From Cuba to Somerville
“Manolete” (bullfighter) (woodcut), by Rafael Zara, in the show “Connections/Conexiones,’’ at Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., through April 9.
The gallery explains:
The Brickbottom Gallery is showing original prints by contemporary Cuban artists, most of whom are living on the island. This is the first half of an international print exchange. In 2019, Janette Brossard Duharte, president of the Printmaking section of the Visual Artist Association of Cuba, approached The Boston Printmakers with an idea for an international print exchange. She invited members of The Boston Printmakers to exhibit in Havana and asked the organization to sponsor an exhibit of Cuban artists in the Boston area. The Boston Printmakers happily accepted and the Brickbottom Gallery agreed to exhibit the original prints, never shown here before….
“Brossard brought the work of 37 artists to the gallery from Havana in 2019. The subjects of the prints explore themes ranging from politics to religion to eroticism. The graphic styles run the gamut from realism to colorful abstraction to the printed book. The history of Cuban printmaking began with the necessity to promote Cuban cigars and developed … with the production of strong silkscreen prints to advertise films and to make political statements. Contemporary printmakers have expanded their output to include lithography, etching, woodcuts as well as silkscreen. All of these mediums are present in the Brickbottom Gallery exhibition.’’
'Woodcut revolution'
"Lyell'' (woodcut), by David Whitbeck, in the show "BIG INK: Large-Scale Prints From the Woodcut Revolution,'' at the Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., Dec. 7-Jan. 13.
Post-industrial grid
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"Landscape'' (drawing), by David Campbell, in a show at the Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., through Feb. 27.
Death-penalty fine arts
"Execution Miniatures,'' by PAULINE LIM, in the "Small, Smaller, Smallest'' show at Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., July 9-Aug. 15.
Between stillness and action
From left, "Chicago El'' (detail) (pigment print on mylar), by GARY DUEHR; "Cuba #29'' (detail) (pigment print, oil, resin and wood), by JENNIFER LISTON MUNSON; "Michigan Motel,'' (detail) (oil on canvas), by DAVID PALMQUIST.
They're in the "MOTION, MEMORY'' show at Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., March 12-April 11
The gallery notes that this fascinating show presents the work of three artists whose work is a hybrid of photography, painting or printmaking.
"Although photography’s origin is that of freezing motion (and time) as a way of preserving memory, each of these artists explores how photography, when altered or extended, can allow motion to partially wipe away the memory of a place or event. They all owe a debt to Einstein’s notion that time only occurs when change happens; if nothing changes, time does not pass. These three artists try to catch the moment of transition between stillness and action.''
"How often we want to freeze time and how often to speed it up!'' Of course, the desire to freeze time tends increase with age.
Book bunch
At the "Resonance: book in time II'' show at Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., Dec. 6-Jan. 16. It's a collection of individual and collaborative artists' books by Ann Forbush, Ania Gilmore and Annie Zeybekoglu.
Dining vs. digital delirium
"Sam and Don'' (digital print), by PAUL WEINER, at Brickbottom Gallery, in Somerville, Mass., in the show "Anxiety and Relief in the 21st Century,'' Sept. 7-Oct. 18.
The gallery asks how we can turn anxiety into relief in our far-too-fast, churning, Internet-driven world. We suppose having an unrushed dinner with the lights turned down helps. So, the gallery argues, does making art.
More than a summer cold
"Plague'' (mixed media), by PHYLLIS EWEN, in"Hot Spot,'' a summer exhibition at the Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass., July 10-Aug. 16.
Amusement park bad dream
"Swing Low'', by SHARON O'CALLOGAN SHERO, at Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, Mass.