The square deal
"Homage to the Square'' (screenprint), by JOSEF ALBERS, at the Museum of Art at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham.
Sun on the sink
''Kitchen in Sunlight'' (oil on plexy), by MICHAEL DOYLE, via Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery, Center Sandwich, N.H. At this time of year, the light slants in beautifully if painfully, especially for drivers.
Oozing to life and death
"Living Paint Installation'' (acrylic, rags, foam, gloves, plants, wire and mixed media), by SARAH MEYERS BRENT, in her "Living Paint'' show at the Hampden Gallery, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, through Sept. 30.
Her works, says the gallery, "explore the viscous ooze at the creation and termination of life.''
Return engagement
"Returning'' (resin and mixed media on panel), by ERIC ZENER, at Lanoue Fine Art, Boston.
We went swimming off Stamford and Greenwich, Conn., the other day. The water's ability to hold summer warmth is remarkable.
Lethal game
"Chess,'' by LORNA SIMPSON, in her Sept. 20-Jan. 4 show at the Addison Gallery, at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
Waste management
"Tiny Trash #2'' (mixed media on board -- ''trash from my clients''), by JEMISON FAUST, in "Fall Frontal,'' the Members' Exhibition at Bromfield Gallery, in Newport, R.I., through Sept. 28.
Back to Indochina
"Route 3, 2011'' (three-channel synchronized HD video projection), by Patty Chang and David Kelley, about a ''new Silk Road that is a stage for local and transnational imaginings about the modern in Laos.'' It can be seen in the "Far from Indochine'' show at the New Art Center, in Newton, Mass., through Oct. 18.
There will be much more of this sort of thing as we approach the 40th anniversary next year of America's exit from the war in Indochina.
And to think that Vietnam is becoming a U.S. ally to stop Chinese expansion.
A Gorey story
The show "'E' is for Elephants: The Etchings of Edward Gorey,'' at the University Art Gallery (in New Bedford) of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Sept. 23-Nov. 2.
Many readers are familiar with Mr. Gorey's macabre pictures.
A boatload of ideas
Work by SHAUN BULLENS, in the Anderson Gallery in Bridgewater, Mass. The gallery notes say that he uses "the skills, ideas and values found in the tradition of fine furniture with the subtle symbolism found in the myths of Melville mixed with the insights of {young comic} Kevin Breel.''
A heavy cargo for this boat.
Street semiotics
"Street Sign Pieces,'' by BAILEY BOB BAILEY, in ''siteCHUNKS'' show at room 83 Spring, Watertown, Mass., through Oct. 16.
Sheet in the crowd
"The Path of I Walked Alone'' (clay), by HAEKYUNG CHOI, at the Lexington (Mass.) Arts and Crafts Society.
Tiny temples of responsibility
Commentary and photos (below, after text) by WILLIAM MORGAN Though there were once ubiquitous on city streets the country, a Gamewell fire-alarm box is more likely these days to be seen on eBay (where they bring up to $500). This decaying beauty on the corner of Batty and Fountain streets, in Providence's Federal Hill neighborhood, fits right into its somewhat tatty surroundings (although the new North Bakery just behind sells a tasty Dan Dan meat pie).
John Gamewell was not the inventor of the telegraphic fire-alarm system, but his Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraphic Company (founded in 1879) cornered the market, putting its distinctive red boxes on street corners everywhere. Common enough to be ignored, this survivor still shows that Gamewell's warning- system boxes were jewels of classical design.
In the pediment of Gamewell's little temples of civic responsibility is a symbolic fist, representing modern man's ability to harness telegraphic energy .
Weary plants
"Hosta Stems #1 (acrylic on canvas), by C.J. PHU, in the "Warm Winds, Cool Waters'' show at Alpers Fine Art, Andover, Mass.
This painting recalls the worn-out vegetation of September.
Lovely, dark and deep
"Birches,'' by RUSSELL DUPONT, in his show "A Sense of Place: Photographs by Russell duPont,'' at the James Library and Center for the Arts, Norwell, Mass., Sept. 5-Sept. 30.
Norwell is a Boston suburb, a community with a strong sense of being on a river (the marshy North River) and the burial site of John Cheever, who, although he spent most of his life in New York City and Westchester County, wrote hauntingly about the South Shore towns where he grew up and whose physical beauty he cited.
I'd guess that many people readers remember this closing of Robert Frost poem "Birches'':
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Welcome to France
"Lavender Fields'' (C-print), by BONNIE EDELMAN, in her show at Heather Gaudio Fine Art, New Canaan, Conn., Sept. 13-Oct. 21.
The year-round locals are relieved
"Summer's Exodus'' (oil on canvas), by Sky Power, in her recently concluded show at Berta Walker Gallery, in Provincetown.