With new neighbors, pop-up exhibitions and the return of the Open Market on Sundays, this fall will hopefully feel like a gradual return to normalcy with galleries, artists and shops following close safety precautions. We are so excited with everything happening in our local arts community, and wanted to share a list of some of the new spaces in SoWa you can now visit.
New Gallery: LaiSun Keane
Located just across the hallway from Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, LaiSun Keane is a contemporary art gallery championing emerging artists, women, minorities and the overlooked. The gallery was born in the COVID-19 pandemic so it has a strong focus on producing online content and new ways of art presentation and art sales.
Image courtesy of LaiSun Keane
Abigail Ogilvy: What drew you to SoWA?
LaiSun Keane: I wanted to be a city rather than a suburban gallery. Besides its city location, SoWa offers a conducive environment for both art galleries, artists and art lovers as it is geared for art and culture. Its eco system is built on art, evidence in its monthly First Friday event, convergence of galleries and artists in this space and frankly very reasonable rent.
AO: Do you have any upcoming exhibitions? If so, what do they look like?
LK: For the rest of 2020, I have three exhibitions lined up:
-
Christina Erives: con o sin cebollas / with or without onions, Sep 10 - Oct 3
-
Nicki Green: Between Washing And Unwithering, Oct 8 - Nov 7
-
Four Japanese Women Artists: New Directions, Nov 14 - Dec 12
These three exhibitions are of 3D medium with very diverse subject matters. Erives’ show is about the ritual of sharing meals and the concept of contemporary womanhood. Green, a trans woman investigates her gender in relation to the Jewish ritual of Mikveh and the final show of the year is a group show of four Japanese female artists working in contemporary ceramics.
AO: Tell me a bit more about your background, what was your journey towards being a gallerist like?
LK: I graduated from UNSW Art and Design with a Bachelor of Art Theory in 2009 after spending some years before that raising children.
It has always been my dream to open an art gallery. My time at art school and my subsequent volunteering at art non-profit and working for commercial art galleries informed my decision as a gallery, to champion emerging artists, women and minorities.
When I moved to Boston in 2013, I worked for free for many non-profits such as Concord Art, Boston Jewish Film Festival, Boston Asian American Film Festivals, Independent Film Festival and ReelAbilities. In 2015, I started volunteering at Lacoste Gallery in Concord where I learned a lot about ceramic art and became a staff member in 2017. In 2018, I became the Co-Owner and the gallery changed its name to Lacoste Keane Gallery. I departed April 2020 and formed LaiSun Keane at the height of the pandemic. I would like to say that my journey has been filled with many many valuable experiences which I use in my everyday life as a gallerist.
Pop - Ups
Kim Smith - Space Between Edges
AO: Are you a Boston-based artist? If so, what drew you here?
KS: I am a Boston based artist, and have had a studio in the South End for about 5 years. I moved to Boston from New York to take an artist position at the MIT Media Lab. I was drawn to working at MIT because I have always been interested in science and technology, and specifically the ways in which it influences the creative process and our view of the world.
AO: Can you speak a bit about your current exhibition, Space Between Edges?
Image courtesy of Kim Smith
KS: This exhibit brings together several threads that I have been working on for a long while, that have really culminated these past few months. The exhibition features several recent paintings and sculptures with three new performance pieces. The performances unspool at three time scales: a video recording of performances of the recent past, a live performance in the present, and a slowly evolving performance that plays out through the duration of the show.
AO: As the artist, do you think the gallery space impacts the way your work speaks to an audience? How were you able to use the space to your advantage?
KS: The gallery space has been really useful for me to see the work in a fresh context, and establish a dialogue among the pieces. The gallery allows for a clear way of curating a narrative, one that can often get lost in the chaos of the studio space. And to share that with others is really the ultimate goal, and so as we begin to venture out of isolation, we are reminded how integral art is to our lives, and experiencing it is an important part of connecting. The process of pulling a show together is a very useful way of looking and allowing for contemplation. The past few months have been really creatively productive, and directing that energy into a single focal point is a useful tool for reflection as well as moving forward.
Kim Smith will be located in gallery C9 until September 20th.
House of Venus - The Color of Fruition
Image courtesy of Kaylee Hennessey
AO: How did HOV evolve, and what is your mission? How do you see this space affecting that mission?
HOV: Our practice as a gallery is to get young and emerging artists to show their work in a professional manner, but in an avant-garde and untraditional way. We believe that galleries can extend further than white-wall spaces, and the domesticity of House of Venus can bring an entirely different crowd of artists together. We show work for the purpose of the celebration of art and the people that it brings together. With our new pop-up in SOWA, House of Venus has extended from our one-bedroom split to a formal gallery setting, however we are still going to bring our spark of fun to the space by creating more of an experience with not only the art, but the space and the people in it. We strive to make exhibiting art more accessible for emerging artists and creating an environment for all to enjoy it, and we are incredibly excited for this huge next step.
AO: Can you speak a bit about your exhibition?
HOV: Since the beginning, our dream was to bring emerging artists to the public eye, to be a method of representation and to guide these artists from exhibiting solely in academic spaces to exhibiting in the “real world.” We selected works for this exhibition that would engage the space from a roster of artists we had either worked with before or known personally. The bright use of color by many of these artists inspired the title, The Color of Fruition. The work as presented in this gallery is exactly what our dream had always looked like to us, an idea that has finally come to fruition.
House of Venus will be located in gallery C9 from September 25th through mid October.
Brian Murphy - Go Ask Alice
Artist Brian Murphy of Totally Wired Sculpture will be hosting a pop-up exhibition titled Go Ask Alice, which will explore the Adventures of Alice as she negotiates the challenges of our current not quite Wonderland. Brian will be in the space during the following dates and times:
Sunday September 20 from 11-4
Sunday September 27 from 11-4
Friday October 2, from 3-8
Sunday October 4 from 11-4
“A self taught artist I started Totally Wired Sculpture in 2002 and I have gradually spent more time in the creative process, which seems to be a nice balance to my work as a child therapist primarily dealing with issues of trauma. My work can be seen as lighthearted line drawings in the medium of steel wire. Often political and humorous themes are incorporated which can challenge or amuse the viewer leaving them uplifted. The goal of each piece is to create kinetic movement from the tension in the wire so that the figures seem to dance or sway on their own and appear enlivened. Mythological themes and tales of transformation dominate illustrating the power of art to help us change and grow.”
Image courtesy of Brian Murphy
Array Contemporary
AO: Can you speak a bit about your current exhibition?
AC: Your timing is excellent as we have an exciting show called 'AC 5'. Five artists [Steve Bennett, Steven Edson, Joanne Tarlin, Marsha Nouritza Odabashian, and Jennifer Jean Okumura] explore their five senses to create moments delivered through time—historical moments, ours, or others’ epic stories, along with hands-on experiments exploring the mystery of the mind and body. Andrew Harvey may have said it best: “If you’re really listening, if you’re awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break; its purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold evermore wonders.” ‘AC 5’ is mysterious, unsee—it is a force of nature, a master of the dark and light and all in-between. Come explore this group exhibition of 2D works that give you a glimpse into the artists’ minds—their desires and cravings.
Photograph by Steven Edson
AO: How did Array Contemporary come to be? What was that process like?
AC: Array Contemporary was formed in the Summer of 2020 to primarily create a virtual on-line gallery in which to show their member’s artistic and creative work while promoting the members' work to curators, museums, collectors, and the general public. Basically, we provide our stable of artists and the public an assortment of opportunities to engage with art and the creative process of making, viewing, and collecting art. AC accomplishes this by promoting thru our website, pop-up gallery shows, and other artistic and entrepreneurship opportunities that complement the goals and objectives of its Artists'.
The process has been thrilling. All the emotions and day to day adventures of finding the perfect piece for your home or office is the best way to describe the experience so far. We are all art administrators and practicing artists, so the bumps and successes are part of this ride.
Array Contemporary is located in gallery C6.
Add a comment