Finding rats in the gallery is not usually cause for celebration at an art opening, but such was the case for Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva’s installation Silentio Pathologia (2013) at the Macedonian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Hadzi-Vasileva has been pushing the boundaries of unusual art “materials” for some time, using salmon and chicken skins, silk worm
Thought Before Matter: A Conversation with Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas
Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas sees heads as metaphors for the spaces they inhabit and the abstract ideas they generate. Using the joined last names of her mother, Margaret Strong, and her father, George Cuevas, she studied at the Art Students’ League in the 1960s with John Hovannes, who taught her to carve wood and stone.
Anita Glesta
Beijing Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology Anita Glesta’s multimedia installation, Gernika/Guernica, stitches together two earthshaking events, the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 and the bombardment of Guernica in 1937.
Mel Bochner
New York Peter Freeman Gallery Mel Bochner, who is best known for his theoretical notations and use of basic materials such as stones, masking tape, walnuts, glass shards, burnt matches, and chalk, began his career using mathematically derived determinants as a means to articulate a playful, albeit rigorous analysis of sculpture.
Ed Zelenak
Toronto Christopher Cutts Gallery Ed Zelenak’s recent show, “Divining the Frontiers,” marked a new departure in his work with a grid-like series of tin on copperplate pieces. These sculptures are incredibly distant from Zelenak’s monumental Pop Minimalist fiberglass works such as Traffic (1968–69) or his bronze sculptures, which build a volumetric feeling of space out
“0 to 60: The Experience of Time Through Contemporary Art”
Raleigh and Penland, North Carolina North Carolina Museum of Art and Penland School of Crafts The premise of “0 to 60” sounded too big for one show. The sprawling effort, which incorporated time arts and time as subject matter, was aggressively inclusive, featuring 32 artists famous and obscure.
“LAT. 41° 7’ N., LONG. 72° 19’ W”
East Marion, New York Martos Gallery There’s no sign. An address painted on a rock marks a narrow driveway leading to Jason Metcalf’s “historical” plaque commemorating ancient red-haired giants who may never have lived here. Beyond lies the combined summer home/gallery of Chelsea art dealer Jose Martos, artist Servane Mary, and their three-year-old son.
“Convergence”
Boston Boston Sculptors Gallery at the Christian Science Plaza When a group of artists working in various styles installs a site-specific show, uniformity is not guaranteed, nor even likely. Boston Sculptors’ summer installation, the first large-scale public art display in this city in living memory, set out to reflect its surroundings.
Ted Larsen: Surfaced Forms
Ted Larsen’s sculptures are intimate and self-contained. His simple geometric forms resemble found objects, suggesting a past, reminiscent of something previously encountered. Though understated, the objects demand consideration: proximity encourages examination, which then reveals the nuanced complexity.
Between Evidence and Imagination: A Conversation with Janet Laurence
Elixir Bar, 2005. Traditional wooden house, screenprinted glass panel, blown-glass vials, plant extracts steeped in shochu, and laboratory glass, permanent installation at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Japan. Janet Laurence’s work takes viewers on an amazing journey through subjects as diverse as ecology, feminism, and alchemy, to name a few.
