Consuming beauty while extracting resources
“Melas Chasms Sunrise,’’ by Isabel Beavers, in the show “Golden Spike,’’ at Brookline (Mass.) Arts Center, through Jan. 31.
This is a three-person exhibition about the environment and climate change. A "golden spike" is presented as a signifier of the extreme man-made change in recent geologic record. Artists Beavers, Allison Gray and William Van Beckum explore the concept of "anthropocence," or the landscape as evidence of humanity's mark in time through models and other representations of landscapes from across history. "We simultaneously consume aesthetic beauty from landscapes, while treating them as sites of extraction and destruction," the artists say.
Overlooking Leverett Pond in Olmsted Park in Brookline
Here’s an edited version of a Wikipedia list of historic buildings in Brookline (Massachusetts’s largest town) that are open to the public:
The birthplace of John F. Kennedy stands in Brookline and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is maintained by the National Park Service and is open to the public from May through September.
"Fairsted", the 100-year-old business headquarters and design office for renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and the Olmsted Brothers firm, has been carefully preserved as the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, on 7 acres of landscaped grounds at 99 Warren St.
John Goddard House, an historic house at 235 Goddard Ave., was built in 1767 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Larz Anderson Park is in Brookline on the 64-acre estate once owned by Larz Anderson and Isabel Weld Perkins. The park contains the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, the oldest automobile collection in the country, as well as Putterham School, a one-room schoolhouse from colonial times.
After-dinner art
"Occhi'' detail, by Dave Bermingham, part of his site-specific installation based on his "Occhi'' sculptures, at the Brookline (Mass.) Arts Center through Sept. 21. His sculptures, made of discarded plates, platters and other dinnerware, address ideas about superstition and desire. The gallery says he "invites the community to contribute similar objects of their own to be incorporated into the exhibition.'' Bermingham is also working on a new work titled "Cant Slang," pieces that blend poetry, Morse code, beading and sculpture.
Thinking outside the frame
"Evaporation, flow study #7,'' by Patty Stone, at the Brookline (Mass.) Arts Center group show "Unframed,'' June 15-July 20. The show displays unframed art work on paper. The gallery says that "Each piece is purposely displayed directly on the gallery wall, allowing a more thorough exploration of each piece. 'Expanding and releasing the paper from its constraining structure often creates visual, as well as structural problems within the work,' said Elaine Sapochetti, one of the artists in the exhibition. 'Yet, challenging these restrictions also makes the development of the art endlessly exhilarating and the completed work always a surprise. Just as in life, pushing boundaries can frequently lead to new, complicated, exciting, and inspiring revelations."'
Look, don't sit
'Vessel 1'' (mahogany, birdseye maple, ebony, bloodwood, ebonized walnut, cherry and acrylic paint), by Edward Jacob, in the show "Contemporary Craft,'' at Brookline Arts Center.
Migration and our sense of place
"Migration,'' by Adrienne der Marderosian, in the show "Up/Rooted,'' at the Brookline (Mass.) Art Center, March 17-April 21.
The gallery says that the show "explores origin, displacement and the influence of the past on the future...and how culture and identity relate to our sense of place.'' The show includes 59 artists working in painting, mixed media, photography, charcoal, glass, monoprint and more.
Architecture as 'symbol of cultural values and history'
From the show "Scenes From Late Capitalism,'' by Nathan Heuer, at the Brookline (Mass.) Art Center, Feb. 3-March 10.
The gallery writes:
"Heuer's work is largely concerned with the role of architecture in society as a symbol of cultural values and history, using watercolor and graphite to create both small- and large-scale works. ''