Auctioneer James R. Bakker will take place at PAAM on Saturday, June 12 at 7pm. Admission to the event is free.
For those unable to attend the auction, telephone and absentee bids will be accepted. Please make arrangements in advance by calling PAAM at 508.487.1750.
lot47. Francesco Clemente
Untitled B, 1986
lithograph in 3 parts, 26 x 79"
sll, #61/100, e s t . 2500 / 3500
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BELIEVE IN WONDERLAND
the 2009-10 Art Reach Program Exhibition
On view May 21 - 31, 2010
Opening reception May 28, 2010, 7 - 9pm |
Megan Ritchie, Circle of Friends
New Exhibition Highlights Talented Young Artists
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This exhibition marks the culmination of the second year of Art Reach, PAAM's twenty-eight-week after school program. Nine students participated -- working with professional art educators to realize a variety of projects, including figurative drawing and painting, website design, music composition, the creation of comic books, and mixed-media sculpture. Their extraordinary work will be featured in this multi-media exhibition.
The 2010 Art Reach students are: Nadeen Bowes-Newsome, Iris Caliri, T.K Dahill, Jared King, Chris Martinez, Jacob Nichols, Megan Ritchie, Kaitlyn "Kewi" Russell and Joselyn Woods.
The Art Reach program is a FREE seven-month after school immersion program at PAAM, providing substantive out-of-school arts, humanities, and interpretive science opportunities, in partnership with the Provincetown School System, Nauset Regional High School, and the Provincetown Police Department. Art Reach is supported in part by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the Provincetown Police Association, Peter Petas and Ted Jones, The Aeroflex Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council's Youth Reach Program.
Art Reach educators' remark on the program:
"Witnessing each student's process deepened my belief in the power of dialogue between artists." Liz Carney, teaching artist
"The incredible energy that comes from working with Art Reach participants' diverse interests is the sustaining creative force that binds us together as a group." Tracey Anderson, teaching artist
"The creative output of PAAM's youth-centered programs is wonderful proof of the integral importance of connecting and meaning-making through art. Working with this group of young people is a joy and a privilege." Lynn Stanley, teaching artist and PAAM's Curator of Education
"It is incredibly refreshing in such a chaotic climate to know that PAAM is making a difference for the youth in our community. The skill sets that the students have amassed, along with the camaraderie and friendships that have been strengthened, will play a role in their futures as they choose and formulate their career paths. As we see resources dwindle, the power of collaboration becomes much more integral within our community." Chris McCarthy, Executive Director of PAAM
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Members Juried Exhibition: Sculpture
On view April 23 - May 23, 2010
Featuring works by established and emerging artists
from within the PAAM membership.
Artists in the Exhibition:
Donald Beal - Heather Blume - Flint Butera - John Cira - Kevin Cotter - Crgray - Joerg Dressler - Miriam Fried - Conny Hatch - Jerry Holmes - Ray Nolin - Victor Powell - Robert Rindler - Siãn Robertson - Jane Rosett - Alexandra Smith - Joan-Lee Stassi - Julie Tremblay - Lisa Ventre - Mike Wright - Martha Zinn
exhibition checklist
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| Juror Stacy Latt Savage is an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts (Sculpture) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
PAAM's juried exhibitions represent contemporary artists, many who live and work on outer Cape Cod. While the work varies greatly in media and approach, each artist-member joins a long roster of distinguished artists who have studied, taught, and exhibited at PAAM over the past 95 years.
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Martha Zinn, Cojoined |
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NEW MEDIA
On view April 2 - May 16, 2010
Rebekah Tolley and Lydia Musco, Molting, animated installation
New Media Explores the Relationship Between
Technological Advancement and the Arts.
exhibition checklist
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) is
proud to announce New Media, an exhibition featuring contemporary pieces by
local artists. These works invite viewers to explore the creative possibilities enabled
by technological advancements. Utilizing video, digital projection, and kinetic
installation, artists find new outlets for self-expression using new tools that are
rapidly changing our visual culture.
The exhibition brings attention to the meaning of aesthetics in the digital era,
exploring the argument that new media serve as a new language for artists.
Curator Breon Dunigan has chosen exemplary works by contemporary artists of
merit including Donald Beal, Terry Gips, Rebekah Tolley and Lydia Musco, Erik
Moscowitz and Amanda Trager, and Robin Mandel, among others.
New Media will feature Erik Moskowitz and Amanda Trager's Cloud Cuckoo Land
(2008), a collaborative video and sculptural installation that has been exhibited at
Momenta Art in New York, Miami's PULSE art fair, and at Les Recontres Internationales in Paris.
The Provincetown High School Academy of Art, Sciences, and Technology Presents:
Exhibition Runs May 7-16
PAAM celebrates our partnership with Provincetown High School's
Academy of Art, Science and Technology (ASST). The AAST is a
collaborative mentoring program in which students in grades 11-12 work
one on one with mentors and members of participating organizations on
individually designed projects over the school year, exploring a diverse
range of interests.
Honoring Young Imaginations and the Importance of Mentorship:
Twenty-five students participated in this year's collaborative program,
exploring a wide range of interests including bluegrass music, law, graphic
design, mechanical sculpture, fiction writing, documentary film studies, and
wellness. PHS Academy Coordinator Nancy Flasher explains, "Academy
students and their community mentors share in the ongoing journey of
actualizing personal dreams and abilities. The Academy class celebrates this
lifelong process of self-discovery in all of us, with each challenge and
breakthrough considered an opportunity for stretching and learning."
The annual springtime Academy exhibition is a celebration of the sometimes
messy, but always authentic learning process involved in youth
development. Imaginarium highlights some of the products which have
surfaced, and includes much more about the steps taken along the way.
This year's Academy students are: Krystal Adams, Isaiah Ayala, Nataya
Bostwick, Zachary Bostwick, Chris Brooke, Agapito Canela, T.K. Dahill, Mairead
Hadley, Luke Hadley, Hannah Jennings, Jared King, Liz Lopez, Chris Martinez,
Bart Myers, Dylan Nelson, Eric Rego, Patricia Sendao and Eddie Zawaduk.
Semester-only students include: Caitlyn Adams, Cristina Loureiro, Jenna
Lydon, Angela Martinez, Molly Nelson, Brittany Silva, and Kaitlyn Silva.
Academy Mentors include: Mark Adams, Tracey Anderson, Rob Biancuzzo,
Paul Cezanne, Tim Dickey, Jo Hay, Beau Harrell, Jody Melander, Matthew
Milliken, Michael Morse, Liz O'Meara-Goldberg, Paula Turcotte, Melissa Yeaw
and Aza Zzvonchui. Mini-Project Academy Mentors include: Patrick
Blackwell, Helena Ferreira, Elizabeth Francis, Ernest Hadley, Billie Hamlin,
Margaret Reges, John Romualdi, and Marcin Sapinski.
Myths, Stories and the Life of Things
A Retrospective Exhibition of Anna Poor and Ellen LeBow
March 12 - May 2, 2010
Curated by Donald Beal and Maura Coughlin
A mid-career survey of artwork by Ellen LeBow and Anna Poor is on view at the Provincetown Art Association Museum (PAAM) March 12 -May 2, 2010. The power of narrative generated by mythology, folklore, and religious visual culture is made evident in their work. Both Poor and LeBow explore subject matter culled from a fantastic range of contemporary and historical sources: from ancient Egypt to modern-day Haiti and from Giacometti to Doctor Seuss. Obsessively reconfiguring the objects and iconography of art history and world religions, both artists take critical positions of homage, ironic commentary or outright pillaging on their appropriated sources. They share a material fascination with the sensuous potentials of their materials, often working with innovative or unconventional techniques and combinations of mediums.
Over the course of many years of exhibiting in Wellfleet and Provincetown, LeBow has worked in a wide range of media and styles. Her recent black and white clayboard panels are drawn with a knife, producing imagery both linear and carved, drawn with light, as layers of darkness are peeled away in the lowest of relief. LeBow's recent imagery is a radical departure from the Haitian focus of her past work. Her massive, packed visual fields disgorge tumbling, cosmic "clouds" packed with an unlikely association of characters "cannibalized" from personal and artistic influences. The artist explains that "in the marriage of seemingly disparate things I try to weave a compressed assault of 'divine messengers' threatening at once to overpower and exalt the earth-bound life below."
Poor's sculptures are often diminutive in scale and engage the viewer in critical contemporary issues of appropriation, ownership, and the destruction of cultural objects. Her anthropomorphic creatures, innocent bystanders in a violent world, combine contemporary sensibilities with age old, labor intensive sculptural techniques. Her art historical references, techniques, and objects span many centuries: from the alabaster, shell and lapis lazuli Syrian sculpture in the Iraq Museum and the carved limestone Assyrian wall relief depicting Prince Assurbanipal II's Lion Hunt in the British Museum, to Lorenzo Ghiberti's cast bronze Renaissance Gates of Paradise and Alberto Giacometti's Woman with her throat cut. Lovingly casting a delicate bronze rat skin or carving internal organs from luminous stone, Poor inverts taxonomies of the precious and the abject, creating gorgeous "stolen" or "faked" antiquities and enshrining these "relics" in glass boxes.
Both Poor and LeBow have their feet firmly planted in the art worlds of Boston and Cape Cod. Poor has taught at The Art Institute of Boston since 1992 and is a visiting associate professor. She was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grant in 2001 and her work is included in numerous collections, publications, and exhibitons world wide. She is a long time executive board member at Center for the Arts at Castle Hill in Truro, where she is currently the co-chair of education. She has widely exhibited thoughout the Northeast, and in New York City at the New Museum, the Sculpture Center, James Graham & Sons, AIR Gallery, Atlantic Gallery and the Caelum Gallery. She is a co-owner of ArtStrand contemporary gallery in Provincetown. Ellen LeBow has long worked as a commercial and fine artist as well as a local art critic. She has also established a sucessful collaborative art project, working with women artists of Matenwa, Haiti. More information about this program can be found at www.artmatenwa.org.
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Houghton Cranford Smith:
Gifts to the PAAM Collection
Curated by PAAM Executive Director, Christine McCarthy
On view March 12 - May 2, 2010
exhibition checklist
PAAM is very grateful to Florence Smith Shepard, daughter of the artist, for assembling this particular group of works for the PAAM collection. Her careful choices represent the diverse and expansive range of talent as expressed by Smith throughout his prolific career.
- Christine McCarthy
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A recent acquisition of more than one hundred exemplary paintings and drawings by American artist Houghton Cranford Smith will be on view at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) March 12 through May 2, 2010. Depicting Provincetown landscapes and scenes from all corners of the globe, these pieces demonstrate the wide array of geographic and cultural influences that informed Smith's work. The artist's unique creative process and mastery of technique are made evident in this large collection of important works.
Throughout his career, Smith maintained a very personal approach to surface and composition, using vivid color and bold brush strokes. He wrote, "The role of a painter is to make color and form work together so you invent your own world on canvas."
A skilled painter, Smith spent most of his years in the fortunate position of being able to simply create art. He harmoniously merged his creative aspirations and passion for travel, amassing a large body of work; masterful paintings and preliminary drawings that are unique and colorful depictions of the people and places that inspired him.
In their publication, The Purist at Pawleys: Houghton Cranford Smith, Leeds and Katherine H. Richardson describe Smith as, "a rugged individualist who purposefully removed himself from the artistic mainstream. [He] did not follow any single aesthetic doctrine, but rather absorbed ideas from a range of sources to fashion a thoroughly independent career course."
Smith was born in New Jersey, and was encouraged by his family from an early age to pursue a creative career. He studied at the Nantucket School of Design and the Art Students League in New York where he studied with George Bridgman, William Merritt Chase and Kenneth Hayes Miller. He visited Provincetown during the summer of 1908, and became deeply involved in the early stages of the art colony. As a student, he acquired critical skills in color theory and composition from Charles Webster Hawthorne at Hawthorne's Cape Cod School of Art and from E. Ambrose Webster. In his memoir, The Provincetown I Remember, Smith relates how E. Ambrose Webster led him to a new way of dealing with color that went beyond Hawthorne's approach, revealing a Post-Impressionist color theory that Webster had gained from his study of Monet and exposure to the work of Melchers and Hitchcock. Smith then left for France, where he studied with Andre Lhote and other respected artists of the time. He traveled throughout Spain, Chile, Bermuda and across the United States.
Smith's work appears in private and public collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art. His memoir, The Provincetown I Remember, is available for purchase in the Museum Store at PAAM.
The fine pieces in this exhibition have been generously gifted to PAAM's permanent collection by Florence Smith Shepard and Houghton Cranford Smith, Jr. PAAM is deeply grateful to receive this gift, and is honored to care for these pieces that represent an important part of Provincetown's art history.
The View from Here
An exhibition created by the advanced portfolio students of Nauset Regional High School as part of the Student and Educator Curating Program
On view March 12 - April 25, 2010
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum's (PAAM) Curating Program welcomes educators and students from schools along Cape Cod to create exhibitions in the museum's galleries. The award-winning program, recognized by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod as an exemplary collaborative effort, has mounted over 70 exhibitions at PAAM over the past 18 years.
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Holly Hansen, Grade 12.
In response to Albert Groll's untitled landscape, oil on canvas |
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Albert Groll, untitled landscape, oil on canvas
collection of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum |
In February fifteen students from Nauset Regional High School's (NRHS) Advanced Portfolio Class, along with art teacher Ginny Ogden, participated in the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's most recent session of the Student and Educator Curating Program. Earlier in the school year students collaborated with the Cape Cod National Seashore, creating works of art out-of-doors. To continue this focus at PAAM, students worked with visiting artist Liz Carney, choosing a variety of land and seascapes from the museum's permanent collection--including paintings, prints and drawings--and responding to these through art-making and creative writing. NRHS students were also treated to a lecture on the history of landscape painting by Carney, as well as an introduction to her work and creative practice. The program will culminate with an exhibition featuring students' interpretive artwork and creative writing, along with work from PAAM's permanent collection --all providing a fresh perspective on art inspired by the natural world, and continuing the traditions of Provincetowns vibrant art community.
The Student and Educator Curating Program is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Max and Bella Black Foundation, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and the Provincetown Visitors Service Board. If you are interested in learning more about this program, or if you would like to support it, please contact Lynn Stanley at 508.487.1750 x13 or lstanley@paam.org.
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Members' Open Exhibition:
Go Green
On view March 5 - April 18, 2010
Potluck opening reception March 12, 2010 at 6pm
exhibition checklist
A new exhibition at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) features work by emerging and established artists from within the PAAM membership. "Go Green," includes pieces that reference environmental awareness and/or are predominantly green in color.
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PAAM's Open Exhibitions are mounted throughout the year, and provide local artists with professional opportunities to show their work. Open shows are hanged salon-style in PAAM's galleries, and often include pieces by more than 200 individual artists. The number of artists participating in these exhibitions serves as a powerful reminder that Provincetown's creative legacy is alive and well.
Members' Juried Exhibition: "Paper Works"
On view February 19 - March 28, 2010
exhibition checklist
A members' exhibition, featuring works on paper created by emerging and established artists within the PAAM membership. "Paper Works" is curated by Betty Carroll Fuller, Director and Curator of the Higgins Gallery at Cape Cod Community College, where she is also Professor of Painting and Drawing.
Works by: Joyce Aaron, Maryann Agresti, Corbett Barrow, Donald Beal, Karen Billard, Heather Blume, George Booth, Flint Butera, Chip Brock, Jean Fogg Brock, John Cira, Polly Coté, Kevin Cotter, John Crane, Michele Dangelo, Mary Doering, Peter Dutra, Bob Enos, Kate Fournaris, Miriam Fried, Nathalie Ferrier, Joe Fiorello, Betty Carroll Fuller, David Genest, Paige Gillies, Brent Harold, Lynn Kortenhaus, Robert Henry, Megan Hinton, John Howard, Jenny Humphreys, Priscilla Husted, Roger Carl Johanson, Martine Jore, Brian Kaplan, John Krenik, Paul Kelly, Peter McDonough, Andy Moerlein, Nancy Nicol, Carol Odell, Mark Palmer, Erna Partoll, Elisabeth Pearl, David B. Polley, Hugo Porcaro, Sky Power, Jim Rann, Sarah Riley, Siân Robertson, Marian Roth, Marcia J. Rubin, Julia Salinger, William Scully, Joe Trepiccione, Selina Trieff, Lisa Ventre, Mary Walker, TJ Walton, Tim Winn, Mike Wright, Jack Zaner, James Zimmerman
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Joe Fiorello
Juror's Choice Sculpture
untitled, 2010
found paper, beads, wire, 4 x 4 x 12"
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Hugo Porcaro
Juror's Choice Work on Paper
untitled, 2010
recycled scraps and acrylic paint, 7 x 8 x 4"
$125. |
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Donald Beal
Juror's Choice Drawing
Seated Woman, 2004
graphite, red and white Conté on paper
$1200.
Represented by Berta Walker Gallery |
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John Cira
Juror's Choice Photography
Shark, 2010
photograph, ink jet print, 24 x 30"
$225.
Represented by Cotuit Center for the Arts |
Gifts from the Lillian Orlowsky / William Freed Foundation
January 15-March 7, 2010
An exhibition of artworks by Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed, two of Provincetown's most celebrated abstract expressionists. On view January 15 - March 7, 2010, the show features exemplary paintings, sketches, and mixed media pieces by the esteemed artists, who played intregal roles in the development of Abstract Expressionist art in America.
More than thirty works are included, selected from a sizeable collection of art that was gifted to PAAM in 2009 by the Lillian Orlowsky / William Freed Family Foundation, a number of which will be accessed into PAAM's permanent collection. Under PAAM's care, these artworks will be exhibited on a rotating basis and be available for travel.
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Lillian Orlowsky, Still Life - Red Yellow Black,
gouache on paper c. 1940's 10"x7 3/4"
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This acquisition is an important addition to PAAM as both Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed were involved with the organization for nearly fifty years as exhibiting artists, instructors and members of PAAM's board and committees.
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) maintains more than 3,000 pieces of 20th century impressionist, abstract expressionist, modernist and contemporary American artwork created by more than 600 artists who studied, created and lived in this fishing village on the tip of Cape Cod. These pieces represent the enduring creative legacy of the Provincetown Art Colony.
Works from the art association and museum's growing permanent collection have not only toured the U.S., but also serve as focal points for the on-site exhibitions that draw more than 45,000 visitors annually, making PAAM the most widely visited art museum on Cape Cod. PAAM actively seeks new additions to its collection, just as it has done since the nineteenth century, earning the organization praise among scholars and critics who consider the PAAM holdings an invaluable resource within the art community. A carefully selected exhibition schedule balances contemporary and historic works of art.
The Museum Store at PAAM carries catalogs, books, notecards and DVDs to complement this exhibition.
If you are considering donating to PAAM's permanent collection, please contact PAAM Registrar / Assistant Director Peter Macara or Executive Director Christine McCarthy.. |
| Thinking Figuratively
An Exhibition created by the Educators of the Provincetown School System
Part of the Student and Educator Curating Program at the PAAM
February 12 - March 7, 2010
PAAM's Curating Program welcomes educators and students from schools along Cape Cod to create an exhibition in the museum's galleries. The award-winning program, recognized by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod as an exemplary collaborative effort, has mounted over 70 exhibitions at PAAM over the past 18 years.
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Fritz Bultman, PAAM Collection
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This February nine educators from a variety of disciplines-- Nancy Flasher, Academy of Art, Science and Technology Program Coordinator Nancy Flasher, Kindergarten Teacher and Assistant Principal Beth Francis, Art Teacher Lisa Fox, English Teacher Margaret Phillips, 4th Grade teacher Rebecca Yeaw, math teacher Vicky Hatch, and French teacher Genevieve Martin-of the Provincetown School System participated in a series of events and activities to create their show, a process that art teacher Lisa Fox described as "fun, encouraging and surprising." And for the first time in the program's history, both the Superintendent of Schools and the District Principal from a school district participated in the program-Superintendent Dr. Beth Singer and Principal Kim Pike.
Dr. Singer said "I loved the entire program. This was time well spent. The process introduced some very helpful and innovative teaching techniques. I'd love to do this with all our teachers!"
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To provide all participants with a foundation in art history, a lecture on figurative art-spanning the earliest representations of the human form to contemporary Provincetown art-was presented by artist Tracey Anderson at Provincetown High School. The following week the group worked with Lynn Stanley, PAAM's Curator of Education, over a four hour period; participants were asked to choose work from PAAM's permanent collection, and engage in a series of creative writing exercises to further engage with the artwork. From there everyone moved into a studio classroom in PAAM's Lillian Orlowsky / William Freed Museum School to participate in a figure drawing class with a live model. Some had never drawn from the figure, others said it had been many years since they'd tried. Principal Kim Pike said of the drawing session, "We ask our students to be brave-to take risks during the learning process-we need to be brave ourselves."
"One of the gifts of this program is that it allows educators to shift their focus, and remember what it feels like to be a beginner, and how exciting and fraught that position can feel. We're thrilled by the support and commitment the new school administration of Provincetown is showing for the arts and arts education. Like all of us, teachers and school administrators are very busy people. That they were willing to carve out personal time to spend an evening at PAAM to immerse themselves in the process of art-making and to learn about the building blocks of mounting an exhibition is wonderful," said Stanley.
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Lisa Fox |
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| Tony Vevers, PAAM Collection |
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Nancy Flasher |
Thinking Figuratively features drawings done by all nine participants, figurative artwork from PAAM's permanent collection, and creative texts written in response to the works of art chosen from the collection. A celebratory potluck reception will be held on February 19th, at 6pm, and the public is warmly invited to attend. Bring a dish for six or pay $7 at the door. This reception will also celebrate the opening of Drawings, Studies and Final Works, selected from the PAAM collection and a Members Juried Exhibition: Paper Works, juried by Betty Carroll Fuller Exhibitions.
The Student and Educator Curating Program is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Max and Bella Black Foundation, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and the Provincetown Visitors Service Board.
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Drawings, Studies and Final Works
Selected from the PAAM Collection
January 22 - March 7, 2010
This exhibition features 40 artworks from the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's permanent collection. The show highlights visual studies that were created in advance of final works. These pieces provide insight into creative processes and techniques that are often overlooked. Examples from a variety of media are shown, including paintings, drawings, sculptures and Provincetown's notorious white-line wood block prints.
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PAAM's Executive Director, Christine McCarthy has curated the exhibition. She explains, "I've chosen to include two small Chaim Gross bronzes. They're maquettes for the larger versions situated in front of the building in the Berta Walker and James & Frances Bakker Sculpture Gardens. I hope that viewers will enjoy seeing the smaller, preliminary works that came before - they're really quite beautiful in their own right."
PAAM maintains more than 3,000 pieces of 20th century impressionist, abstract expressionist, modernist and contemporary American artwork created by more than 600 artists who studied, created and lived in this fishing village on the tip of Cape Cod. These pieces represent the enduring creative legacy of the Provincetown Art Colony.
Works from the art association and museum's growing permanent collection have not only toured the U.S., but also serve as focal points for the on-site exhibitions that draw more than 50,000 visitors annually, making PAAM the most widely visited art museum on Cape Cod. PAAM actively seeks new additions to its collection, earning the organization praise among scholars and critics who consider the PAAM holdings an invaluable resource within the art community. A carefully selected exhibition schedule balances contemporary and historic works of art.
The Museum Store at PAAM carries catalogs, books, notecards and DVDs to complement this exhibition.
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Fine Arts Work Center Fellows Exhibition
January 15 – February 28, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, January 15, 6-8pm
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| The 2009-2010 Visual Arts Fellows are Nadia Ayari, Matt Bollinger, Robin Mandel, Elizabeth Mooney (above rt), Sarah Peters (rt), Martin Smick, Kirsten Ullrich, Jacob Yanes, Taylor Baldwin and Leslie Murray.
The Fine Arts Work Center provides seven-month fellowships, October 1 through April 30, to twenty emerging artists and writers of exceptional talent. The Fellowships provide living/work space and a modest monthly stipend. Fellows are in no way directed or supervised during their stay. They are given the opportunity to pursue their work independently in a diverse and supportive community.
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MUSEUM HOURS :
October–May:
Noon to 5 pm, Thursday through Sunday,
and by appointment
Memorial Day–September:
11 am to 8 pm, Monday through Thursday
11 am to 10 pm, Friday
11 am to 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday
OFFICE HOURS :
9 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday
9 am to 4 pm, Tues.–Sat., November through March
PAAM is located on the corners of Commercial and Bangs Streets in Provincetown's East End.
Take Route 6 to the Provincetown Center exit. Turn left at light onto Conwell Street, then left at stop sign onto Bradford Street, 1/2 mile on right is Bang Street, right one block to Commercial.
Parking is available in many private and municipal lots in Provincetown, and depending on the season, parking may be available on Commercial Street.
Cick Here to Learn about The Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant for American Painters Aged 45 or Older
The late Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed were students of Hans Hofmann, and studied with him in both New York and Provincetown. They were very active at PAAM as artist members, instructors in the summer school, and committee members throughout their 50 years on Cape Cod.
Grants are offered to American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. The primary emphasis is to promote public awareness and a commitment to American art, and to encourage interest in artists who lack adequate recognition.
Visit the information page to read about eligibility requirements, the review process, and frequently asked questions. Or, e-mail gryderomalley@paam.org for more information.
Attention Members!
Are you receiving PAAM’s E-Newsletter? If not, we need your email address to keep you informed of upcoming exhibitions, events, and important members’ information! Please contact PAAM at 508.487.1750 or email info@paam.org. Don’t have email? No problem, call PAAM to make alternative arrangements. We have a lot of information to share with you, and we don’t want you to miss a thing!
PAAM members also enjoy free entry to:
Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT
Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA
Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
Farnsworth Museum and Library, Rockland, ME
Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA
Fruitlands Museum, Harvard, MA
Lyman Allan Art Museum, New London, CT
Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
Initiated by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and the Now in its fourth year, the Passport to the Arts has evolved from a small group of eight organizations to its current impressive roster of 40 cultural organizations, representing the very best of the arts and culture of Cape Cod.
Passport holders will be able to receive a 50% discount on admission to select events at each participating venue once during the course of the year. For information about participating organizations, and how to acquire your passport, visit the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod website here.
Join PAAM’s most generous and influential donors – and get a free membership!
Members of the PAAM Circle are a philanthropic community of PAAM’s most generous donors - Find out how you can become of this extraordinary group of artists, business people, trustees, community leaders, collectors, and others.
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